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• • January 16, 2012 at 4:02 pm #61464
    ShawnS

    Member

    Hello. I am new to InDesign, although I have had some “Trial By Fire” during my first project, a tri-fold brochure. I managed to get the document done and it pre-flighted ok except for one thing I had not planned for. The short story is that I set up all columns/panels to be equal in size. The printer had told me that one of the panels must be about 1/8 inch smaller (the final fold). I understand how to adjust columns on a single page, but am not sure how to do this across both the interior and exteriors of the brochure. Of course, modifying the far left column width on the exterior left panel must be done and the same change made to the interior far right panel as, when lain out, they are mirror images. Hope my description is understandable!

    Any help greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

    Thanks,

    ShawnS

  • January 16, 2012 at 7:47 pm #61465
    Bob Rubey

    Member

    Shawn:

    With the assumption that you're using CS5 or CS5.5, I'd take a different tact altogether. While also assuming the final piece is 11 x 8.5, create a document with two sets of three facing pages each 3.6875″ (3-11/16″) wide x 8.5 deep. You'll have to uncheck “Allow Document Pages to Shuffle” in the pages panel to arrange three pages side-by-side. Then with the page tool, change the shorter ends to 3.625″ (3-5/8″). That will make the total width 11″ with the shorter flaps 1/16″ less (1/8″ seems like overkill IMHO).

    Now you can set up single columns/margins in each panel (though technically a page). When you export or print, just be sure to select spreads. And with this setup you won't have to draw in fold marks, just be sure to include the crop marks when exporting or printing.

    BTW, if you select each three-page “set” in the pages panel, then uncheck “Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle,” you can then deselect facing pages in the document setup. You'll be presented with a dialog about maintaining spreads that you'll need to OK. Not really necessary, but it keeps things tidy if desired. Your pages panel should now look like this:

    

    Bob

  • January 16, 2012 at 8:40 pm #61466
    ShawnS

    Member

    Bob:

    Many thanks for taking the time to reply and sharing this approach! Greatly appreciated. Another newbie question: While each of the three exterior panels currently is unique, the interior differs in that there is a photo which spans the entire three panels (with the opacity set very low so that the primary elements are visible. It's possible to still incorporate the photo spanning, in the case of your example, all three pages?

    Thanks again Bob.

    Best Regards,

    Shawn

  • January 16, 2012 at 8:42 pm #61467
    ShawnS

    Member

    Bob:

    Yes, I am using CS 5.5. Forgot to include this bit of information!

    Shawn

  • January 16, 2012 at 9:27 pm #61468
    Bob Rubey

    Member

    Shawn:

    Yes, you can span your image across the three pages or panels. And into the bleed area as well, if desired. As long as you export or print each three-page setup as a spread, you're golden.

    Bob

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