Pages

Adding and moving pages and spreads, and using master pages and guides.

Pages tab

The Page tab of the right panel shows page thumbnails in order. The Master Pages area is at the top and the page list below it; drag the divider between them to resize the master area.

• Click a thumbnail to select it. Shift+click selects a range; ⌘/Ctrl+click adds or removes single pages.
• Double-click a thumbnail to scroll the canvas to that page.
• Thumbnails show the page content in its real colours and text. The prefix letter of the applied master (A etc.) appears in the top corner, and the number below each thumbnail follows the section numbering.
• The area currently visible on the canvas is marked on the thumbnails with a red frame. Drag the frame to move the canvas view there. When you scroll the canvas, the panel follows.
• The spread you are currently editing is marked with a purple bar on its left.

Related questions

• How do I jump to a specific page?
• How do I select several pages?

Adding, deleting and moving pages

• Add: click the Add page button at the bottom of the Page tab to append a page at the end. To insert at a specific position, right-click a thumbnail and choose Insert page before or Insert page after. A new page uses the master of its neighbouring page. You can also insert a page by dragging a master (see "Master pages").
• Duplicate: Duplicate{{n}} in the right-click menu duplicates the selected pages with their content. Objects are copied (threaded text frames stay threaded among the copies) and the applied master comes along.
• Delete: select pages and click the Delete selected pages button or choose Delete{{n}} from the right-click menu. You cannot delete all pages at once.
• Move: while you drag a thumbnail, a bar shows where it will land; release it there. Dragging to the top or bottom edge of the list scrolls it automatically.

After you insert, duplicate, move or delete pages, the canvas moves to that page (after a delete, the page that took its place). If that page is already fully visible, the view stays put.

Each plan limits how many pages a document may have for PDF output. You can still add more pages, but a notice appears once when you go over the limit, and that document can no longer be printed or exported to PDF (see the "PDF export" article).

Related questions

• I want to insert a page in the middle
• How do I reorder pages?
• How do I duplicate a page?

Changing the page size

1. Select the pages to change in the Page tab.
2. Click the Size and orientation of selected pages button at the bottom.
3. In the Page Size dialog choose a Preset or type values into W and H (the size then shows Custom). Swap width and height flips the orientation.
4. Click Apply.

Only the selected pages change. For margins see "Margins" below.

Related questions

• I want to turn a page to landscape
• How do I give one page a different size?

Master pages

A master page is a background shared by many pages. Put things that sit in the same place on every page — page-number slots, a repeated logo, a running header — on a master and you only make them once.

Creating and editing:

1. In the master area at the top of the Page tab, right-click a master thumbnail and choose Add master. The same menu has Rename and Delete master (when there are two or more masters).
2. Double-click a master thumbnail to enter master editing mode. Place and style objects on the canvas.
3. Double-click a thumbnail in the page list to leave master editing mode.

In master editing mode the Add page button at the bottom adds a master, and the trash button (Delete this master) deletes the master being edited.

Applying to pages:

• Drag a master thumbnail onto the middle of a page thumbnail. Dropping the None thumbnail removes the master.
• Drop it between pages or below the last page and a bar (Add page here) appears: a new page using that master is inserted there.
• Or select pages, right-click and pick a master in the Apply master{{n}} submenu. The current master is marked with ✓; choosing None removes it.

Master items are visible on the page but cannot be selected as they are. To edit one on a single page, hold ⌘/Ctrl+Shift and click it. That creates a copy on the page (an override) that you can edit freely. To revert, right-click the object and choose Remove Override. To remove a master item from one page only, delete its override copy; the master item then stays hidden on that page. To show it again, right-click an empty spot on that spread and choose Restore Deleted Master Items.

Related questions

• What is a master page?
• I want the same logo on every page
• I can't select a master item
• I want to edit a master item on one page only

Page numbers and text variables

Page numbers are not typed as characters — they are inserted as markers. A marker changes to the number of the page it sits on, so placing it once in a text frame on the master page numbers every page.

