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bobk75008927
Known Participant
January 16, 2019
Question

How do I force the first page to be blank on the back cover?

  • January 16, 2019
  • 5 replies
  • 1567 views

Hello,

I'm pretty sure that my question is related to Master pages. I'm trying to set things up so that my back cover appears on the right page and a blank page appears on the left. Currently, I'b getting the opposite, my back cover on the left side and followed by a blank page on the right side.

I've been playing with master page usage and also tried creating a Custom Master page but so far, nothing changes my layout.

Thank you in advance.

This topic has been closed for replies.

5 replies

R
rhondah72399316
Inspiring
January 21, 2019

I cheat and insert an illustration that is BLANK.

rhonda

dauphinb
dauphinb
Inspiring
January 18, 2019

Hmmm... is your entire book in a single .fm file? I would say the answer is not either of Bob's suggestions above, but both together: Make the back cover a separate .fm file within your .book file and force the back-cover content to the second (back) page of that file (assuming your book is set up for double-sided printing throughout).

I see what you're getting at: Setting pagination to Double Sided and choosing Make Page Count Even under Before Saving & Printing automatically adds blank back sides as needed; it would be nice if there were a way to automatically add a blank front side when that's needed. But if there is such a thing, I haven't found it.

doug1120
doug1120
Known Participant
January 17, 2019

You could always "cheat" and use Insert > Add Disconnected Pages...

Bob_Niland
Community Expert
Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2019

re: You could always "cheat" and use Insert > Add Disconnected Pages...

In which case we have to deal with some subsequent document steward, who sails in here a few years hence, asking why part of their flow vanished, or why they have this persistent page that won't move.

ADP is like a local override; almost always ill-considered, and no favor to the future of the document. But it's clear doug knows this.

The suggestions already proposed are superior. Once could also use them in combination with AMP (Apply Master Pages) for unique cover layouts.

    dauphinb
    dauphinb
    Inspiring
    January 18, 2019

    I agree, Bob! I can't tell you how many times I've thought a document was just plain haunted... 'til I realized some previous editor had ADPed it. Of course, since I never use ADP, it always takes me some time to think of it.

    Be.eM
    Be.eM
    Inspiring
    January 17, 2019

    In "Western" books the back cover is on the left side, as every cover or first page is on the right side. This is only different in Right-to-Left writing languages like Arabic or Hebrew. So I'm not sure I understand the question correctly.

    Bernd

    B
    bobk75008927Author
    Known Participant
    January 17, 2019

    Hi Bernd,

    My document will be read from left to right. I want the front cover to be on the left side of the page with a blank sheet on the right side. For the back cover, I'm looking to for the opposite, a blank left page and then our logo and some basic information on the right. Another way to look at it is, if the book is closed, with the back cover facing up, you can see the back cover.

    Thanks for responding.

    Be.eM
    Be.eM
    Inspiring
    January 17, 2019

    I'm sorry, but I still don't understand. I've drawn a quick pic to show what I understand regarding right and left pages:

    This would make the back cover a left page. If you flip the book around so that the back is on top, you'd see a left page. What do I misunderstand?

    Bernd

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 17, 2019

    It wouldn't be FM if there were only one way.

    Two popular ways are:

    1. Do the back cover as a separate file in a book.
    2. Use an otherwise empty dedicated paragraph tag with pagination set to Top of Right Page. Ditto for preceding pages as needed.

    For #2, an authoring tip is to have that format include some autonumber text, in a conditional color, so you know what it is.

    B
    bobk75008927Author
    Known Participant
    January 17, 2019

    Thanks for responding, Bob. I was using a separate file for the back cover. I'll try your suggestion. It sounds like it might work.

    Regards,

    Bob

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