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Indexing chapter by chapter before book is complete

Community Beginner ,
Apr 01, 2021 Apr 01, 2021

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Hello. I am a newish indexer for a book that is currently being written. When the authors finish each chapter, they send it to me, and the expectation is that I will index each chapter as I receive it. I am a little worried about this approach. It seems like I will end up having tons of duplicate index tags on terms.

 

I'm worried I'm not making sense...I'm sorry. I guess what I mean is this: If I index chapter 1, and I tag the word "atmosphere," then I will have a list of page numbers in chapter, right? But then when I get and index chapter 2, I will tag all instances of "atmosphere"--only now, in addition to tagging all the "atmosphere"s in chapter 2, I will also re-tag all the instances in chapter 1. I've had this "double tagging" problem in the past, and the only way I found to fix it was to go through and manually remove the duplicate tags. So I'm concerned I will have to do that on a large scale in this book, when all the chapters are in. I would prefer to index once the book is complete, but just in case I don't have that option: is there a way to do it chapter by chapter without making too much extra work for myself? (If there is no real way to do it, that's also good to know. I can just tell the authors I'll need the whole book before I can start indexing.)

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Community Expert , Apr 01, 2021 Apr 01, 2021

Sure.

 

  • First,make sure you only have one index entry for each listing. This should preclude your duplicate problem straight away.
  • Delete all your old indexes. If you're running indexes by the chapter, those all need to be removed before you run your final, overarching Index you generate for the entire book.
  • Create a separate, discrete Index document. Place it at the end of the Indesign book file, preceded by your chapters and your FoB document (publisher's page, Table of Contents, dedication p
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Community Expert ,
Apr 01, 2021 Apr 01, 2021

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Sure.

 

  • First,make sure you only have one index entry for each listing. This should preclude your duplicate problem straight away.
  • Delete all your old indexes. If you're running indexes by the chapter, those all need to be removed before you run your final, overarching Index you generate for the entire book.
  • Create a separate, discrete Index document. Place it at the end of the Indesign book file, preceded by your chapters and your FoB document (publisher's page, Table of Contents, dedication page, foreward, etc.).
  • Generate your index, making sure you select the Include Book Documents check box in the Generate Index dialog box.

 

This should generate you one index of all the chapters, with only one index marker for each index entry you create. Easy Peasy.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Randy

 

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Community Expert ,
Apr 03, 2021 Apr 03, 2021

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To add a minor point to Randy's excellent advice, you can add chapters to your ID Book file as you get them. Then index them with the book-based index list. 

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 03, 2021 Apr 03, 2021

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Thank you for this, too!

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 03, 2021 Apr 03, 2021

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Oh awesome--thank you so much!

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New Here ,
Sep 14, 2021 Sep 14, 2021

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I have a 24 Chapter Book I want to index. I just cannot understand how to do this. I have a Book file set up and I get a perfect Chapter pdf so I know it works and now I want to index this using book. I can index one chapter but not the whole book. I cannot find any advice on how to do this. 

On the index panel I see a book option. Do I tick this and then go through my book making entires on Chpaters that I open from the book file? Or do I make a special generated list at the end of my chapters? I tried this using "Use documents from file" but it didn't work. I got just one single entry on Page I

 

Do I have to select an entry from a chapter? Or do I just make and entry? 

I do wish Adobe made using Book easier as it is so good but so hard to work out how to use.

 

This is probably so easy but I cannot see how to do this. I am good with the Adobe suite. Please help!

 

Maybe I should give up on the index!

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Community Expert ,
Sep 14, 2021 Sep 14, 2021

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I wouldn't give up on InDesign's indexing functions. Once you master them, they're pretty powerful and, after the dirty work of making all your index entries.

 

I'm simplifying this a lot, but my workflow goes like this, using your 24-chapter example:

 

  • Make the index entries — all of them, ideally — before you try to generate the index. All 24 chapters, as well as any Front of Book (FoB, like table of contents, dedications, acknowledgements, foreward/prologue, etc.) entries should be made before you create the index. Because if you have to make last minute additions/deletions, you're best served to re-run and replace the previous index. It's the only way to be sure.
  • Build the Book sequence in your Book panel. Set the sequence exactly like you'd read it through. If needed, use the book functions to reset the pagination to your desires. You want the pagination of your first 24 chapters (and FoB, if appropriate) right and tight before you start to run your index. You can learn all the details about creating an InDesign book here.
  • Now create a new document for your book. This will contain your index. Save it as [my book name] index.indd, then add it to the end of your Book panel.

 

Now you're ready to create your index.

 

  • Since you've added the index document to the Book panel, when you click into the [your book name] index.indd file to create your index, you've laid the groundwork to created your book-wide index.
  • Go to the Index panel and select the Generate Index... command from the panel's flyaway menu. Since your file for the Index document is part of the InDesign book file, you can now select the Include Book Documents check box and when you create the index, it will find the entries for each chapter, any FoB documents you added, and the index document — which is blank at this point, so there will be no index entries there.
  • It'll take a bit, but InDesign will do all the legwork for you. When you get the text for your book, just like you have been getting it for your sample chapter. It'll churn a while longer, and you'll see that it lists each document in your book, in sequence, as it assembles the index.
  • Place the index text in your index document. format it and make it pretty to your satisfaction, and you'll be done.

 

One important note: There's one check box I'd recommend you never use. Never select the Replace Existing Index check box. If you need to run an updated index for your book, create a new one and replace the bad old index with the good new one. Like the Saturday Night Live characters Hans and Franz would tell you: "Listen to me now, and believe me later."

 

You can get the lowdown on creating indexes here.

 

This should get you where you want to be.

 

Good luck,

 

Randy

 

 

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New Here ,
Sep 14, 2021 Sep 14, 2021

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Hi Randy

Thank you for your reply! I do appreciate your help, which I am going to try.

I am good with computers so I had a "play" on a copy. I read through Adobe's Create an Index in Design which to me is  seems to  be written in Martian.

It said "Open all documents in the Book file", so I did all 25 of them 26 being the empty Index pages and I started to index. If you have all the Chapters open the indexing works. It will take me a couple of hours to work through this. Then I should be able to generate my index. It appears you need all the chapters open to see what is happening.  Fortunately there is a drop menu down to find the chapter you want. If you don't have them all open the indexing does not work.

In this support item it tells you the short cut to make the entry conform. John Smith = Smith John: It then give 2 entries in the index window, so fingers crossed as that may cause a problem

I use most of the Adobe suite but have found Book File the hardest to get my head around. Makes Prem Pro and Audition and even Illustrator seem like chld's play. I think because it looks as if the chapters will merge  seemlessly but as I have found out they don't or perhaps do when you have them all open at once.

Adobe does not make this easy. Every time I use "Grid" in Photoshop, illustrator or InDesign which I do on occasions, they all do the same thing in a completely different way and I have to look them up! No one has produced a YouTube on Indexing using a Book file. I wonder why? 

I'll report back when finished.  Obviously this is for a print version but what happens in E-Pub? I'll worry about that later.

 

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