To insert one:

1. While editing a text frame, click where the number should go.
2. Right-click › Insert Marker › Current Page Number. The shortcut is ⌥⇧⌘N (Windows Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N).
3. On the master page it shows the master’s prefix letter (A); on document pages it shows that page’s number.

Also available from the same menu:

• Insert Marker › Next Page Number · Previous Page Number — for jump lines such as “continued on page 12”. Place the frame holding the marker so that it overlaps a threaded text frame; the marker shows the page of the next/previous frame that story continues in. It also works inside the threaded frame itself. If no threaded frame overlaps, or there is no next/previous frame, it is blank.
• Insert Marker › Section marker — shows the section marker text entered in “Numbering & Section Options” for the section the page belongs to (e.g. Part 1). On the master it shows the placeholder Section.
• Insert Text Variable › Last Page Number (Document) · Last Page Number (Section) — for “3 / 24”-style page counts.
• Insert Text Variable › Running Header… — pulls the text on that page that uses the chosen paragraph style (or character style). Under Use choose the first or last one on the page, and set Delete end punctuation and Change case. If the page has no text in that style, the previous page’s text carries over. On the master it shows the style name in ⟨ ⟩ as a placeholder.

Markers and variables behave like a single character: the caret does not enter them, Backspace or Delete removes them whole, and formatting (font, size, colour) can be changed like ordinary text. The values are resolved per page in print and PDF output too. Find and replace skips the characters inside a variable.

Changing or freezing an inserted variable:

1. Put the caret right before or after the variable (or select a range that includes it) and right-click.
2. Choose from the Variable: {{name}} submenu. For a running header, Edit Variable… lets you change the style, first/last and options; for a last page number, Last page of document / Last page of section switch the scope.
3. Convert to Text turns the currently shown value into ordinary text that no longer changes. If the selection contains several variables, all of them are converted.

Related questions

• How do I add page numbers?
• Automatic page numbering
• I want to show the total page count
• Can the running header pick up the chapter title automatically?
• How do I add a “continued on page” jump line?
• Turn a page number into plain text

Numbering & Section Options

Pages are numbered 1, 2, 3… from the first page. To restart numbering at a given page (e.g. the body starts at 1) or to use roman numerals, split the document into sections.

1. In the Page tab, right-click the page where the section should start and choose Numbering & Section Options….
2. Turn on Start section at page {{n}}. The first page always starts a section and cannot be turned off.
3. Under Page numbering choose Continue from previous section or Start at.
4. Under Style pick the number format (1, 2, 3 · 01, 02 · 001, 002 · i, ii, iii · I, II · a, b · A, B).
5. Optionally enter a Section prefix (e.g. A-) and turn on Include prefix in page numbers. The text entered in Section marker is what the Section marker variable shows in text.
6. Click OK. The numbers under the page thumbnails change, and a ▼ appears above the page that starts the section.

Related questions

• I want the body to start at page 1
• How do I switch page numbers to roman numerals?
• Can I put a prefix like A- in front of page numbers?

Guides

1. Drag from the top or left ruler onto the canvas to create a guide — a horizontal guide from the top ruler, a vertical one from the left ruler.
2. Move guides by dragging them with the Select tool.
3. To delete a guide, drag a horizontal guide out above the spread, or a vertical guide out to the left of the spread. Dragged down or right, a guide stops at the spread edge.

A guide spans the whole spread (both facing pages). Guides are saved with the document, and creating, moving and deleting them can be undone. They do not print. While being moved, objects snap to guides, page edges, margins, columns and other objects.

Related questions

• How do I create a guide?
• How do I delete a guide?

Margins

With nothing selected, change the page margins in the Margins section of the Attributes tab (Top, Bottom, Inside, Outside). Pick the unit (mm, pt, inch) in the section header; it is the same unit setting as the object Position & Size section. Margins apply to the whole document and can be undone. Only the margin guides change; objects already placed do not move. The number of columns and the gutter are set when the document is created (see the "Dashboard" article).

Related questions

• How do I change the margins?
• I changed the margins but the objects didn't move