Adobe InDesign: Parent Pages/Styles/Tables

When it comes to recreating similar pages over and over again, the last thing a designer wants/needs to do is to duplicate the overall theme of a background, the header, the page numbers through the duplication of their efforts.

There is a better (and more consistent) method: Parent Pages which use Styles the guide and direct the general look of the document.

Parent pages act as "templates" where the overall look or style of a page can be applied to some or all pages in a document. Consider how a textbook has a smiliar layout for it's various chapters, even if different chapters utilize different colors, graphics, and themes. The main portions of it remain the same. The page numbers are always in the same exact same locations in the bottom right and bottom left of the pages. The title of the book is always in the exact same location at the top of the page. This is not by accident. This is achieved through the use of Parent Pages. And, the pages that Parent Pages affect? They are the Child pages.

Styles are the formatting of text that is applied throughout the document. Instead of hand selecting text and modifying it's properties (font, size, style, color, etc) for each and every paragraph/each and every sentence/each and every letter, you can apply a style and it will control the text for every aspect of the text that the style is applied to.

Tables and cells? Sometimes you need things arranged in a grid arrangement that displays information in a specific manner.

Create a new folder in your Communications 1 folder and title it "Adobe InDesign - Parent Pages 1" (This is where all of your materials for this project will be stored)
Open Adobe InDesign
Create a new document
1. Select: Print
2. Select: Letter
3. Select: Portrait
Open the Pages panel under Window
Click on the “Create New Page” icon on the bottom of the panel
Create enough so that there are five pages total
Open the Layers panel (under Window)
Create layers for the following:
1. Graphics and Images
2. Text
3. Guides
4. Background
Switch back to the Pages panel
Double click on the left page on the Pages area labeled “A-Parent”
On this page, create a black rectangle according to these specifications:
Create a Red rectangle according to these specifications:
Create a new text box.
In the text box, type “TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY,” using these specifications:
Change the font to “white”
Center your text inside the text box
Rotate the box 90⁰ counter clock-wise

Your image document should look like this:

More importantly, your Pages Panel should look like this:

Take notice that Pages 2 and 4 have the page “A-Parent” applied to them. Thus, whatever you do to the Parent, the same will occur on the pages that the Parent is applied to. In some applications (such as Adobe Dreamweaver) this is referred to as a “Template.” Whatever the terminology, or program you are working in, “Parents” and “Templates” are essentially the same thing. Let’s finish up the Parent pages so that pages 3 and 5 have some elements of design as well.

I’ve decided I want to simplify things while making the pages still look nice. So, instead of getting crazy, I simply took the red box and stretched it out so that it extends to the far right edge of the blank page on the Parent page.

Like this:

The Pages panel should appear like this:

See? Nothing fancy…yet.

Save this document as an Adobe InDesign document titled "Adobe Indesign - PP1"

To add page numbering to our document, we need to create a text frame box at the bottom left hand of the master page. To do this, simply grab the Type Tool (T) from the InDesign tool bar and click and drag a small rectangle at the bottom left corner. You should see something like this:

Now, in order to get our pages to automatically number, we need to use something called “Special Characters” in InDesign.

Double click on the text box you just created (you should see the cursor inside the text box now)
On the Menu Bar, select “Type” and then “Insert Special Character”
Choose “Markers”
Select “Current Page Number” (this will insert a small “A” into the box.)
Repeat this process for the opposing page, making the text box in the right bottom corner instead.
Edit both of these Current Page Number boxes so that the font is Arial, 14pt and Bolded

We need to add a hyperlinked (website link) at the bottom of the page.

On the right-side Parent Page, create a text box at the bottom of the page and type the worlds “Technology Quarterly.”
Highlight the words “Technology Quarterly” and right click.
Select Hyperlinks and then select New Hyperlink

Use these settings:
Click OK

Now, even though our document may not display it, the words Technology Quarterly will act as a hyperlink once we export the document.

It’s great that we have a Parent page that dictates what all of our pages will eventually look like. But, we have a problem. Our very first page looks kind of weird. It conforms to what our double-page Parent page looks like, and it’s constrained to look like the second half of the Parent page, which is simply a top red bar. We don’t’ want that. Instead, we want a Parent page built specifically for just this front page.

