A

Anonymous

Answered

How to "unthread" a text frame?

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
July 30, 2010
5 replies
25784 views

I have a document with continuous text

threading from start to finish. I want to interrupt the text threading, and create a separate page where the threading stops just before that page. Could someone tell me how I would do this?

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Joel Cherney

Thanks everyone for responding. I'll clarify my situation which should help.

I'm using InDesign CS5.

My documents are actually part of a book. Each document contains four or five chapters with continual text flow threaded, and there are also some tables in each document.

I have two reasons for wanting to un-thread. One is that I want each chapter to begin new on a page, so that when the text before it changes position during the formatting process, it won't move the chapter front page.

Similarily, I want my tables to be on one page, and not move when the text before them moves during the formatting process.

Does that make sense?

My documents are actually part of a book. Each document contains four or five chapters with continual text flow threaded, and there are also some tables in each document.
I have two reasons for wanting to un-thread. One is that I want each chapter to begin new on a page, so that when the text before it changes position during the formatting process, it won't move the chapter front page.

Similarily, I want my tables to be on one page, and not move when the text before them moves during the formatting process.

Both of these can be handled without breaking the threaded story (tables can be told to not break across pages in the Table Properties, and there are multiple ways to force chapters to start on a new page, the most obvious of which is a frame break right before the end of a chapter).

But, that being said, it turns out that the SplitStory script will do what you want. I don't know if it is automatically installed with CS5, or if you have to go pull it off the install discs yourself. But it's in there, somewhere.

Lastly: don't use it unless you're 100% certain that you will be the last person who will ever be working in this file.

A

Anonymous

Hi,

Spit Story seems to be the thing that will help me, for my situation too...I have a large document and am trying to format each page slightly differently, and indivdually. I placed all the text in at once though and it is threaded all the way through--everytime I hit returm or space or backspace the whole doc shifts. How do i find Split Story? is this really the right thing for me??

thanks

cara

John Hawkinson

Inspiring

Cara:

How do i find Split Story?

Open the Scripts panel (in Window > Utilities in CS5.5, slightly different places in some earlier versions) and find it under Application > Samples > JavaScript

A

Anonymous

Hi,

I used the Split Story Script and it broke all the frames, which I thought was great until I started working with the text and did need to space things around and then the single page frame became too small for a page but the text didn't move to the next page or push the next frames over. what do I do now? How can I get frames to extend into the next page without attaching all the frames againn??

I am afraid I need some more "tutorial-like" help, i've never made such a long document--this will be 50 or 60 pages.

thanks so much for the help!!

Peter Spier

Community Expert

I'm really late to this thread, but you can do this manually pretty easily, too, if you want to isolate each chapter into a new thread (though telling the chapter title style to start on the next odd page is probably easier). Click the outport on the last frame you want in the first thread, then click inside the frame to break the thread. The rest of the story will be overset and the following frames will be empty, but threaded.

Put the cursor after the last character in the last frame and press Shift +End to select everything from there to the end of the story. Cut and paste into the empty frames. Repeat for the next chapter.

Thinking about it, this might actually be all that the split story script is doing.

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Nope, split story looks like it splits each frame.

I'm pretty sure Dave Sunders posted a script a few years ago, though that automates the break thread, cut, paste I just described.

MT.Freelance

Inspiring

Also, do not forget that there is a

HELP document available for InDesign.

S

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MT.Freelance

Inspiring

Need more input!

Are you wanting to split each linked text frame into a separate text frame and RETAIN THE CONTENTS of each frame?

If so, the script mentioned will do that. Once run with any of the frames selected, all frames in the series become unlinked, yet retain the content.

Are you wanting to keep the linked text frames before and after the split linked?

This is done by clicking on the INPORT of the text frame, and then clicking on the frame itsel (the icon will change to a broken link).

This splits that text frame, and all subsequent frames from the original series of linked frames and leaves the content of the frames in the first set, possibly resulting in overset text in the last frame. The new series that has been split off will be empty, but still linked.

If you need the content of the second set to be retained, then you need to copy the contents before you break the link and then paste it into the new set once it is split off.

Joel Cherney

Community Expert

MT.Freelance wrote:
Need more input!

MT gets the "actually read the original post" award for the day.

Joel Cherney

Community Expert

Both of these can be handled without breaking the threaded story (tables can be told to not break across pages in the Table Properties, and there are multiple ways to force chapters to start on a new page, the most obvious of which is a frame break right before the end of a chapter).

I'll go with this method, since there will probably be someone else working with this book before it's all finished. Thanks very much.

No problem. And, on behalf of the anonymous folks who might be working on this book after you, thank you very much.

Joel Cherney

Community Expert

Well, you didn't tell us which version of ID you're using, but if you know where your scripts are in your version of ID, most of them have a script called "SplitStory" that does exactly what you want.

(I really hope that you're the last person to use this document and that you're not doing this because you're unfamiliar with how well-constructed InDesign documents function; there are very good reasons to leave stories threaded. However, it's quite possible that your reasons to want to split the story into individual frames are even better reasons...)

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