I’m sorry to bother folks with what seems to me to be a routine question I should have been able to find the answer to, but I’ve searched the videos, the forum, and the manual, and I’m still stuck.
It’s simple: can someone please give me (or point me to) a step by step instruction on how to enter page numbers in an ensemble piece, and set them up so that in the parts, they are on the outside of the page?
I know about the page number setting for “outside”, but I must be doing something wrong; it doesn’t work. The text always shows up on the same side of the frame on both left and right pages. Is there some step to specifically identify a frame as a page number frame, or something else that tells the “outside” setting to kick in?
The manual explains how page numbers work, but it doesn’t actually explain how to enter them so that they work.
When you edit the default master page, you need to make the L and R pages different. Don’t copy L—>R, which will make both spreads identical. Instead, add text frames to the outside corners and justify the text to the outer margins.
First thing I tried, Dan. But even though I don’t click the left-copy-right buttons, when I change the right/left justification in one frame, it immediately changes it in the other as well.
I vaguely remember that the Page Number Font has specific properties applied to it, that always align to the outside of the page. Maybe make sure you’re using that font style.
Ah… it’s because those frames are linked. Change one, and it changes both. One solution is to delete the frame from the right side and add an independent one there, which won’t be linked. Then you can adjust justification independently.
Leo, that fixed it—I knew that for the “outside” setting to work, there had to be a way to identify page numbers as page numbers; but I didn’t figure out that it was by using page number text.
Dan, I haven’t had a chance to check out your suggestion about unlinking the two fields in the Master Pages. In fact, I didn’t know they were linked in the first place.
I always use copy L to R - saves so much time - and reposition the page number box on the right page over to the right side of the page by selecting it, clicking the left hand lock under Constraints and then setting the value for Right in the Frames box at the bottom to 0.
For what it’s worth, the alignment settings Inside Edge and Outside Edge are available for all paragraph styles in the Paragraph Styles editor.
You could – theoretically – just create one text frame that spans the whole width of the page and use a paragraph style with the Outside Edge setting inside it. Then you can copy the masterpage from one page to the other and the page numbers will automatically be aligned correctly.