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Export PDF book InDesign: facing pages

rakaf.jeux Posted messages 6 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   -  
 Olivier -
Hello,

As indicated in the title, I am encountering a problem when exporting documents from a book in InDesign.

Brief history: I created a book file, in which I included several documents (representing the chapters) each with a different number of pages. In InDesign CS4, these pages appear facing each other. EVEN pages opposite ODD pages. Except for the first page: ODD. So far, everything is normal.

But when I export to PDF, suddenly! : I end up with each document (or chapter) separated. The pages inside the chapter are facing each other, but the junction between two chapters separates the even and odd pages. As a result, on the PDF page I find myself with double pages facing each other, and two single pages whenever the chapter changes (in the example that follows: PDF Page 3 and 4). This problem resolves itself when the beginning of a document starts with an even page (in the example that follows: PDF Page 6 and 7).

As an example to make it clearer:

PDF Page 1: -------------------------- Page 1 (docA)
PDF Page 2: Page 2 (docA) + Page 3(DocA)
PDF Page 3: Page 4 (docA)------------------
PDF Page 4: ------------------ Page 1(DocB)
PDF Page 5: Page 2 (docB) + Page 3(DocB)
PDF Page 6: Page 4 (docB) + Page 5(DocB)
PDF Page 7: Page 1 (docA) + Page 2(DocA)
PDF Page 8: Page 3 (docA) + Page 4(DocA)

and what I would like is:

PDF Page 1: --------------------------- Page 1 (docA)
PDF Page 2: Page 2 (docA) + Page 3(DocA)
PDF Page 3: Page 4 (docA) + Page 1(DocB)
PDF Page 5: Page 2 (docB) + Page 3(DocB)
PDF Page 6: Page 4 (docB) + Page 5(DocB)
PDF Page 7: Page 1 (docA) + Page 2(DocA)
PDF Page 8: Page 3 (docA) + Page 4(DocA)

What should I do?

For your information:
- In document settings, the box "facing pages" is always checked.
- When I export to PostScript, the box "spread" is checked: all pages are separated, even within the document.
- When I export to PDF, the box "spread" is checked.

Thank you in advance.
Romain

6 réponses

Réponse 1 / 6
contrariness Posted messages 338 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   6 240
 
For manufacturing reasons (imposition), your documents (chapters) should consist of a number of pages that is a multiple of 4.
Thus, the first page of the chapter will always be an odd page.

Creating the document with facing pages is a convenience for assessing the presentation when the book is opened, but under no circumstances will the provider request a booklet PDF from you.
This type of presentation is not viable for subsequent printing (for a book or a magazine)....
1
rakaf.jeux Posted messages 6 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention  
 
Hello,
Thank you for your response.

First of all, regarding the printing, there are no issues as the book is not for printing.

Then when I refer to the book, I mean the InDesign "BOOK" feature. Compiling several documents into just one, and working more comfortably. So it doesn't matter how many pages are in each file. Each file is a chapter (document) that I import into the "BOOK" function which will synchronize all styles, page numbers, and allow me to navigate more easily between the different files.

And finally, my concern is not about printing, but about the export itself: some pages are facing each other (when a new chapter starts on an even page, which is perfect), and others are not (specifically those where, as you recommended, the first page is odd)! Why? How can I change this?

Please feel free to let me know if this is still not clear enough.
Best regards.
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