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DexAlpenglow
Inspiring
June 8, 2022
Answered

How to add page numbers that alternate between left and right without spreads/facing pages?

  • June 8, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 4128 views

I know how to add auto-page numbering that alternate between left and right for spreads/facing pages, but I can't seem to find a way to accomplish this with non-facing pages. The reason I want to do it with non-facing pages, is this: whne working with spreads, when I need to add a page in the middle of my book, Indesign then bumps all my pages to the other side of the spread causing the bleeds to be off and create a layout mess. So I am looking for a way to have alternating pages that is easy to do with a very large page count, that also allows me to easily add pages in the middle of the document without a ton of busy work.

Correct answer hammer0909

The screenshot isn't my actual document, just trying to illustrate the problem I am having. The issue I have with having to reapply a parent page, is if I add a page after page 4 of a 100 page document, then I have to reapply a parent page or adjust my design on 96 pages. Is that what you are suggesting? Or am i just not understanding something? By the way, I really appreciate the help and feedback. thank you!


I've created a video in InDesign to show how this should work. I hope this helps. https://1drv.ms/v/s!AsOY4oj7seXTk54rLIkhf_DGdqoOhQ?e=baCdyd

1 reply

hammer0909
Community Expert
hammer0909Community Expert
Community Expert
June 8, 2022

Well the problem is that if you are not using facing pages, then you don't have left and right pages. You could do it by creating two parent pages, one with the page number on the left and one with the page number on the right, then apply the left parent page to every other page starting with page 1 and then apply the right parent page to every other page starting on page two.

    D
    DexAlpenglowAuthor
    Inspiring
    June 9, 2022

    Yeah but in a very large book, that is really tedious since indesign doesn't allow you to apply master to just odd or even pages. Seems really weird there isn't an easy way to do this to avoid human error.

    hammer0909
    Community Expert
    hammer0909Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 10, 2022

    Again thank you for helping me with this. I just want to make sure I understand. If I have a 1000 page book, all with bleeding images on each page using spreads/facing pages. If the client asks me to add a page at page 3, or the table contents goes longer than expected, etc, etc, where I need to add a page after page 3, I then need to go in and manually adjust the bleeds for 997 pages? Is that what you are saying is normal procedure?


    No the bleeds won't change. I'm just saying you'll have to re-apply the parent page which will put the frame on that page, then you'll need to re-place the image into that frame. The bleeds are already defined on the parent page so won't need to be adjusted at all.

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