• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Printing for Less

Printing for Less

Satisfaction Guarantee

At Printing for Less, we've offered high quality online printing services since 1996. Shop business cards, booklets, stickers, and more!

800-930-2423
Get A Quote
  • Products
    • Announcements
    • Banners
    • Booklets
    • Booklet Envelopes
    • Bookmarks
    • Brochure Holders
    • Brochures
    • Buck Slips
    • Business Cards
    • Calendar Printing
    • Campaign Printing
    • Carbonless Forms
    • Catalogs
    • CD Covers
    • Club Cards
    • Coil Bound Booklets
    • Custom Printing
    • Digital Printing
    • Door Hangers
    • EDDM Postcards
    • Envelopes
    • File Folders
    • Flyers
    • Folded Business Cards
    • Folders
    • Forms
    • Greeting Cards
    • Hang Tags
    • Holiday Cards
    • Invitations
    • Labels
    • Large Envelopes
    • Large Format
    • Large Posters
    • Letterhead/Envelope
    • Magnets
    • Mailer Printing
    • Mailing Envelopes
    • Mailing Services
    • Memo Pads
    • Menus
    • NCR Forms
    • Newsletters
    • Note Cards
    • Notepads
    • Offering Envelopes
    • Packaging
    • Plastic Cards
    • Pocket Folders
    • Postcards
    • Posters
    • Post-it® Notes
    • Presentation Folders
    • Rack Cards
    • Recieipt Books
    • Remittance Envelopes
    • Sell Sheets
    • Signs
    • Statement Stuffers
    • Stationery
    • Stickers
    • Table Tents
    • Tickets
    • Variable Data Printing
    • Vinyl Banners
    • Yard Signs
  • Industries
    • Advertising & Design
    • Real Estate
    • Medical
    • Food & Beverage
    • Non-Profit
    • University
    • Technology
    • Enterprise
  • Services
    • Reseller Program
    • Fulfillment
    • Digital Printing
    • Mailing Services
    • Custom Solutions
    • Design Services
    • Hybrid Experience Platform
  • Resources
    • Marketing & Design Tips
    • Templates
    • Blog
    • Help & FAQs
    • Printing Terms & Glossary
    • Video Library
  • Get Samples
  • My Login
  • Contact
  • About
    • Why Printing for Less?
    • Our Team

InTime: Play that Funky Master Page

Get your groove on with the hidden efficiency of working with InDesign master pages.
by: Pariah S. Burke
 
When editor in chief Terri Stone called to ask me about the topic of this installment of InTime, I had been blasting out funk. (You might not peg long-haired, leather-wearing me for someone who gets down to the likes of James Brown and George Clinton, but I do.)
 
While I was stomping around, jumping back and kissing myself, I considered the influence of 1970s and ’80s funk on modern rock, pop, hip-hop, and even country music. From the Gap Band to Stevie Ray Vaughn, funk grooves have helped shape most of the other music I enjoy. The Blues begat soul and Motown, which in turn spawned funk; funk led to disco and punk, which catapulted us into early hip hop and the optimistic sugar pop of the 1980s and beyond. Even in hard rock, it isn’t uncommon to hear a riff inspired by or even borrowed from Rick James or Parliament Funkadelic. Techno and trance speed up or slow down, respectively, variations of many beats originally committed to vinyl by Stevie Wonder or the Dazz Band. Your iPod is almost certainly filled with bits of funk and funk influence.
 
“So, Pariah, what’s the topic of the next installment of InTime?” Terri repeated, breaking through my internal musings.
 
I grinned like an atomic dog and said, “Master pages—a multi-parter.”
 
“Why master pages?”
 
“Master pages are the foundation and influence for many layouts, yet InDesign’s master pages contain many undiscovered gems of efficiency our readers should know about.”
 
“All right,”Terri replied. “Play that funky master page, white boy.”

Can’t Touch This

Let’s start simply with an introductory groove. Nothing too hard core, just enough to start your feet tapping. Let’s lay down some overrides. Everyone knows how important master pages are in expediting the creation of multi-page documents with common elements, such as page numbers, headers, footers, and backgrounds. Putting common elements on a master page lets you alter those elements on all document pages with one change to the master. But what about those occasions when a document page requires something a little different, when a master page item needs to be altered in one instance only? That’s where it’s useful to override or detach the item from the master page.

