I have Book with 40 documents - How to adjust margin to some NEW value (same on every book page)?

[RexB78]

Hi - I am one month in to using InDesign to layout the internal design of my first book. I am using the Book feature, and now have a Book with 40 documents (chapters). I have one Master (A-Master) for every document. I know which of my 40 documents is my "Style Source." I now want to adjust the book margin for every page in my book (all 40 documents). For example, I want to see if .75in outer margin looks better than .5in outer margin. How do I make the margin change and then have it apply to every page on every document?

Thanks much!

Rex

[Laubender]

Hi Rex,

because I find some of the synching features of the InDesign book files notorious and riddled with bugs I would add two rectangles on the A-Master of every document with text wrap applied. The rectangles are positioned in a way that the outer margins are increased from .5in to .75in. So that in effect the text wrapping rectangles define the outer margins.

Note: Before you try anything with InDesign's synching features for books do a complete backup of your documents so that you can go back at any time.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[RexB78]

Thank you, Uwe! I appreciate you letting me know that the Book synching feature has issues, and to back up my files beforehand. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this moment. Clearly I'm going to have to go into every one of my Book documents, either using your method or the method David mentioned below. Thanks much, Uwe,

Rex

[David Popham · Accepted solution]

To sync all master pages to the Style Source document, check Master Pages in the Synchronize Options > Other dialog from the Book panel menu.

As Uwe hinted, this can be straightforward or fraught with some peril, depending on how the InDesign files are set up. If you have a simple layout using only the A-Master pages and everything is contained in a single text frame, the change should go rather smoothly. If you have a complex layout with many separate elements on each page, the results can vary.

To get the files to adjust the content to the new margins, check Adjust Layout in the Layout > Margins and Columns dialog. You'll need to change this in each InDesign file.

You'll definitely want to test this on a copy of your files and experiment with the settings. And as mentioned, keep a backup before using it on actual files.

[RexB78]

Hi David,

Thanks much for the excellent details. My layout is simple so probably the method you mentioned will work fine. (I was hoping for something that didn't require I open/update every one of my 40 chapters, but it is what it is.) One possibility is for me to not use the Book feature and to put my book in one document (around 150 pages). However,one thing I like about the Book feature is the ability to use the Book Panel to quickly go to locations in my book. If I did not use the Book feature - and had the whole book in one document - do you know of any way for me to see something like that same structure to allow me to easily View/GoTo various areas in my book? I know I could use the Pages Panel but that does not display the structure of my book like the Book Panel. Maybe there is a work-around for this? (If need be, I could post this as a separate question.)

Thank you again, David,

Rex

[RexB78]

I'm going to answer my own (2nd) question, immediately above. The question was ... If I do NOT use the Book feature, what feature (or panel) can I use to still get around quickly in my book. Or we could simply ask, "What can I do to easily get around in one long document?" After asking that question, I found the Bookmarks feature and the Bookmarks Panel. So a User could go to the one-time trouble of creating a Bookmark at the start of each Chapter, and then use the Bookmarks Panel to quickly navigate around the long document while they worked on the book. I am a Newbie, so take my idea for whatever it's worth!