Table pages blank but not empty

Learn / Forums / General InDesign Topics / Table pages blank but not empty

Viewing 3 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • #104502
      Tom Pardy
      Member

      InDesign CS6, Mac OS 10.10.5.

      I am working on a document, currently of roughly 20 A4 pages (facing, two at a time) filled with one big six-column table of many, many, slowly increasing rows. It is gradually being filled, one entry at a time, with data from another document formatted in a completely different manner. Frequently I need to insert a new row so that data can be added between existing entries and this causes the table to lengthen each time. The document has a Primary Text frame so that the total number of pages occasionally increases by one. It is a slow, tedious task but not a difficult one.

      The problem is that, every now and then for no particular reason that I can determine, I will move to the next spread, only to discover that one or both pages appear to be blank. They are NOT blank as I can still use my type tool to select text within the table – I just cannot see the text (even when selected) and have no idea, other than guessing, which cell I may be in.

      The only way I have been able to return to “normal” is to save the document, export it as .idml, open the .idml document and save it using the original title, replacing the one just saved. Wasted time, of course, and very frustrating.

      Is there any way I can prevent the pages going invisible? Is there a more efficient way of healing them when they do? Thanks in advance.

    • #104509

      I’ve had that happen as well, but with just regular text.

      If I select the text frame and made it wider, then snap it back into place, the text reappears.

      That’s the only workaround I’ve come up with.

      And that’s using CC2017.

    • #104523
      Tom Pardy
      Member

      Thanks Dwayne. I will try that.

      But it is really just a solution to the symptom. I was hoping for a cure of the problem. How can I prevent it happening?

      One other feature of the problem that I have noticed: When a page appears blank, its little representation in the Pages panel is also blank, whereas the intact pages are represented in that panel with images that also show the contents.

      • #104549

        Tom–good luck.

        I have no idea why this thing happens.

        I have my page palette thumb view turned off, so I don’t know about that issue.

        BUT–I have had instances where the last line on a text page also appears at the top of the next page. The exact same line. Or several lines. They are duplicated, but doesn’t reflow anything. I have to quit ID and reopen the file and it’s fine. It’s weird.

    • #104572
      Tom Pardy
      Member

      I went 48 hours without the problem occurring and so was unable to test out your suggestion. Now, however, the contents of a page have again disappeared on me and yes, resizing and then restoring the text frame did cause the contents to re-appear. This is certainly quicker than exporting to .idml and then re-opening. My only concern now is that it is still treating the symptom and not the disease.

      Out of curiosity, while the page was showing blank, I attempted to print it. Curiously, since the contents were still there but just not visible, the page printed blank. Weird! I had a feeling that it might have been something to do with creating the on-screen image but, with the contents not printing, it must be more than that.

Viewing 3 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
>