If you’re a QuarkXPress super freak newly boogying to the InDesign beat, you’ll notice that you can’t just click to select master page items on document pages. Unlike XPress, InDesign locks master page items to prevent accidental repositioning and alteration. In other words: Ow! Can’t touch this! The difference in the way the two apps handle master page items can be frustrating at first, but rest assured, you can override those untouchable master page items.

To override (access) one master item at a time, CMD+SHIFT-click/CTRL+SHIFT-click on the master page item. It will unlock, override, and become a document page item. You’re then free to change it however you like. Overriding doesn’t completely disassociate the object from its master item original; rather, the object will continue to update with the master item except for your overrides. For instance, if you override a picture frame and apply a stroke to it on the document page, and then later go back and add a fill to the master page version, the fill will also apply to the document page item, but the stroke will remain on the document page item.

It might help to think of master items in InDesign the same way you think of text to which you’ve applied a paragraph style. If you’ve defined a paragraph style as Times New Roman and then manually make one word in a paragraph italic (creating a paragraph style override), it becomes Times New Roman italic. If you later change the paragraph style font family to Myriad Pro, the overridden attribute remains—the italic word stays italic but adopts the new font family attribute to become Myriad Pro italic.

There are some exceptions. For example, overriding a text frame breaks the content link—if you then type in the text frame on the master page, it won’t appear on the document page. And if you move the object on the document page, rotating it on the master page doesn’t affect what’s on the document page.

To override all master page items for the current page or spread, slide on up to the Pages panel flyout menu and select Override All Master Page Items (Figure 1). Now you’ve overridden and made accessible all objects applied by the master page. You can also CMD+SHIFT+drag over an area to override all the objects that the marquee rectangle touches.

 
layout menu


To completely sever the connection between an overridden master item and its original on the master page, you must detach it. First, override the item as normal, and then, with the object(s) still selected, choose Detach Selection from Master from the Pages panel flyout menu. Once detached, the object will no longer inherit attributes from, nor change with, the original master page item.

You can also change your mind, dropping the overridden versions in favor of the original master page items. CMD+Z/CTRL+Z, of course, undoes override and detach operations, but only immediately after doing them. If you decide to remove overrides later, you can manually delete the overridden objects and reapply the master, which is the way most people do it, or you can opt to take the more efficient route.

On the Pages panel flyout menu is a dynamic menu command. If you select one or more objects that were once master page items, you’ll see the command to Remove Selected Overrides. Executing that command returns the selected objects to their untouchable, pre-override states, without affecting any other objects on the page—overridden master page items or objects created directly on the page.

If you want to restore all overridden master page items to their original, pre-override states, deselect all objects and return to the Pages panel flyout menu. The Remove Selected Overrides command will have transformed into the Remove All Local Overrides command.

Note that reapplying the master to that document page will result in two copies of the same objects—the overridden versions as well those still locked objects inherited from the master page.

Funk Bombing Document Pages

You can apply a master page (or re-apply it) to a page by dragging the master page icons from the top of the Pages panel, dropping them onto document page icons in the lower portion. But, for the love of soul, don’t do it for more than a page or two!

If you need to apply or re-apply a master page to more than a couple of pages, use the little known— but very funkalicious—Apply Master dialog (Figure 2). On the Pages panel flyout menu, choose the Apply Master to Pages command to open the Apply Master dialog. With only two fields it’s deceptively simple, but, like the best of funk music, simple lasts. From the dropdown Apply Master field, pick which master page to apply, and in the To Pages textbox, enter the page number(s) to which to apply or re�apply the chosen master. In this field you can enter a single page number, a range of pages separated by a hyphen (e.g., “2-50”), comma-delimited non�sequential page numbers (e.g., “2,4,6,8,10”), and even combinations of sequential and non-sequential pages (e.g., “2, 4, 5, 8-22, 24, 28-50”). This is a funk of a lot faster—and much less strain on your bop gun wrist—than dragging that master page icon numerous times.

 
apply master page
 

Feel square and not so fresh using a dialog? Not a problem. You can apply or re-apply a master to multiple pages entirely from within the Pages panel. Select the needed pages. For a sequential range of pages, click on the first and then SHIFT-click on the last. To select multiple non-sequential pages, CMD-click/CTRL-click on the page icons. Once selected, OPT-click/ALT-click on the master page’s icon to apply it to all selected document pages.

It’s Super Good

Track 1 of “Play that Funky Master Page” is now concluded. In the next InDesign Magazine, I’ll spin up a whole new groove for you to get up, get down, and get funky with yo’ bad self. By the time I’ve finished discussing the tricks of working efficiently with master pages, you’ll be able to stand up and howl, I’ve got soul, and I’m super bad!

