Would this be Facing Pages mode (InDesign)?

M

Morgan19

Registered
I'm working on a multi-page annual report. Normally when I'm laying it out in InDesign, I'd set two "actual" pages on a single InDesign page, like this:

Spread 1 - page 8 / page 1 (or back / front covers)
Spread 2 - page 2 / page 7
Spread 3 - page 6 / page 3
Spread 4 - page 4 / page 5

So basically, for each of the two pages side-by-side I'm working on a single 17x11 InDesign page that will then fold down to the normal 8.5x11 pages, set up so they're laid out as the printer would bind them rather than in sequential order.

However, I'd like to try designing the layout "normally," as in:

Spread 1 - page 1 (front cover)
Spread 2 - page 2 / page 3
Spread 3 - page 4 / page 5
Spread 4 - page 6/ page 7
Spread 5 - page 8 (back cover)

...so I'm not having to deal with viewing the layouts "out of order," as it were. So my question is, is that what the Facing Pages layout option is? I can choose a new document, set it up as Facing Pages, and then design in that 1-2-3 page order?

Hope this makes sense... Thanks!

m19
 
Before I go any further, take note (as intimated by the name), I'm a QuarkXPress user. I do this kinda troubleshooting for QXP users on the Quark Inc. forum. But as your question is not about InDesign itself, I can help you out.

In the good ol', bad ol' days, you either had to lay your booklet out the way you have described, checking that it was correct using the ol' "extent + 1" formula (ie, number of pages +1): 8pp booklet – 8+1=9 (correct), 2+7=9, 6+3=9, 4+5=9. Assuming the booklet was A5, you would lay up 4 A4 landscape pages. This is called laying a job out in printer's spreads.

In other words, everything you have done in the past is OK.

If you wanted to lay the job out in page number order, aka reader's spreads, you had to pray that your printer/bureau had a decent imposition software or had the time/price to output page film and paginate the job "on the bench".

Nowadays tho', in an attempt to avoid the usual problems encountered by printers, output bureaux, etc, such as missing images, font substitution, not to mention cutting costs by laying off an entire generation of old men who are used to working with film, scalpel and tape, most printers output from PDF.

Assumoing that you are familiar with the use of Acrobat Distiller and can produce a good PDF/X1a file, the advantages to the user are that, a) you get to do all the final proofing before you send the job off to the printer (with the possible exception of hi-res digital colour proofs); b) as all fonts and graphics are embedded in the PDF/X1a file, there is no chance of font substitution, text reflow and missing images, and; c) you don't neeed to worry about pagination/imposition as most hi-end PDF output systems impose the whole job for you – even compensating for creep if the a$$hole operator can be bothered to input the thickness of the stock the job is to be printed on.

So the short answer to your question is, don't worry about the page order. I don't see InDesign being too different from QXP in that respect, so the default for an 8-page booklet should be:

- – 1
2 – 3
4 – 5
6 – 7
8 – -

Just be sure, when you create your PDF/X1a file, that you output the job as single pages not spreads.

Just by way of an aside, you should be working this way anyway! What happens if the client suddenly decides to add more pages? Shuffling half-spreads around is very dangerous – that's when mistakes creep in and turn an otherwise simple ob into an expensive re-print nightmare!

Hope that helps! :D
 
Facing pages does NOT switch between printer spreads and reader spreads, however. Just lets you create spreads.

Does your printer only accept printer spreads? Any printer I've ever worked with would rather I send them reader spreads and then they create whatever print spreads they need. :)
 
I worked for a service bureau as lead designer for 5 years. In those five years, I saw my share of "graphic designers" working on jobs that came out wrong, were laid out incorrectly, were late, or over-budget because the files handed to the printer needed work: either setting them up, converting RGB to CMYK, or stumbling around for fonts. This almost ensures a problem with the output at first, even if the client never knows about it.

You want control over your output if you care enough about the final product. The best thing to do when sending files to the printer is to get the specs that the printer needs (size, imposition, colors, bleeds, gutter, line screens, blah blah), and lay out your stuff exactly to specification. The less the printer has to do to the file, the better the control you have over the output, and the higher the quality the finished product will be.

"Ideal" would be handing a disk to the printer, having them copy the files over, open the file and push "Print." While there are a lot of printers out there that know exactly what they're doing, there are twice as many that don't, and, in my opinion, letting a printer slice-n-dice my piece is suicide... hehe... maybe I'm just a control freak.. :(
 
I definitely make a point of finding out BEFORE I start a design job what the print specs are, then I talk to them. They appreciate the initiative and having the chance to head problems off at the pass before they start.

I want the print job to go as smoothly as they do. :) So it's nice to put my feet in their shoes, and they respect and appreciate that.
 
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