Apply Parent page to all odd/even pages?

[RvdT]

Hi,

Is there a way to apply a Parent page to all the odd or even pages?

After adding a page in between the existing pages i have to re-apply, by manually selecting each odd or even page.

*edit: spelling (replaced uneven with odd)

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @RvdT,

Thanks for the question! I get how manually reapplying Parent pages after inserting new ones can be frustrating. While InDesign doesn't have a direct 'apply to all even or odd pages' button, there's a quick workaround. You can open the Pages panel, then Command+click (Mac) or Ctrl+click (Windows) to select all even or odd pages at once. Once selected, just right-click and choose 'Apply Parent to Pages' to assign your desired Parent page.

Let me know if it works for you. 

Abhishek 

[RvdT]

Hi @Abhishek Rao,

Thanks so much for your quick and helpful response — really appreciate you taking the time to walk through that workaround. Your explanation was super clear, and I can absolutely see how that method of Command/Ctrl+clicking to manually select even or odd pages in the Pages panel could help streamline the process when applying Parent pages.

I gave your suggestion a try on our current document, which runs a bit over 500 pages, and I have to say, it did indeed make things easier than what I was doing before (which was, admittedly, a lot more manual and painful). That right-click > Apply Parent to Pages trick works smoothly once you’ve got your selections made, and being able to target all left- or right-hand pages in one go is a small but meaningful efficiency gain — especially when dealing with a document of this size.

That said, it does still highlight one of those curious gaps in InDesign’s otherwise robust toolset — the lack of a built-in 'Apply Parent to all even/odd pages' button or scriptable action feels like a feature that would be right at home in a professional publishing tool. Particularly for long-form projects like this one (where pagination and layout consistency are critical), the ability to automate something like that would reduce the risk of human error and save a lot of repetitive clicking. It’s not a deal-breaker, of course, but one of those little things that you wish Adobe might take into account in future updates.

In the meantime, your workaround is probably the best solution short of scripting or finding a third-party plugin to handle batch Parent application. For now, I’ve marked your suggestion as a favorite in my workflow notes for future reference — it’s simple, efficient, and gets the job done without adding any unnecessary complexity.

Thanks again for stepping in with a solution so quickly — it’s always great to get help from someone who knows the software so well. If you ever come across any tips or scripts that further automate this kind of page-based logic, I’d be very interested to hear about them!

All the best,
RvdT

[Willi Adelberger]

Why are you not setting up the document with facing pages? One master/parent spread with left and richt page would do that.

[RvdT]

Because of document bleed.

[Willi Adelberger]

Why should THAT be a problem if you know InDesign?

[RvdT]

The document is in landscape, with a "wire-o" at the top or bottom of the page. 
Left and right facing pages don't have a "middle bleed". 

[Willi Adelberger]

What is the problem? See the yt-video.

[Willi Adelberger]

Look here, how to work correctly:

[RvdT]

I see what you are saying. but i think that would still be a lot clicks, re-arranging pages, etc.

Thanks anyway. would solve the bleed issue.

[Willi Adelberger]

Only with facing pages you can use spine dependent styles (text alignment and anchored frames).

[Willi Adelberger]

Even with wird O binding it might happen that you need a spread with a picture covering both pages of a spread.

[Eugene Tyson · Accepted solution]

Hello I got this script to work for me - it allows you to select which Parent Page is applied to Even or Odd Pages

Let me know if it's ok or if you need any tweaks

https://creativepro.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign/

(function () {
    var doc = app.activeDocument;
    if (!doc) {
        alert("No active document open.");
        return;
    }

    var parentNames = doc.masterSpreads.everyItem().name;

    if (parentNames.length < 2) {
        alert("You need at least two parent pages to apply this.");
        return;
    }

