batch to insert multi pdf page into one indesign page

[Dario_RU]

Hi,

I have a report of hundreds pages (A5) and I'd like to insert them in a A3 InDesign page, in order to have 4 pages into one. 

Is there any script or command I can use?

Thanks in advance

[Laubender]

Hi Dario,

you could build a document with 4 non-facing pages, one spread with 4 A5 pages that are aligned to an A3 format.

Make sure that the pages are aligned in the right order. Do that with InDesign's Page Tool.

Duplicate the spread as many times you like until the maximum number of pages you want to place is reached.

That can be done in under two minutes using the Pages panel.

Then use the MultiPageImporter script to place the InDesign document with the A5 format:

https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases

You could export the result document by spread to PDF if you want.

To give you an idea with a portrait page orientation ( from my German InDesign 2022 ) :

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Dario_RU]

thank you very much for your reply. What's the workflow to make one spread with 4 A5 pages?
I'm sorry, but I never used attached paged as your sample

[Laubender]

Hi Dario,

do a new document with four single non-facing pages:

Deselect "Allow Selected Spread To Shuffle" ( "Neue Druckbogenanordnung zulassen" in my German InDesign ) when the first page is selected in the Pages panel:

Then drag the other three pages to the first spread.

Switch to the Page tool and move the pages in the right order.

Don't know, in my sample before I had the impression that you want page 1 and 2 in the upper row and page 3 and 4 in the bottom row. To get that right it's good to have an auto page number on A Parent Page ( "A Musterseite" ) .

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Dario_RU]

thank you for going deep. I have never used page tool before.

Unfortunately I guess I cannot use this script, because my 4 A5 have different position in each A5 (or better, in the A3 page), because I have a lower banner, left one is at 12mm from the left border... Moreover, I need to have the four spreads as unique page, because I want to put page number (probably I can use a formula in the parent where I have the page number). At the end of the day, it looks a little bit complicate. I guess I'm gonna to do CTRL+D for each page once I have located properly my four frames.

thanks again

[Laubender]

Hm. You tagged your inital question with "Import and export" and "Scripting".

If you could phrase a rule ( an algorithm ) how the pages should be placed one could automate this.

But if it is different with every spread, then you must place the InDesign pages individually.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Dario_RU]

sorry for my misunderstanding and poor description.

I have an A3 page with 4 frames placed at a very precise position. As I can manage size of my pdf file from the source I could have a smaller page rather than the A5 (I guess it is simpler if I don't have crop the page in indesign).

Other hundreds A3 file are exactly the same. The script is like "fill the frames you see in the page with a precise order (TopLeft,BL,TR,BR)" and duplicate pages as you end the pdf file... sorry for the semplification 😄

[Laubender]

Hm. Then I do not understand why you cannot have all pages in A5 ( if this is the target size of a single frame ) and use the MultiPageImporter script to place one InDesign page per page. It says "Import Multiple PDF Pages", but the script is also able to place InDesign pages from a multi-page InDesign document:

https://github.com/mike-edel/ID-MultiPageImporter/releases

Also download my InDesign document where I aligned 4 A5 pages in every spread:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3cxxt3irmohg8w/FourA5asA3-2022-Landscape.indd?dl=1

B-Parent Page contains a primary text frame one could use for pagination.

B-Parent Page is applied to the fourth page in the spread. Could be any other of the four pages of a spread; depends on the corner where you want to place a page number. Not an auto-page number, but a page number, a list of numbers flowing from one single page of a spread to another page of the next spread.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )