Different Headers for Left and Right Pages

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
November 29, 2018
2 replies
4707 views

One more question for the forum. When we create books using InDesign we want to have different headers for right pages and left pages and only starting on page two. In other words, the first page of a chapter will never have a header, and then all subsequent pages need to have one of two different headers depending on whether that page ends up being a left-page or right-page. These conventions are traditional for book design but I can't figure out how to do it. How can I go about this? Thanks!

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Correct answer AnneMarie Concepcion

What Bob said. But a bit more detail to get you on your way. I'll assume you've set up your doc as facing pages (2-page spreads).

Create at least 2 master pages, each will be a 2-page spread.

Chapter opener, with whatever header/footer you want or don't want. You'll probably want a current page number placeholder (from Type > Insert Special Characters > Markers) in a text frame somewhere in the master's header or footer. Even if you'll only use the right-facing page (if all your chapter start on the right), it's fine to have a 2-page master.
Main text, with the same page number placeholder, positioned where you want on each side of the 2-page spread. If the headers remain the same throughout the book (static headers), then add them here, one for the left-facing page, and different static text in the right-facing page. If one or both headers will change based on the chapter name/section (or whatever), don't insert static text, instead use InDesign's Variables feature (Type > Variables > Insert Variable).

The Help documentation can help with understanding Variables, or ask away here.

Then you flow in the text to the book, applying masters as you go, or just use the Main text master as the default (apply it to page 1), auto-flow the text so it creates pages and flows the text in as necessary, then apply the Chapter Opener master to the chapter opener pages.

AM

AnneMarie Concepcion

Correct answer

Community Expert

What Bob said. But a bit more detail to get you on your way. I'll assume you've set up your doc as facing pages (2-page spreads).

Create at least 2 master pages, each will be a 2-page spread.

Chapter opener, with whatever header/footer you want or don't want. You'll probably want a current page number placeholder (from Type > Insert Special Characters > Markers) in a text frame somewhere in the master's header or footer. Even if you'll only use the right-facing page (if all your chapter start on the right), it's fine to have a 2-page master.
Main text, with the same page number placeholder, positioned where you want on each side of the 2-page spread. If the headers remain the same throughout the book (static headers), then add them here, one for the left-facing page, and different static text in the right-facing page. If one or both headers will change based on the chapter name/section (or whatever), don't insert static text, instead use InDesign's Variables feature (Type > Variables > Insert Variable).

The Help documentation can help with understanding Variables, or ask away here.

Then you flow in the text to the book, applying masters as you go, or just use the Main text master as the default (apply it to page 1), auto-flow the text so it creates pages and flows the text in as necessary, then apply the Chapter Opener master to the chapter opener pages.

AM

A

Anonymous

Thanks for the guidance. It helps a lot. But what would I do if I want something like three masters -- one which would always be the first page of an article (with a page number on the bottom, a title section, but not an actual header), a second (with a page number on the bottom and a header whenever this page ends up being a right-sided page), and then a third (with a page number on the bottom and a header to use whenever this page ends up being a left-sided page). All of this can be imagined thinking about any book, as this is standard formatting for the first page of a chapter in a book, followed by left and right pages.

The only solution I could imagine from my level of knowledge with InDesign is to create only two master pages whereby the first has both the "first page" title as well as the "subsequent page" header and then delete the header manually every time I use this template from the first page. But surely there's a better way.

Thanks!

BobLevine

Community Expert

Less is NOT more.

Create multiple masters, each having the elements you need. If you plan it properly, you can base one master on another so elements, such as page numbers, that will appear on all pages only need to be added to the base master page.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Different masters with text variables on them.

Check the help on it and if you need more specific assistance, ask away.

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