About masters, stacking order, and layers, Master pages – Adobe InDesign CS4 User Manual
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USING INDESIGN CS4
Layout
When transforming objects, keep in mind that you’re working on a rotated page view. For example, if you’re editing a
table on a rotated spread view, changing the “left” side of the table will change what appears to be the top of the table
in the rotated view.
Before you output the file or send it to someone else, it’s a good idea to avoid confusion by clearing the spread rotation.
Choose View
> Rotate Spread
> Clear Rotation.
Master pages
About masters, stacking order, and layers
A master is like a background that you can quickly apply to many pages. Objects on a master appear on all pages with
that master applied. Master items that appear on document pages are surrounded by a dotted border. Changes you
make to a master are automatically applied to associated pages. Masters commonly contain repeating logos, page
numbers, headers, and footers. They can also contain empty text or graphic frames that serve as placeholders on
document pages. A master item cannot be selected on a document page unless the master item is overridden.
Masters can have multiple layers, just like pages in your document. Objects on a single layer have their own stacking
order within that layer. Objects on a master page layer appear behind objects assigned to the same layer in the
document page.
If you want a master item to appear in front of objects on the document page, assign a higher layer to the object on the
master. A master item on a higher layer appears in front of all objects on lower layers. Merging all layers will move
master items behind document page objects.
Master items (top left) appear behind page objects on the same layer (bottom left); moving a master item to a higher layer (top right) moves it
in front of all objects on lower layers (bottom right).
Tips and guidelines for masters
•
You can compare alternative design ideas by creating a variety of masters and applying them in turn to sample
pages containing typical content.
•
To quickly lay out new documents, you can save a set of masters in a document template, along with paragraph and
character styles, color libraries, and other styles and presets.
•
If you change column or margin settings on a master, or apply a new master with different column and margin
settings, you can force objects on the page to adjust to the new layout automatically. (See “
•
Automatic page numbers inserted on a master display the correct page number for each section of the document
to which the master is applied. (See “
A • Section
A • Section
8 • Hibiscus
Updated 18 June 2009