I have searched everywhere to find out how I can automatically set InDesign to create page numbers that look like X of Y; for example, 15 of 35. I can probably make it happen manually, by adding the page numbering automatically and then adding the text of how many total pages at the end.
This is not the best option since, if the number of pages change, you have to manually update the total pages number- something that could easily get overlooked towards the end of a project when things get crazy! Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you!
Rebecca
Sadly, you must overlook nothing at the crazy end of your project!
Mike Witherell
If you made a master with just the "of Y" bit in place and based all your
masters on that, you would just need to make one change at the end of the
job. Then all you need is a big Post-it note on your monitor to make sure
you make that change.
Or you could put something outrageous in as Y on the assumption that it's
bound to be noticed - and the fervent hope that it is.
Or perhaps one of the clever scripting chaps could come up with an answer.
k
> Or perhaps one of the clever scripting chaps could come
> up with an answer.
Ken, could be easily done with scripting, but you have to stick a post-it to
your monitor to run the script afterwards to actualize the numbering... so
no real advantage over your really fine method.
Jens
Arrr, the old ways often be the best.
k
Thanks for the info. I guess running a script at the end would be a good option, particularly if you have more than one script to run at the end of projects. At that point, it becomes more of a routine. Anyway, I think I will stick to the post-it note method as I don't know how to do scripting for InDesign. Anyway, one quick gripe: I just can't understand why such a seemingly simple feature such as page X of Y has been in Word for so long, and couldn't be put into InDesign. Thanks again!
-Rebecca
> I just can't understand why such a seemingly simple feature
> such as page X of Y has been in Word for so long, and
> couldn't be put into InDesign.
Because MS Word is a word processor, and InDesign is a desktop publishing
tool, that is comparing apples with strawberries. If you argue in this
manner, you could ask for every little feature of the overfeatured MS Word.
but feel free to add this as a feature request in the appropiate indesign
featurerequest forum/newsgroup.
Jens
why such a seemingly simple feature such as page X of Y has been in Word for
so long, and couldn't be put into InDesign. Thanks again!
Word also does a lot of automatic stuff that drives me nuts...it's
constantly trying to think, and it rarely reads my mind. The numbering
sequence you mention might be neat, but honestly, I don't recall *ever*
seeing a book/magazine/whatever printed this way. Software, such as
Powerpoint, sure. But on paper, I just flip to the last page if I need to
know how many are left. Actually, I can feel the number, within 50 or so
pages anyway. :-)
ID is pretty high on design features, and it's just starting to fly with
book features, so maybe the next version will have more stuff specifically
for books.
-John O
In this case, I wanted to use it in a technical report. It is just a nice feature when you are putting out a digital report. It allows you to print out just the pages that are missing if some pages get misplaced. You don't want to loose pages in a technical report since they may contain important information.
I am using the book feature only because InDesign does not allow me to have different page orientations within a single document! I have to create many different documents, each with the proper orientation, and place them in a book to get them to create a report that has the text oriented in portrait and the figures in landscape. This, to rehash doing it the old fashion way, leaves a lot of room for error when I have to manually repaginate 10 different documents. I know it is part of my job to check for these type of errors, but I am a GIS person, not a designer, so I was looking for a way to automate as much as I could to eliminate as many stupid-user problems as I could.
Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that InDesign is not just being used to create brochures, magazines, etc. It has a much wider use than that. I have found that it integrates our text, Adobe Illustrator figures, and Adobe Photoshop pictures into one nice document that can then be published as a PDF. I appreciate the suggestions and have posted the issue on the feature request forum. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to explain why this might be important in some cases.
The numbering sequence you mention might be neat, but honestly, I don't
recall *ever* seeing a book/magazine/whatever printed this way.
Does this really need to be X of Y? In my opinion, the Page 1 of 20 format isn't really that great. Maybe in some cases a certain type of project the reader may want to know how many pages are still left each time they turn the page but other than that I don't see this being a very exciting new feature to add on ID.
What I would like to see added on ID is the check spelling/grammer as you type feature included in MS Word (Word Processing Software) so I could run the add/remove programs wizard and get rid of Word once and for all. OH, and they need to add the totally rad Office paperclip guy too! J/K
I usually do my numbering on manuals in Page 2-1, Page 2-2, Page 2-3, Page 2-4 format. Which again, in my own personal opinion works great.
Now, if I was asked to number my pages in X of Y format, I would do it almost the same way as I do my numbering now. The only thing I think I would do different is wait until I am done with all the other tasks for my project and try to do the numbering last. This should avoid problems resulting in wrong page numbering. A script might do the trick too but it isn't really necessary since it can be done without one.
RN, I didn't get a chance to read message 8 before making my previous post.
True, there is no comparing Word to InDesign and there are a lot of crazy things in Word that I would never want in InDesign. But I agree with RN. I don't think asking for the ability to have "page x of y" is too much, it's just one step further than auto page numbering now. Plus, Acrobat can do it. There are many documents I create here at work that get distributed throughout the company, they like the "page x of y". I make PDFs of my InDesign document and put the page numbers in through Acrobat. I'd love to be able to do it in InDesign instead.