 
Pariah S. Burke is a design and publishing workflow expert bringing creative efficiency into studios, agencies, and publications around the world as principal of workflow:Creative. He is the author of Mastering InDesign CS3 for Print Design and Production (Sybex, 2007); the former technical lead for InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator, and Acrobat to Adobe’s technical support team; a freelance graphic designer; and the publisher of the Web sites Quark VS InDesign. com and Designorati. When not traveling, Pariah lives in Portland, Oregon, where he writes (a lot) and creates (many) publications and and projects to empower creative professionals.
Pariah S Burke

More on InDesign Magazine. Each issue gives you tips, techniques, and time-savers by an all-star cast of industry experts.

RELATED MARKETING & DESIGN TIPS

SmartFlex® Synthetic Printing

Waterproof and tear-resistant synthetic paper that feels like real paper and is recyclable, great for menus, brochures, maps, labels, packaging and more

Read More >


Scented Printing

Scented printing and scratch-n-sniff available options for different scents and applications are explained

Read More >


Newsletter Design Idea Example

Read More >


How to Design Print Materials for Foil Stamping Effects

We share the top best practices for designing for foil stamped or metallic printing effects to insure that you get the best printed piece possible

Read More >


Bulk Mailing

Learn about the options and get mailing templates for Bulk Mail, a cost-effective way to promote your product, service, or event

Read More >


Successful Direct Mail Campaigns

How to create a successful direct mail campaign from start to finish with tips for creative content and cleaning your mailing list

Read More >


How Custom Printing can Turbo-charge your Business

Using custom printing to turbo-charge your business marketing and stand out from your competitors

Read More >


Plastic Cards Printing and Marketing

High quality printing of plastic cards and plastic business cards, with free templates, live expert help and award winning customer service

Read More >


Innovative Print Marketing Design Ideas

Examples of innovative ideas to enhance your print marketing with numerous custom printing options

Read More >


UV Coating: High Gloss Print Coating Explained

Learn about the pros and cons of using UV coating to enhance the shine, durability and looks of your printed materials

Read More >


Sequential Numbering Printing

Get sequential numbering printing on carbonless NCR forms, tickets, purchase orders and other items with numerous options

Read More >


Foil Stamped Brochures

Learn how Foil Stamping can make your brochure stand out and get noticed.

Read More >


Clear Business Cards

Get clear plastic business cards printed with numerous custom options, fast turnaround, free templates, live expert help and award winning service

Read More >


Which Paper to Use

Design and technical tips for choosing the right paper stock for the printing of brochures, postcards, and catalogs, business cards and greeting cards

Read More >


InTime: Play that Funky Master Page

Read More >


Printing Adhesives

Print adhesives are used when two print pieces need to be attached or when a single piece is connected to itself.

Read More >


Marketing & Design Tips

Tips, articles and advice on how to market your business with full color commercial printing

Read More >


Graphic Design

Nothing in print says “elegance” like foil stamping, but what exactly is it? Foil stamping, hot stamping or hot foil stamping is the application of pigmented or metallic foil to paper using pressure and a heated die. The die presses…

Read More >


Brochure Printing with Custom Inks

Get metallic, pantone and custom ink printing on your brochures so you can stand out with improved visibility and enhance your conversion rates

Read More >


Roll Labels

Roll Labels and stickers printed to your specifications. Durable, high-quality full color label printing with many standard and custom options available. Use your design or have us design them for you. Printed right and delivered on time, guaranteed

Read More >


Graphic Design Help
Marketing & Design Tips

Guides
Jumping into the world of printing? We’ve put together these handy resources to help you get your footing.

Explore >

Templates
Templates

Templates
Pre-made templates are a great way to springboard your creativity and make sure everything is laid out exactly the way you need it. Utilize one of our printing templates and speed up the printing process even more.

Explore >

Blog Articles

Blog Articles
We’ve compiled a list of our best blog posts to help you dive into custom printing

Explore >

Footer

Printing for Less

info@printingforless.com
100 P F L Way, Livingston, MT 59047

800-924-2041

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Products
  • Industries
  • Services
  • Get Samples
  • Resources
  • Guides
  • Templates
  • Blog
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact
  • About
  • Why Printing for Less?
  • Our Team
  • Careers
  • Login

Copyright © 1998-2022 PrintingForLess.com. All Rights Reserved.

logo
  • Products
  • Industries
  • Services
  • Resources
  • Get Samples
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • My Login