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K
Kim235088338et8
Participant
April 22, 2023
Question

Text autoflow insists on creating a new text box

  • April 22, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 447 views

This is a challenge I've had to figure out periodically over the years after some time of not needing to do it. This time, I can't make it work, so I feel like there is either a bug or something must have changed.

I've got master pages with two primary text columns set up on each.  The document starts with a unique first page, and I've overridden the parent page on the second page, which is the default body page. Whenever I attempt to place text with autoflow or thread the text from the first page by hitting shift to overflow, InDesign creates a new box the width of the column rather than putting it in my preset text boxes.

The cursor changes when I'm over the appropriate box (the lines on the top and left-hand side go away), but the autoflow still creates a new box when I click and then autoflows into new pages that use the correct master page but with a full-page text box overlaying it.

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2 replies

Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 22, 2023

You say that you have created two primary text frames on your master page. However, you can actually only create one primary text frames on a master page. Any other frame that you create on the master is not a primary text frame and will not use Smart Text reflow. Read more about properly creating primary frames in Steve Werner's article here: https://creativepro.com/indesign-basics-primary-text-frames/.

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Kim235088338et8Author
Participant
April 23, 2023

Ah. Thank you, Bill. I thougth the "primary text frame" designation was just a signal to the software into which frames on a page the "primary text" would flow (as opposed to, say, callouts, sidebars, and so on). I had it working as I wanted a few months ago, but perhaps I was exploiting what the developers decided was a glitch. 

Willi Adelberger
Community Expert
Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
April 22, 2023

Best would be not to override any master/parent page. Better than override is to create another master/parent pages.

K
Kim235088338et8Author
Participant
April 22, 2023

Thank you for the reply. At one point in the past, I think overriding the parent was necessary to get the result I'm seeking, but, in any event, I'm getting the same result either way. Shift-click to autoflow the thread creates a new full-page text box on every page rather than flowing through the text boxes I've set up.

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