Jessica wrote:
I have multiple chapters to a book I am creating linked in the “Catalog” panel. If I open certain chapters, there are brackets/parenthesis around some of the page numbers in the Pages panel. Any explanation for this?
The Pages panel is chock full o’ mysteries, not the least of which is how it displays page numbers and such. I don’t recall ever seeing parentheses around the page numbers, but I have seen square brackets. These brackets indicate that a spread is an “island” that will not shuffle if the other pages before it get moved. An island spread also allows you to add pages to it to make 3- or more-page spreads (see this post for more on that).
Here’s an example:
The second spread (pages 2 and 3) are an island spread. How did they get that way? I selected them and chose Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle from the Pages panel menu. You can turn off this feature the same way.
Note that when I say “I selected them,” I mean that I clicked once on them. This is another one of the mysteries of the Pages panel. Click once on the number under a spread to select the whole spread, click twice on the numbers to select the spread, target the spread, and view the spread. (Same difference when clicking on a page icon, except that it selects vs. targets the page instead of the spread.)
In this case, I am viewing pages 4 and 5. I know that because those page numbers are highlighted (in black). However, pages 2/3 are selected because I clicked once on them and so the icons are highlighted. If I use Edit > Paste right now, the object will be pasted on to page 4 or 5, because that’s what’s targeted. If I choose something from the Pages panel menu (like Allow Selected Spread to Shuffle) or from the Layout menu (such as Margins & Columns), it will affect pages 2 and 3 because that’s what is selected.
Now, Jessica, here’s the part of your question that I don’t understand: The Catalog panel? InDesign doesn’t have a Catalog panel. Perhaps you mean a Book panel. Or perhaps you are using a plug-in that makes a Catalog panel. Not sure. But either way, I hope this explains those wacky brackets!
This article was last modified on December 19, 2021
This article was first published on March 3, 2009
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