On the Pages panel, right click in the Parent page area and select “New Parent” and use these
settings:
Click OK

You should see this in your Pages panel:

Right Click on your “Page 1” in your Pages panel and select “Apply Parent”
Select “B-Front Page” (Make sure the “To Pages” is set to 1)
Now, double click your “B-Front Page” on your Pages panel.
On your new parent page, you’ll need to create what is called a “Masthead”. Create a new text box and type the words “Technology Quarterly” (Be sure to do this on the appropriate layer)
- Use these settings:
- Justiy the text to the center of the text box
- Color the text white
Create a black box that will go underneath your masthead text, using these settings:

Your document should look like this:

In the Text box for Technology Quarterly, click on the right side of the “Y” in the word “Quarterly” and go to “Type” on the menu bar.
Select “Insert Special Character”
Select “Symbols”
Choose “Copyright”
Highlight the inserted copyright symbol
Use these settings for formatting the copyright symbol
In order to align the copyright symbol to the top of the text select the copyright symbol and then select "Type and Tables" under the "Window" command on the menu bar.
Select "Character"
Use these settings:
Create a rectangle in the lower part of the document using these settings:
Apply a red stroke to the rectangle and make it 4pt stroke thickness.

Your document should appear like this:

It’s time to insert a table. Tables are excellent for helping to organize information and data in both vertical and horizontal manners. Tables are basically a sort of framing device that uses compartments created by horizontal and vertical intersecting areas known as “cells.” And, these individual cells can be modified individually. But, first, let’s insert a table.

Make sure you are not editing your Parent page at this point. Instead, select "Page 1" on the pages panel. On your Tool bar, select the “Rectangle Frame Tool” and draw a new “frame” at the bottom of the document using these settings:
Select the Type Tool from the tool bar
Double click in the center are of the frame you just created.
Now that the interior area of the frame is selected, go to Table on the menu bar and select Insert Table using these settings:

Now that our table is created, we can edit our cells.

Click and drag the interior of the top left cell to the top right cell. This should select all three “Header” cells.
Right click on the selection and select “Cell Options”
Choose “Strokes and Fills”
Apply these settings:
Select “OK”

Now, we format our cells

In the top left cell, type the word “CONTACT”
In the top middle cell, type the word “SUPPORT”
In the top right cell, type the word “COMPANY”
Create a new Character Style and call it “Table Header”
- Use Ariel Font
- Make it Bold
- Make it 14pt
- Make it white
Apply the “Table Header” style to the “Company” “Contact” and “Support”

This is how your document should appear:

Fill every cell in with a color of your choice, Here is what I did with mine:

Save Your Document

“Drop Caps” are sort of an adornment for paragraph formatting, where the first letter of the paragraph is accentuated, usually bolded, and very large. You probably have seen these in a variety of magazines, newspapers, books, and even on wide-format printing like posters…maybe even menus.

Find some text (any text) that you can use to fill up the blank area on our Front Page. Make sure that it uses multiple paragraphs (at least 3).
Create a new text box on our Front Page (not the master page, but the actual page) and paste your text into the text box. (Your text box should extend almost from one edge of the red rectangle to the other – leave a little gap of white in between).
Create a new style and call it “Content Style”
Use Ariel font
Use 12 pt
Use regular
Apply the style to the text inside the text box.
Go to Window and select “Type and Tables”
Select “Paragraph”
In the “Paragraph” panel, change this setting to “2”

This will make all paragraph beginning letters increase in size.

Save Your Document

Once your InDesign project is completed, it is time to distribute it to others. Unfortunately, unless your viewers own a license to run Adobe InDesign (usually around $499 – as part of an Adobe CC suite - per year with a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud), they will not be able to view your wonderful creations. So, in order to get around that, we “export” our documents to a format that they can readily view. In this instance, the most logical and likely application is Adobe Acrobat Reader (or, as most people refer to it as: Acrobat)

Go to File and choose “Export” (Remember, we are not saving. Saving only allows those with InDesign to view and edit our document).
In the dialogue box, provide an appropriate name ("Adobe InDesign - MP1").
In the drop-down menu, select “Adobe PDF (Interactive). Now, I know we started this document off as a Print version. But, I’m curious to see whether it will still be visible on the iPad (or other tablets) regardless of the document format we chose.
Click the “Save Button” (make sure you’re saving this to the appropriate folder.
Locate the exported PDF in Windows Explorer.
Send this PDF to your iPad (email it, drop box it, or whatever it takes).
Open document and view. Does it display properly? Why or Why not?

Adobe InDesign: Parent Pages

Due Date: April 17

Adobe InDesign: Part 1: Parent Pages and Child Pages (4 points)

Adobe InDesign: Part 2: Page Numbering and Interactive Elements (4 points)

Adobe InDesign: Part 3: Creating a Parent Front Page (4 points)

Adobe InDesign: Part 4: Creating Drop Caps (4 points)

Adobe InDesign: Part 5: Exporting Your Document (4 points)