The bigger issue is just getting a few more long-document features in ID. If we had cross-references (and user variables), then it'd be easy to do "X of Y" (it's how it's done in FM). And cross-references would be much more useful to more people than a single "X of Y" feature. (And Gabriel and Jens might even agree that they would be a "very exciting new feature"!)
> (And Gabriel and Jens might even agree that they would
> be a "very exciting new feature"!)
Yes, it would be. Most of it could be done with scripting (like chapter
numbering), but this would be only a workaround. I think it is time for me
to learn C++ and get the InDesign SDK so that I can write plugins that are
integrated in Indesign... ;-)
Jens
(And Gabriel and Jens might even agree that they would be a "very exciting
new feature"!)
If needed I would use a script or do it in the end of the project as I mentioned previously.
Maybe in some cases a certain type of project the reader may want to know
how many pages are still left each time they turn the page
Unfortunately since I never use it or don't seem to have a need for it any time in the future, I can't appreciate it even if it does exist as a feature in the next update. I could see how it would be appreciated by RN and some other people. However, seeing what I read in post 8, this is important to some users like RN so I really do feel that it should be added. I think this at least deserves a script or something should be done to make things painless. I wish I knew something about writing scripts so I could be of further help but I don't, sorry.
Try posting a request in the InDesign scripting forum, someone might be able to make one for you RN.
> Try posting a request in the InDesign scripting forum,
> someone might be able to make one for you RN.
As I said in Posting 4 the script itself isn't the problem, but the fact
that you have to activate it manually - you can't hook certain scripts to
situations like save, close or quit, so no real advantage over doing it
manually. Only a plugin would help, because these are integrated into
InDesign itself.
Jens
Only a plugin would help, because these are integrated into InDesign itself.
See, I told you I didn't know squat about scripts. I don't even know the difference in a plug and a script. All I know is that they are there and they work for me. :)
I just saw this in a plug-in sales newsletter I get. I don't endorse it or use it or sell it ... it just seems appropriate for this thread:
InDesign Plug-in:
J2SAutodata
J2SAutodata, Mac or Windows, $59, is designed to insert the total number of pages of a document and keep this number up to date as pages are added or removed. J2SAutodata also works with InDesign books.
J2SAutodata provides a new item in the Special Characters submenu of the Type menu. This menu item lets the user insert the number of pages in the document or book in the same way as they might insert the current page number. In this manner, J2SAutodata will count all the pages of an InDesign book and allow the user to display the result in one or more of the documents attached to the book.
Manufacturer: J2S
(It appeared in the PowerXchange Newsletter: <http://www.powerxchange.com>
If needed I would use a script or do it in the end of the project as I mentioned previously.
I was referring to cross-references in general, not simply a total page count. Maybe you don't ever have the need for cross-refs, but for those that do, resolving a large number of them manually across files is a real pain. Sure, it can be done manually, but if that's a reason not to have a feature, we could ditch table of contents, index, paragraph composer, snap to baseline, etc, etc.
Dominic_Hurley@no-spam wrote in
news:2cd10de9.17@no-spam
> If needed I would use a script or do it in the end of the project
> as I mentioned previously.
>
> I was referring to cross-references in general, not simply a total
> page count. Maybe you don't ever have the need for cross-refs, but
> for those that do, resolving a large number of them manually
> across files is a real pain. Sure, it can be done manually, but if
> that's a reason not to have a feature, we could ditch table of
> contents, index, paragraph composer, snap to baseline, etc, etc.
I, too, would love to have a general cross-referencing function.
"In my opinion, the Page 1 of 20 format isn't really that great. Maybe in some cases a certain type of project the reader may want to know how many pages are still left each time they turn the page but other than that I don't see this being a very exciting new feature to add on ID."
It's commonly used in technical reports ... it lets the reader know if they have lost some pages from their printout, or as happens with a busy shared printer, that someone else has walked off with some of the pages mixed in with their email printouts.
Engineers like it, and if you are producing documents for enginers, the publishing software should be able to do this, preferably automatically.
> It's commonly used in technical reports ... it lets the reader know if
they have lost some pages from their printout, or as happens with a busy
shared printer, that someone else has walked off with some of the pages
mixed in with their email printouts.
Yeah, but...Knowing that there are supposed to be 48 pages doesn't tell me
they are all there unless I look at each and every page, or count them
myself. At this point, it makes no difference if the system is X of Y or
just X.
When the end-user doesn't have the doc in-hand--such as a Powerpoint
pres--then X of Y tells me how much pain I have yet to endure. :-) But if I
have the doc in my hand, I just don't understand what X of Y gives me with
regards to page count.
-John O
But if I have the doc in my hand, I just don't understand what X of Y gives me with regards to page count.
You have a 50-page document in your hand. The last page seems to be the last page (ie, it is complete and doesn't end in the middle of a sentence). However, you have not been given the last two pages which set out some extra information in an addendum. You do not know these pages are missing because the numbers do not say "X of Y".
Ah, I see. No TOC or index in this doc then. I get it, thanks.
-John O
JohnO, It took me a little while to understand it but I too understand the use of it now.
I actually find this style of numbering useful when printing out pages from the web via a browser - I don't often check the last page on screen before I hit print, so it's a handy check to know I have them all. I would venture to say it's of limited use if you have a table of contents or in bound books (I've certainly never used it in such circumstances).