Page sequence in books problem

[PS Motion]

• Hello,

I'm having trouble setting up a book in InDesign, I need the pages to keep facing each other between documents. I need to make every document starting on the right page? I made separated documents for the covers, so a few of the chapters start on the right and others on the left, then when I export the PDF of the book it prints like the image below. Is there a setting I can change? Thank you!

[Willi Adelberger]

Export the book as single-page PDF (the printer would need it so anyway) and choose for the layout facing pages, cover page. It will bring you a PDF in Acrobat with the correct view of the pages.

[Steve Werner]

It sounds like you're a good candidate for creating a Book file for your documents. It would allow you to control the numbering, adding extra blank pages to make sure that you start sections/chapters on right-hand pages.

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-book-files.html

Here's a tutorial to get you started:

https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/using-the-book-feature-in-indesign/

[PS Motion]

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I already had created a book, but thanks anyway!

[Creamer Training · Accepted solution]

In your Book file menu, go to Book Page Numbering Options.

Change them to Continue on next even page; check the Insert Blank Page option.

Make sure you documents first page is set to Auto and there are no other page numbering settings in the document.

[PS Motion]

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I need!

[aschottenfels]

I'm having the same issue and this solution just caused all my pages to reshuffle. I ended up with a mess and a blank page I didn't want. Any other advice?

[Creamer Training]

An answer to one person's problem doesn't necessarily apply to everyone. The settings one would use depend on how the files are created. Without any details about how you constructed your documents, it's impossible to give a reason for your result.

Without seeting (or knowing anything about) your files, it sounds as if you may want to continue from previous document, not continue on next odd page. 

[aschottenfels]

Thanks for getting back to me. So I've got a book that has chapters that might start on either the left or right side. I've created master pages for each. When I output the book to a PDF as spreads which is important to do for me if there is a right hand start the pages stack instead of becoming the spread they are designed to be. I've attached a screenshot of the thumbnails. I'm sure it's a setting or set up problem but i'm lost. Thanks for your help.

[Creamer Training]

If a chapter starts on the next available page, you want your book setting to be "continue from previous document". For this to work properly, you should use a Primary text frame. While it can work with asymmetrical left/right margins, symmetrical left/right margins work best (for when pages change from left-to-right and vice versa).

As far as the PDF is concerned, I'm not quite following what you want. Your screen capture shows single pages in the midst of the layout, and it appears that your spreads are designed as a single (double-width) page in InDesign. 

If you only want the first page of the PDF to be on the right side, just choose the "Show Cover Page in Two Page View" option in Acrobat. If you want the appearance of two-page spreads and single pages, you should create two different sized parent pages. 

More info would be needed on how the document was built in InDesign and how it is display in Acrobat to give a more detailed answer.