A question I get asked frequently is how to take a document that has been created as a facing pages document in InDesign, and change it to a single-page, non-facing pages document without messing up master page items. This is needed in some prepress workflows where objects bleed into the gutter (the left side of right-hand pages or the right side of left-hand pages).
Here is one way to do this:
1. Open a document that has been created as a facing pages document.
2. In the pages panel menu, choose Allow Document Pages to Shuffle (CS3) or Allow Pages to Shuffle (CS2) (this should uncheck, or deselect this option).
3. Grab the right-hand page of each spread, and pull the page to the right of the spread until you see a vertical black bar appear and then release the mouse. This will separate the page from the spread, but the page will remain a right-hand page.
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69 comments:
Great trick, thanks. Now if only there were a script to save a multi-page document as single, *.indd pages in Windows. Any suggestions?
This tip just saved me a TON of time and frustration....on the evening the project had to be sent out. I've passed on your blog address to all my coworkers. Thank you!
Thanks a lot for this awesome tip! I had no idea this was possible until coming across your blog.
How do you do this in InCopy CS3?
There's no way to do this in InCopy.
Adding one more bow for this great tip. Thanks!!
Much easier way to do this. DON'T uncheck "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle." Go to Document Setup and uncheck Facing Pages. This automatically separates all of the pages into singles, without having to drag each page individually out of the flow.
Shawn, your method works, BUT the difference is that with your method all the pages are converted to using the right-hand page of the master spread. If you are doing a layout that has different masters for left and right pages, the method I outlined is the only way to preserve this.
Brilliant tip thanks so much! This has saved me tuckloads of time fiddling with master pages on a large document for print. Thanks you!!!
Thank you. Exactly what I've been looking for.
So, now the question is how to do this to a 250 page dcument? Do I have to go in and pull off a page from each spread. Or I can word the question differntly, Is there anyway to apply a master page to all odd or even pages in a document?
@abe: I don't know of any way to automatically apply a master to all even or all odd pages of a long document. Sounds like a good idea for a script!
thanks for your tip! it saved my life today :)
This tip was extremely helpful. Thanks very much!!
Super! thank you thank you thank you!!! I now have more time to spend with my kids :0)
This tip was great, but I have a quick question. What if the printer needs to have art bleed off into the gutter area? I have border art on the master pages that bleeds off of the page behind the text on every page. Would I have to go in and unlock all of the art, page by page in order to get that to bleed off into the center of the book area? For my 500 page book, that may be time consuming, so I thought it was a good question. As it looks now the art stops right at the trim on that side by the gutter.
Thanks for your help!
@Melissa, yes, unfortunately you'd have to do the bleeds by hand.
Wow -- this just saved me a ton of time. Thank you *so* much!
Thank you very very much! As all the above, you saved my life today. You are my hero like for a month!
Does anyone know how to break up a master spread after it’s been applied to multiple pages?
Also if you keeps Spreads checked in documnet settings, when exporting uncheck the Spreads box in the PDF and or Print window that pops up. It brings all spreads into single pages and nothing gets deleted. hope that helps. :)
I'm surprised they haven't come out with an option to separate pages like this, without them displaying as physically separated. I am doing a 200+ page catalog and sections might change in the middle of the spread. This helps out a lot. Thank you.
Almost ready to pull my hair out! Glad I found this tip! Thanks so much for sharing! :)
I am forever in your debt, Sir.
You are a hero.
Thank you so very much. I've been tearing my hair for the past few hours;-)
it doesn't work for me. Is it CS5?
I can pull the page to the right of the spread and the black bar appears, but the pages stay collated.
And yes, the "shuffle pages" are checked!
@ILWT: This works fine in CS5. But "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle" should NOT be checked. It sounds like you have it checked.
Thanx, very helpfull!
This post just saved me hours of frustrations! I cant believe Indesign doesnt have a workflow for this, or a script. Thank you for these instructions!!
Great tip, on CS4, the document setup does nothing with multiple master page, this worked! Thanks!
