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Unequal columns and exporting to PDF

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    • #96531
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Hi. Feeling a bit desperate. I’ve typeset this huge book with unequal columns: text in the larger column, pics with captions in the smaller. The pics with captions should stay in the outside column and the text the inside column.
      The problem is that, of course, all the chapters are separate files so, when I finally make them into a book, some left hand pages become right hand (and vice versa). However, in the case of unequal columns this is not happening and the narrower column is sometimes inside and sometimes outside. Do I HAVE to go through the whole book and start all over with the wretched columns, page by page or something? I just can’t figure it out. Sigh!
      Anyway, thanks as ever for listening — oh yes, Mac Mavericks and CS6.

    • #96540

      So sorry Ann!

      Can you post a screen shot (in Normal view w/hidden characters and frame edges showing).

      My main question is how did you make the 2 columns, and how are the pix and captions staying in place? (are they custom anchored to the text?)

    • #96542
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Hi Anne-Marie,Thank you so much for your reply. I attach a 2-page spread. I’ve been through the whole book now moving the recto pages that should be verso and vice versa — but when the amendments start coming in (which they will in this military history world!), the text, pics and captions will stay where they are as in the ’07 ch 5 experiment’ that I ran at lunch time (in the UK!). I attach ‘unequal columns.jpg’ which is how the book looks now.

      I’ve received a pointer from William Adams on the InDesign google list: ‘And no, I’m not still bitter that pretty much every time I’ve taken the effort to create such a document template / layout and to then write up carefully how to use it, that the graphic designers aren’t willing to be disciplined enough to take advantage of such features, choosing instead to draw boxes and create new paragraph styles which over-ride said features. Actually, yes, yes I am. I hate it, and I hate the incompetence which that is a sign of and which one sees in all-too-many contemporary books (such as https://lostartpress.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/virtuoso_excerpt.pdf (how in the Hell Joanna could be a suitable typeface choice for an American book, about a childless Civil War Veteran’s tool cabinet, which is filled w/ fractions and numbers is beyond me — the ragged bottom, many widows, bad breaks and worse hyphenation and trapped whitespace are just salt in the wound) — and of course, there’s the whole matter of their still not fixing the duplicated photo, so that where there should be two pairs of jeweler’s pliers, instead one has a photo of a pair of flat pliers)’

      which I haven’t followed yet but have every intention of doing so when there’s a clear moment. I made the two columns following instructions on this website (where else!). Nothing is anchored, I never do in books unless there are references in the margins as opposed to Fns. Pics are always at the top or bottom (or always at the top if there are Fns).

      Oh dear, don’t know how to load/submit the files into this …

      • #96553
        Andre Vandal
        Member

        Hi Ann,

        Use some external site to post a link to your file, such as Dropbox or the like

    • #96574
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Hi Andre, thank you. I think I’ve done this and the link is <https://farroutpublications.sharefile.com/d-s3228f3337524abea&gt;
      Fingers crossed. ‘Unequal columns.jpg’ shows how this chapter should be and ‘repagination.jpg’ shows what happens when I made a book …

    • #96593

      No, that link is not working. Some sort of Citrix security thing. Upload it to Dropbox of Google Drive or Box, (and there are others) and get a public download link, and enter that here in a post.

      AM

    • #96594

      Here is the thread on Google Groups, pretty interesting. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/indesign-talk/PGjrACAH-e8

    • #96619
      Anonymous
      Inactive

      Hope I’ve done these links correctly:
      https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qIjq87cSsDM3RWTzhVaGJESmM
      https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3qIjq87cSsDaVZQZWdrT3VZTkU

      As for the thread on Google Groups, I initiated it. Although one person seems to know how to do it (see my earlier post on what he said), he doesn’t quite say how to align objects. I’ve been trying to get the text frames to stay in the column nearest the spine on each page and the pics/captions to stay in the column away from the spine but that doesn’t seem to work.

      Anyway, thank you for responding. I’ve been through everything I can find on mirror/reflective pages here, Adobe, YouTube … perhaps I should just get on with doing each book by hand.

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