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Placing a multiple page PDF into InDesign

Guest
Mar 22, 2012 Mar 22, 2012

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I have CS5.  I'm working on a multipage document in InDesign and I want to bring in a multipage PDF document into that InDesign document.  For some reason, when I do File>Place, it brings in the first page of the PDF (with perfect formatting) but the other pages do not come in.  Is there some other setting that I'm missing to capture all pages of the PDF to transfer into the same number of pages in my InDesign document?

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Adobe Employee , Apr 30, 2021 Apr 30, 2021

Hi all,

 

See  (https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/place-a-multipage-pdf-in-indesign/td-p/11343293 )  for a consolidated list of scripts and solutions to place multipage PDF in InDesign. Try the solutions and let us know if you still need assistance.  

 

Regards,

Srishti

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Community Expert ,
Mar 22, 2012 Mar 22, 2012

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When you choose File > Place, in the Place dialog box, check Choose Import Options. Then you'll be presented with a screen where you can choose the pages to place.

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New Here ,
Apr 05, 2020 Apr 05, 2020

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thank you for the solution!

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New Here ,
Jan 04, 2023 Jan 04, 2023

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Thank you thank you!!

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Explorer ,
May 16, 2023 May 16, 2023

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It's easy to miss that in the 'file open' dialog box there may be additional options, some of which are rather important - particularly if you're used to most software on Windows which never has any extra options there (don't know about Macs).

Top tip.

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Community Expert ,
May 17, 2023 May 17, 2023

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What does that have to do with anything in this discussion? Please stay on topic!

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Explorer ,
May 25, 2023 May 25, 2023

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The 'Place' dialog box is pretty much the same as the 'File Open' dialog box.  There are not normally extra options like that in that same dialog box (usually the options are offered elsewhere once you've selected the file).  So it's easy to miss that the options you need for 'page 2' are at the same time as when you select the file.  I missed that, and thought it would be helpful to others to point that out.

 

Your comment, however, is a complete waste of everyone's time.  Please remove it.

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Explorer ,
May 25, 2023 May 25, 2023

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In what way is my comment not "on topic"?!  Please explain.

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Explorer ,
May 25, 2023 May 25, 2023

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Why did you not reply to the two "thank you" comments similarly?!

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New Here ,
Aug 07, 2023 Aug 07, 2023

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Awesome shortcut! Thanks Steve.

 

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New Here ,
Aug 07, 2023 Aug 07, 2023

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LATEST

Thanks Steve!!

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Community Expert ,
Mar 22, 2012 Mar 22, 2012

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GArshamA wrote:

[...]   Is there some other setting that I'm missing to capture all pages of the PDF to transfer into the same number of pages in my InDesign document?

No, there is no such option. Steve's suggestion does pop up a dialog so you can select page 2, page 3, etc. -- and even "all" -- but InDesign does not create the pages for you, as it does with text.

Use Scott Zanelli's script for this: http://indesignsecrets.com/zanelli-releases-multipageimporter-for-importing-both-pdf-and-indd-files....

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Guest
Mar 22, 2012 Mar 22, 2012

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there IS such an optionScreen shot 2012-03-22 at 3.11.37 PM.jpgScreen shot 2012-03-22 at 3.11.13 PM.jpg

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Community Expert ,
Mar 23, 2012 Mar 23, 2012

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Read the OP's question:

Is there some other setting that I'm missing to capture all pages of the PDF to transfer into the same number of pages in my InDesign document?

(my emphasis). Now please point out where you see that option in the dialog ...

Scott's script is the best way to do this.

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Guest
Mar 22, 2012 Mar 22, 2012

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You can load your cursor with All Pages as shows above by tman, then just click to place... either in a frame or to margins (depends what you're doing I guess). Make sure you have set frame fitting options first.

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Community Expert ,
Mar 23, 2012 Mar 23, 2012

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this question has been discussed to death on this forum... search the forum.

