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A
Andrew Mikelsons
Inspiring
October 27, 2023
Answered

Formatting a book (non-fiction)

  • October 27, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 2512 views

Is it better to "Place" a manuscript from Word into InDesign as one document, or is it better copy the manuscript chapter by chapter. In other words, is it better to create 20 chapters, and therefore 20 chapter files, and string them together in ID?

 

Thanks

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Correct answer Andrew Mikelsons

Just a mild recap: unless there is a strong reason to break the book into chapters and use the Book feature, you will probably find it easier to work with as a single document.

 

The only good arguments for using Book structure are:

  • If component chapters need to be edited and developed individually, by timeline or author/editor.
  • If the chapters are very large files, meaning a single-file doc would be very very large and unwieldy.
  • If you may need to create variant editions that incorporate some subset of a library of chapters.

 

But for your basic nonfic book of reasonable size — up to 500-600 pages, without more than a few dozen images — putting it in Book structure just adds a rather cranky layer of project management without bringing much value.


Thanks. The pros for me on using an INDB file, and INDD files, is that I can easily move chapters around; and the chapter documents are not as unwieldly. Having said that, the next book I may try both approaches and see which I like better. Thanks for the input. 

1 reply

Steve Werner
Community Expert
Steve WernerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 27, 2023

There is no fixed answer to that question: Things that control that decision: (1) How long is the book? If more than I'd say 200-300 pages, separate chapters will probably be easier to handle. (2) How powerful is your computer? (Slow computer = use chapters). (3) Are you familiar with creating Book documents? That is what you would use or need to learn to use a multi-file book document.

    A
    Andrew MikelsonsAuthor
    Inspiring
    October 27, 2023

    If I use "returns" to move text to the right side, this happens (I can't get text back to the left side pg 3 below):

     

    Andrew MikelsonsAndy Fairchild Publishing Inc.
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Robert at ID-Tasker
    Legend
    November 13, 2023

    I created a book file and then added 20 ID document files (20 chapters) to that book file. However, even though I created a master/parent page to start each chapter on the right side, not every chapter started on the right side.

     

    The solution was that I needed to delete the extra page or pages in each document, so that the last page of each document was a left sided page. If a chapter ended on the right side, I added a page, which then became the last page left page, and applied a master/parent page with the formatting of "none. " So far it's working. But I have not exported it to PDF to see if the whole thing is going to hang together.

     

    Thanks to all of you for helping me get this far.

     

     

     

     


    Yes, if you want next chapter to start on the right side - you need to end previous chapter on the left side.

     

    But if you set manually START PAGE NUMBERING AT to odd value - you'll get this:

     

    instead of this:

     

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