Your opinon: when to use a book file vs. one LONG document?

---

@turner111 wrote:

• The main reason I'm considering one long body is because I don't like synchronizing 50 files every time I update a style in one (place).

I have automatic syncing turned off, and only sync when I an ready to do so.

Think of a book file like a three stage rocket - there's the same amount of content, but because it is split into smaller parts, it can go further than a rocket that's in one part.

The larger a document is, the slower it will go. Previews in the pages panel need to redraw more pages, preflight needs to check more pages, GREP styles need to be parsed on more pages... there is just more things for the software to do.

There is also the philosophy of putting all eggs in one basket - if the one file becomes corrupt and the last retrievable backup is days ago... that's a lot of work in one document... but if one part of a book becomes corrupt, the time to fix the book isn't as bad.

Hi turner111,

three things that could speak against a workflow with an InDesign Book file:

[1] Footnote management

[2] Endnote management

[3] Publish Online as output is not possible

( Only for every single document. )

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

I'm a big fan of the multi-document/InDesign Book workflow. Not only for the reasons you mentioned, but for the project management advantages too.

When you're working on one big document it's a lot harder to know where you're at in the process. You may know you're behind the curve, but it's hard to determine how much. When it's broken down into a couple of dozen chunks, you can easily track your progress, identify little problems as they occur and make quick in-flight corrections to put yourself on track. And whether you're using a legal pad or a whiteboard, clearly track exactly where you're at in the process.

So I'm a big fan of InDesign's book functions. I recommend them highly.

Hope this helps,

Randy

It's a lot easier to edit a short file included in a Book than to scroll through a single long document, and easier to completely replace a section as well, plus if there is corruption (and it happens) you won't lose everything. I'd definitely go with the Book.

Unless the articles are all available at the same time, I would probably us a Book file. Especially, if the order is changing--cutting & pasting is more troublesome than syncing constant changes. 

However, I understand not wanting to sync every style change. I keep a separate file with just styles in it, usually grouped together by type, and at the end of the book files (so I can remove it before PDF'ing). I just sync any changes to the style guide document as I go. Then I use the style to sync to all the others whenever I feel like it. 

Keep in mind that this advice is given without full knowledge of the project...