Indesign Master pages

[JenniferLeigh]

I am putting together a document which contains different bios on each page. The page has a photo of the person in the right corner (for right pages) and left corner (on left-hand pages), a text box with the person's name and title (justified right on right pages and justified left on left pages) and another text box with the bio. The bios are in alphabetical order so I am realizing that if I finish all the bios and then have to insert a new bio, all the pages after the inserted page will be messed up because the left hand pages will become right hand pages. Is there any way to handle this in master pages so that I won't have to re-align all the boxes (from left to right justified) each time I insert a new bio?

I have the left and right master pages set up correctly but because I have to override the master items when I put in new bio info, those text boxes stay the same and don't shift to the other alignment when they move from a left- hand page to a right-hand page (and visa versa).

 

[FourCandles]

I'm pretty sure you can do this with a combination of anchored objects and the "align away from spine" options; I don't have much time to look on InDesign at the moment but try a search for "InDesign align objects away from spine" and you may find it. Otherwise I'll have a look tomorrow.

 

[JenniferLeigh]

aligning picture boxes from the spine

Thank you so much for your reply. You helped me to figure out how to align the text away from the spine but the only way I've been able to see how to align the objects away from the spine is if I embed the image or text box in another text box. There must be an easier way!

 

[FourCandles]

Thank you so much for your reply. You helped me to figure out how to align the text away from the spine but the only way I've been able to see how to align the objects away from the spine is if I embed the image or text box in another text box. There must be an easier way!

Well, I've had a play with this in ID CS2 and as far as I can see, this is the only way - all of the info I've found points to anchoring an object within an existing text frame once you've put a cursor in there as your anchor point. Also, you're going to have to do the same thing for your text box with the bio info and align towards the spine, so that it too changes according to whether it's on a left or right hand page. Seems silly to me - but maybe the whole anchored text box method in ID is more aimed at side notes and references that "follow" the text in the main column as it flows, rather than what you're trying to achieve with each page 'standing alone' as a separate article.

Do post again if you find a better way (maybe CS3/4 added some refinements?) 'cos this is bugging me now!

 

[JenniferLeigh]

Indesign frustrations!

Yes, exactly! I'm glad I was able to share my frustration and thanks for taking the slack! This has been bugging me for years. Thanks again for the info on the alignment - I learned something new!

 

[FourCandles]

No problem

 

[FourCandles]

....Also, you're going to have to do the same thing for your text box with the bio info and align towards the spine, so that it too changes according to whether it's on a left or right hand page.

Actually, this is the *only* frame that you'll need to nest like this. The image frame for the person's photo and the text frame for the Name & Job Title can then be created by inserting anchored objects at the insertion point in this main text frame, with appropriate settings to align them away from the spine and up to the page margin.

Still not ideal, but much simpler than having all three frames embedded within other frames; and it ties the photo & name to the bio.