G

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Community Beginner ,
Aug 02, 2014 Aug 02, 2014

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Is there no way to bring all pages in at one time or do I need to click 69 times if there are 69 pages?

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Community Expert ,
Aug 03, 2014 Aug 03, 2014

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There's a link to a script in response #2. Use it.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 09, 2015 Dec 09, 2015

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To place multiple pages in Indesign effortlessly

Step 1: Go to file>>New>>Document, Fill in the number of pages and first page. (Do not mix up the number 

              of pages and the first page boxes). Also if you want single pages, uncheck the facing pages and   

               check the single page (make sure only one of these is checked)

Step 2: From Window (on the Tools Bar) go to Utilities>>Scripts

Step 3: In the appearing panel,Click Applications> then scripts>>then javascripts.

Step 4: Under javascripts scroll down to "placemultiplePDFpages and double-click it.

Step 5: In the appearing "choose File box" search for the pdf you want to place in Indesign and clck open.   

            You will see a message"place pdf in new document. Click OK, Followed by another OK( message

             Indesign document) and relax to enjoy watching the placement being done for you automatically. 

             You do not have even have to touch the mouse.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 09, 2015 Dec 09, 2015

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To place multiple pages in Indesign effortlessly  (Using Applescript)

Step 1: Go to file>>New>>Document, Fill in the number of pages and  Start page. (Do not mix up the number 

              of pages and the Start page boxes). Also if you want single pages, uncheck the facing pages and   

               check the Primary Test Frame (make sure only one of these is checked)

Step 2: From Window (on the Tools Bar) go to Utilities>>Scripts

Step 3: In the appearing panel,Click Applications> then scripts>>then Applescripts

Step 4: Under Applescripots scroll down to "placemultipagePDF.applescript and double-click it.

Step 5: In the appearing "choose File box" search for the pdf you want to place in Indesign and clck open.   

            You will see a message"Place pdf " Start page (enter start page and Click OK,

             Relax to enjoy watching the placement being done for you automatically. 

             You do not  even have to touch the mouse.

           About using either the applescript or javascript: The applescript produced single pages, but the javascript 

           produced facing pages, even though the same settings were selected in Step 1. There might have been   

           some computer sensitivity.

A. A. Frempong

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Engaged ,
Dec 09, 2015 Dec 09, 2015

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Scott Zanelli's script is the best option. Create a new doc with at least one page in it. Run the script (see link above), fill in the right settings (where to start, offset left or right, transparent background ...) and click run. I use it to place sometime 300 pages in to a file. takes me less that one minute.

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Community Expert ,
Dec 10, 2015 Dec 10, 2015

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I agree with Gert here. While the placemultiplePDFpages script that ships with ID will perform the task, Scott Zanelli's script goes above and beyond, letting users:

  • place in logical or reverse page order;
  • Allow the PDFs (or INDD pages) to either fit to page or scale proportionally to a user-entered amount;
  • Choose the alignment point of the incoming files based on a 9-point proxy that can be rotated or offset;
  • Choose the desired area box to use (trim, media, crop, bleed, art)
  • Allows the incoming files to import onto their own layer
If the answer wasn't in my post, perhaps it might be on my blog at colecandoo!

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Guest
Mar 09, 2016 Mar 09, 2016

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Thank you for explaining specifically why this is the superior method.

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Engaged ,
Mar 30, 2016 Mar 30, 2016

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My fear is that an abode's customer relations or QA will read this thread and think to themselves "Well that problem is solved, no need to do anything about that" instead of "holy crap, this is a glaring omission from our software that is inconveniencing many and a couple of people have put together solutions in their bedrooms over a weekend why didn't we solve this 8 years ago?"

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New Here ,
Mar 17, 2016 Mar 17, 2016

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Thank you! Thank you! I used to do this in CS5 and hadn't been able to find it or figure it out in CS6. This will save me some time.

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