Master page margins

[donnarms]

I am editing and republishing a book that was originally done in FrameMaker. I need to fix the left and right margins throughout the book (both the left and right side pages). How do I edit the master pages to fix these margins? Is the master pages the place to do this?

I will be so grateful for your help!

[frameexpert]

If your document just uses default master pages, you can choose Format > Page Layout > Column Layout to get this dialog box:

If you have custom master pages, you may have to choose View > Master Pages and change text frame sizes and positions, etc.

[Barb Binder]

In Format > Page Layout > Pagination, is the document set to double-sided?

And again working on a copy until we figure this out, go to View > Master Pages and then View > Body Pages. Are you getting a message about master page overrides? If yes, what happens if you remove them?

~Barb

[Barb Binder]

It sounds like perhaps you're new to FrameMaker and maybe you don't know if you're using the default master pages or custom master pages?

Working on a copy of the file, I would try the Rick's first recommendation on page 1 and then carefully examine the entire document to see if it worked correctly. Check each the page and also check the location of the headers and footers. It's possible that they have moved to a new location. If you see any issues, revert back to the previous version and let us know. We can provide additonal details about custom master pages and also custom header/footer positions, if necessary, but hopefully, Rick's answer was all you needed.

~Barb

[donnarms]

Thank you! When I do this, it only fixes the left pages. Everything scrambles when switching the "side" setting to "right."

[mk-will]

Hi, @donnarms ,

please tell what did you and where did you do that.

As @Barb Binder mentioned please tell if you have a one-sided or double-sided (left-right) document.

Regards

Stephan

[donnarms]

Thank you both. I have done all you suggest. It is a double-sided document (a book) and it is set for double-sided. I get no override message. When I do as you suggest, the left side pages obey, but not the right side pages. You are correct, I do not know if I am using default master pages or custom. I assume they are default. How do I make the right-side pages obey as well?

Barb is also correct in that I am somewhat new to FrameMaker. I have been self-teaching what I need to know to edit these books for the past several years, but this has me flummoxed.

[Barb Binder]

Are you comfortable sharing the file with me? You can save a copy and delete the content first if you prefer. That's probably the quickest way to troubleshoot at this point. You can email the .fm file to me.

~Barb

[donnarms]

On the way, Barb. Thank you!

[Barb Binder]

Hi Donn:

I took a look at 04Diff1.fm. The masters are set up as follows:

• Left and Right default masters plus
• a left opening page
• a right opening page
• a blank page

All of the body pages are currently assigned the default left and right masters. I'm unclear what you mean by changing the margins scrambles the content of those pages. Can you clarify? I will point out that the headers are in a custom position that's a little bit closer to the top margin than the default, so when I change the margins they move back to their default positions. Is there something else going on that I'm not seeing?

~Barb

[donnarms]

When I change the margins only the left page margins change. The right page margins do not change. The scramble happens when I change the "side" to right rather than left. I am probably not supposed to do that.

[Barb Binder]

The scramble happens when I change the "side" to right rather than left. I am probably not supposed to do that.

That's correct, Donn. The Side menu controls sideheads—a feature that is not part of your document. Just change the margins themselves. 

~Barb

[donnarms]

OK, so how do I get the right page margins to change as well as the left? When I change the margins here, only the left page margins change. The right page margins are unchanged.

[Barb Binder]

My apologies, Donn. I didn't realize there was a master page mapping table and that you in fact using the custom masters—that's why the right pages aren't changing.

Tell me what margins you need and I'll give you a very precise answer.

~Barb

[donnarms]

They just need to be reversed. 1.0 along the gutter side of the pages and 0.6 along the page edge. The way they are now takes the text too far into the gutter or binding of the book.

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Ok, great! So back to my original response: you have five master pages in your document (the last one is blank so you don't need to worry about it.)

When you use Format > Page Layout > Column Layout to set the margins, FrameMaker only updates the default masters. Start there anyway and change the inside margin to 1" and the outside to 0.6". This updates the default Left and Right masters.

Next, you will need to go to View > Master Pages and manually update the two custom master pages used on opening pages of a section so that they match the updated default Left and Right masters.

firstL

• Control+click on the template frame (the large frame in the middle of the page) and choose Graphics > Object Properties > Dimensions:
  Left offset to 0.6"
  
  
• Control+click the footer frame. Graphics > Object Properties > Dimensions:
  Top Offset: 7.889"
  Left offset to 0.6"
  

firstR

• Control+click on the template frame. Graphics > Object Properties > Dimensions:
  Left offset to 1.0"
  
  
• Control+click the footer frame. Graphics > Object Properties > Dimensions:
  Top Offset: 7.889"
  Left offset to 1.0"

This will standardize the margins across one file. You can repeat this in the other chapters, or use File > Import > Formats and import just the Page Layouts from one file to the others (uncheck the other options). For more details on importing formats, see https://help.adobe.com/en_US/framemaker/using/using-framemaker/FrameMaker-2022/user-guide/frm_text_t....

~Barb

[donnarms]

TaDaa! Thank you, Barb! This would have taken me months of study to figure out -- if I ever did. Now I am working on moving the text down a bit as it is too close to the top.