InDesign – Prevent background images from shifting when pages are inserted

[DavideB838]

Hi everyone,
I know the issue has been discussed multiple times and I’ve already searched through existing posts on this topic but haven’t found a clear solution (assuming there is one) or a best practice to follow.
I have a document like in (pic.1), where the images are placed on a “Background” layer and extend to the page bleed.

 
When I insert a single page before these, the result is that the image ends up out of place and has to be manually adjusted (pic.2).

 
What I’d like is a way to make sure the image always stays centered (or even aligned to the bleed would be a suitable option) regardless of whether the page is on the left or right.

As far as I know there's no way to do this using Object Style. I also read this article 
https://creativepro.com/adjust-position-of-objects-when-pages-reflow/

about the AdjustPageItem script, but I only need to move the images, not the text frames, which are already correctly placed.
I’d appreciate advice on the best way to proceed, considering I have no control over where the pages will fall.

Thanks in advance,
Davide

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

Hi Davide,

to make items on a page aligned to bleed, also graphic frames that contain images, you have to use anchored frames to text frames. Hard to explain, easy to do. See my attached IDML file:

AnchoredFrameAtSpine.idml

You could add a page before the second page of the document and the anchored frame's position will be right according to the spine and bleed when the page with the frame will move on in the document. Check the anchoring options of the empty graphic frame.

From my German InDesign:

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

Added: Also check the alignment of the paragraph that holds the anchor character in my sample document attached in my reply above.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[DavideB838]

Hey Uwe, thanks a lot for your reply.

That sounds like a good way to handle this. Just one more question:

I’d like to use the same method to create boxes that need to be graphically different from the rest of the document. I used to create a grey rectangle in a lower layer and add a text frame above it... but I would have the same problem adding a single page before. 
The method seems to work fine, but when I anchor a rectangle with a simple grey background, I can’t type inside the text frame — or at least, if I try, the text won't show up. It's only visible if i turn off the rectangle layer (see attached images)

Am I missing something?

Anchored object VISIBLE > no text visible

Anchored object HIDDEN > text visible

All the best,

Davide

[rob day]

Hi @DavideB838 , I assume this is for print? One approach might be to add spreads rather than single pages. If you add a single page to a document containing 8 pages, and now have 9 pages where is the page that would have to back up to the new page? You can’t bind a document with an odd number of pages:

Adding a spread

[DavideB838]

Hey Rob, thanks for your help.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I can manage the pages that way. I’m laying out a magazine that contains various articles of different lengths and — unfortunately — these articles don’t arrive in sequential order.
I go ahead with the layout, but once all the material is collected, it may turn out that an article starts on a right-hand page instead of a left-hand one.
That’s why I was looking for a way to position the objects so they stay aligned to the spine.

[rob day]

I don’t think I can manage the pages that way. I’m laying out a magazine that contains various articles of different lengths

Before you add the single page, is the page count showing in the Pages panel odd or even? If I add a single page to this document I’ll get an odd page count—another page has to be added before this can be printed. Where would it be added?

[DavideB838]

Here I am, sorry for the late reply.
As I was saying, since this is a magazine, I receive a series of articles that are not in order and vary in length. Sometimes they start on an even page and sometimes on an odd one. Once they are arranged in order, what was previously on the right-hand page might end up on the left. To reach an even number of pages, single-page ads will be inserted here and there.

For example, this was my starting situation with a 6-page article.

 

But then I was asked to insert a 3-page one before it, and onther one after it. And I find myself in this situation:

 

So now all the pink images/boxes have shifted, and I have to reposition them manually.

Of course, I can handle all this manually — that’s what I’m doing at the moment — but I was wondering if there’s a way to manage these possible shifts more automatically when inserting pages.