Starting sections on left-hand page with manual numbering

[MisterChezpt]

It appears that I am only able to start a section on the left-hand page of a facing spread if I choose the "Automatic Page Numbering" option, though when I set my book up with a preface that includes pages I wish not to count, it means that page one of the first chapter actually reads as page 6 and that all pages in each subsequent section do not reflect their individual section page number, but rather that of their place within the entire book.  The problem is that when I switch to "Start Page Numbering at:", InDesign reflows my spreads so that the section starts as a single page on the right-hand page which screws up some of my (left-hand start) spreads.  At that point I am able to remove "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle" and manually re-set each page to its appropriate spread, but this workflow is difficult and cumbersome in a 45page document with multiple sections that I am continually updating in order to publish new content. 

Any experienced users out there who have a better workflow?

Am I missing something with the document setup?

[rob day]

when I set my book up with a preface that includes pages I wish not to count, it means that page one of the first chapter actually reads as page 6 and that all pages in each subsequent section do not reflect their individual section page number, but rather that of their place within the entire book.

If your book is setup as facing pages and is going to be printed, page 1 always has to be to the right of the spine.

I can set up a facing page document that starts with page 2 on the left by setting the Start Page #: to 2 in the New Document dialog. But where is the page 1 that would have to print on the back of page 2 when the book is imposed and bound? In another document?

[MisterChezpt]

Perhaps you didn't see that the question is specifically about section numbering.  Im fully aware that a printed document bound on the left will start with a right-hand page layout.

[rob day]

Maybe a screen capture would help.

[hammer0909]

Rob's explanation was relevant to your question but maybe we need a little more details. When you start a new section on a facing page document, you can start a new numbering scheme at whatever number you wish. But if you use an odd number it will put the start page as a right-hand (recto) page or and if you use an even number it will put the start page as a left-hand (verso) page. This is just InDesign doing it's job to help you create a proper printed document.

When you say you want those preface pages "not to count" I'm assuming you mean not count towards the numbering of the pages. In a case like that, I typically set the numbering and section options for the first page of the preface to lowercase roman numerals style and then where you actually want the true numbers to start, start that at page number 1. This way the sixth page of the document reads as page 1 and the preface pages will use roman numerals. Technically you can use numbers for both, but then it gets confusing for printing and exporting purposes.

[MisterChezpt]

Well, I guess I hadn't had my coffee yet or I had a software bug because after re-starting the program, the section numbering options no longer re-flowed the document and is no longer a problem.  HOWEVER, I still have a bit of a problem.

For some context on the document; I'm creating a technical process document that utilizes both the section and contiguous page number within that section to reference/mark content throughout the document.  For example, "chapter 1" is marked as 1-1 through 1-13, indicating that its roughly 13 pages long before "chapter 2" starts, and we're back to 2-1 through 2-24.  I am able to set the correct section numbering manually just fine after a program restart.  For some reason, the program would re-flow the entire document after changing  "Automatic Page Numbering" to "Start Page Numbering at:".  (I also noticed that automatic numbering only counts from the start of the previous section, regardless of how many sections in the document come before)  I hope my workflow for setting section numbering is not the problem because I need a quick, automatic way to number these sections and setting each section to start at 1 seems to work.

NOW it seems like the problem Im having is with the shuffle settings.  Because of the previous numbering requirement as well as the need for left-hand (verso) section starters, I cannot use the "Shuffle Document Pages" setting because when I do and attempt to insert pages to a section in order to add content to that section, they're automatically tacked on as accordion spreads, rather than separate, 2-page facing spreads because I'm seemingly unable to have both left-hand (verso) section starters AND the ability to insert pages shuffled correctly simultaneously.

For example, with both the ability to shuffle document pages AND selected spreads turned on, inserting 2 pages (one spread) looks like the image below.  This is the behavior I'm looking for EXCEPT that it also re-flows the document and prevents me from having left-hand section starters.;

When I have just the "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle" option selected, it does not allow me to utilize the left-hand (verso) section starter, and gives me a funky re-flow as illustrated in the following screen shot;

However, because I need to have the "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle" options disabled (It doesn't seem to make a difference whether I have "Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle" activated or disabled) in order to have left-hand (verso) section starters, when I insert pages they show up as accordion spreads which need to be moved manually, like this;

I was wondering if there were some settings or document presets to be able to avoid this, but I'm beginning to think it all needs to be done manually, which I guess is ultimately fine.

[rob day · Accepted solution]

For example, "chapter 1" is marked as 1-1 through 1-13, indicating that its roughly 13 pages long before "chapter 2" starts, and we're back to 2-1 through 2-24.

That would give you 37 pages and you would need an even count of pages for something like wire-o or perfect binding, and multiples of 4 for saddle stitch. So assuming you will eventually add another page somewhere, you could set up your 37 page document, disable Allow Document Pages to Shuffle, and set page 14 to start as 1. If you want to add pages you can re-enable Allow Document Pages to Shuffle and you will be asked if you want to keep the document spreads together.

Re-enabling Allow Document Pages to Shuffle