YOU. ARE. A. LIFESAVER.
Big thanks Keith and also Shawn - I nneded to know both these methods for different situations - you rock. I love that a post in 2007 is a gift that keeps giving in CS2 and CS5.
Thanks,
A
THANKS :)
Thank you so much for this! Couldn't find a way to solve my problems and here you go.
Thanks :)
That saved me HOURS of work - I can't tell you how happy I am that your time-saving tip worked. THANK YOU!!!
This worked for exactly what I needed, thank you!
You deserve a prize for this post, you just saved me hours. THANK YOU!
thank you!
You could just use the superior programme QuarkXpress. You just grab the pages in the layout palette and drag them however you like, spreads, singles, anything. So basic. InDesign is like using a beta programme by comparison.
Almost 7 years later, this blog post is still helping InDesign users. I stumbled across this one on Google. Many thanks for sharing this. You just saved me hours of work, cussing, and tears!
=M=
Oh my gosh. I consider myself a power user of InDesign (been using it for nearly 10 years) but I did not know this trick. I thought I was going to have to build all new master pages for many chapters and reapply them, one by one (and then check the document page by page, to make sure I accurately applied everything). I used this technique and my file was ready to go in minutes. You saved me SO MANY hours of work! Thank you so much!
thank you so much!!!
Thanks Mate, it was a great trick.
Ahh! You just saved me. Thank you, thank you. I struggled with this for an hour last night ...
Whoop! Thanks for this :-)
Thank you so so so much for this trick!
A life saver - thank you!
here's how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlZU3_PTg8g
this really helped me out, thank you!
Oh em gee. Thank you so much - this was doing my head in!!
Thank you. top notch!
Thank you!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! There is nothing else that explains this question, so glad I finally found your tip!
Thank you!!! This is exactly what I needed! You're awesome! :)
Using the CS6 latest vesrsion, I followed Keith's instructions to convert from facing pages into single pages. However, when I grabbed the first right page and pulled it to the right, no vertical black bar appeared.
Using Shawn Girsberger suggestion, I got the single page lineup, but as pointed out by Keith, all the pages are of the right type, which defeats the permanence of central margins.
What to do, then?
My document was set up as facing pages so client could see it in spreads as a booklet.
Now they want to spiral bind the book instead. I have an image at the bottom of the page that needs to bleed off both sides.
Is there a way to separate master pages and still keep the page numbering intact so I can pull out bleeds?
It worked for me in CC. I cannot thank you enough!!
Using CC 2017 and this worked perfect! I am able to save face to a high profile customer and my boss.
Thank you so much!! I swear, before finding this blog I was about to rip my hair out! Thank you so much for the tip! :)
Thank You!
This is spectacular! Thanks!
When I'm pulling the pages to the right the separation shows in two different ways:
1. Vertical black bar with an arrow pointing right.
2. Vertical black bar with an arrow pointing right and a gray bracket on the right side of the page.
What's this difference? Something must be happening but I can't figure out what it is.
Working in CC.
@RandiMeredith, the "Vertical black bar with an arrow pointing right and a gray bracket on the right side of the page" is for when you want to stick the page that you're dragging onto another page. If you want to just pull the spreads apart, you need to move the mouse around until you get the other cursor.
Ah I see! Thank you, Keith!
Keith, this method is exactly what I need; however, whenever I grab the right page and drag it to the right, I am not seeing a vertical black bar. I do have the "Allow Document Pages to Shuffle" deselected. Please help.
If you have the page icons in your Pages panel set to display small thumbnails, it can be really tricky to get the vertical bar to appear. Try enlarging your page thumbnails. Go to "Panel Options" in the Pages panel menu to do this.
Man, you saved me at least one month of work. Thumbs up, big thanks!
OMG thank you for this! I wasted so much time trying to figure this out.
Thanks so much for the tip! Viewing the Pages panel, how do I remove the brackets surrounding the page numbers of pages that got separated from the spread? I no longer need to keep track of right or left pages from the spread. They're all the same with centered folios.
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