    // Show the dialog
    var dlg = new Window("dialog", "Apply Parent Pages to Even/Odd Pages");
    dlg.orientation = "column";
    dlg.alignChildren = "left";
    dlg.spacing = 10;
    dlg.margins = 16;

    dlg.add("statictext", undefined, "Choose parent pages:");

    var evenGroup = dlg.add("group");
    evenGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "Even pages:");
    var evenDropdown = evenGroup.add("dropdownlist", undefined, parentNames);
    evenDropdown.selection = 0;

    var oddGroup = dlg.add("group");
    oddGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "Odd pages:");
    var oddDropdown = oddGroup.add("dropdownlist", undefined, parentNames);
    oddDropdown.selection = 1;

    var btnGroup = dlg.add("group");
    btnGroup.alignment = "right";
    var okBtn = btnGroup.add("button", undefined, "Apply");
    var cancelBtn = btnGroup.add("button", undefined, "Cancel");

    okBtn.onClick = function () {
        dlg.close(1);
    };
    cancelBtn.onClick = function () {
        dlg.close(0);
    };

    if (dlg.show() !== 1) {
        return; // User cancelled
    }

    var evenName = evenDropdown.selection.text;
    var oddName = oddDropdown.selection.text;

    app.doScript(function () {
        var evenParent = doc.masterSpreads.itemByName(evenName);
        var oddParent = doc.masterSpreads.itemByName(oddName);

        if (!evenParent.isValid || !oddParent.isValid) {
            alert("One or both selected parent pages are invalid.");
            return;
        }

        var pages = doc.pages;
        for (var i = 0; i < pages.length; i++) {
            var page = pages[i];
            var pageNum = page.documentOffset + 1;

            if (pageNum % 2 === 0) {
                page.appliedMaster = evenParent;
            } else {
                page.appliedMaster = oddParent;
            }
        }
    }, ScriptLanguage.JAVASCRIPT, undefined, UndoModes.ENTIRE_SCRIPT, "Apply Parent Pages to Even/Odd");

    alert("Done! Parent pages applied to even and odd pages.");
})();

[RvdT]

Thanks! Works great.

Would start with odd pages, but that's ok.

[Eugene Tyson]

Yeh you can swap the order in the ui

(function () {
    var doc = app.activeDocument;
    if (!doc) {
        alert("No active document open.");
        return;
    }

    var parentNames = doc.masterSpreads.everyItem().name;

    if (parentNames.length < 2) {
        alert("You need at least two parent pages to apply this.");
        return;
    }

    // Show the dialog
    var dlg = new Window("dialog", "Apply Parent Pages to Odd/Even Pages");
    dlg.orientation = "column";
    dlg.alignChildren = "left";
    dlg.spacing = 10;
    dlg.margins = 16;

    dlg.add("statictext", undefined, "Choose parent pages:");

    // ODD pages first
    var oddGroup = dlg.add("group");
    oddGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "Odd pages:");
    var oddDropdown = oddGroup.add("dropdownlist", undefined, parentNames);
    oddDropdown.selection = 0;

    // EVEN pages second
    var evenGroup = dlg.add("group");
    evenGroup.add("statictext", undefined, "Even pages:");
    var evenDropdown = evenGroup.add("dropdownlist", undefined, parentNames);
    evenDropdown.selection = 1;

    var btnGroup = dlg.add("group");
    btnGroup.alignment = "right";
    var okBtn = btnGroup.add("button", undefined, "Apply");
    var cancelBtn = btnGroup.add("button", undefined, "Cancel");

    okBtn.onClick = function () {
        dlg.close(1);
    };
    cancelBtn.onClick = function () {
        dlg.close(0);
    };

    if (dlg.show() !== 1) {
        return; // User cancelled
    }

    var oddName = oddDropdown.selection.text;
    var evenName = evenDropdown.selection.text;

    app.doScript(function () {
        var oddParent = doc.masterSpreads.itemByName(oddName);
        var evenParent = doc.masterSpreads.itemByName(evenName);

        if (!oddParent.isValid || !evenParent.isValid) {
            alert("One or both selected parent pages are invalid.");
            return;
        }

        var pages = doc.pages;
        for (var i = 0; i < pages.length; i++) {
            var page = pages[i];
            var pageNum = page.documentOffset + 1;

            if (pageNum % 2 === 0) {
                page.appliedMaster = evenParent;
            } else {
                page.appliedMaster = oddParent;
            }
        }
    }, ScriptLanguage.JAVASCRIPT, undefined, UndoModes.ENTIRE_SCRIPT, "Apply Parent Pages to Odd/Even");

    alert("Done! Parent pages applied.");
})();