Using InDesign Manual 2025

MASTERING THE PARENT (MASTER) BOOK InDesign’s Parent Book and Parent Pages provide the means for a consistent, orderly yearbook. Planning constitutes much of the work of creating the yearbook. There has to be a plan for the theme and carrying out the coverage. Color placement needs to be determined. A ladder needs to be filled in with the plan for all of the pages. Lesson 1 of this book explained file management. When it comes time to create the pages, a plan must be in place, too. Again, technology can help. InDesign has tools called Parent Book, Parent Pages and Parent Template that enable designers to be consistent in their placement of graphics and elements on pages throughout the yearbook. Using these tools saves time and should eliminate worry about the look of items such as division pages and folios. Parent (Master) Book There are three methods to creating yearbook pages or spreads. The first method is to create each spread from a blank yearbook template. This method works well when every staff member knows what page numbers they are assigned and files each of their spreads correctly in the proper page folders. While you have unlimited flexibility during editing, it puts the control of the page creation in the hands of the staff, is significantly more labor intensive and is prone to errors. The second method is the Parent Template. Typically, a yearbook adviser will define the Parent Templates for each of the sections of the yearbook and post them at a central file location. From there, each editor will copy their sections of the Parent Template and use them to create Parent Pages. The primary benefit is the ability to assign pages and make editing changes after they are created, but the templates retain the original information. The third method, and the one Walsworth recommends, is to begin the yearbook by creating a single Parent Book. A Parent Book is a document that contains the same number of pages as your yearbook, and can be used to set up many of the elements of the book that you want to remain consistent throughout, such as folio text, folio artwork, backgrounds and even layouts. The benefits of using the Parent Book method are consistency of page format and the time it will save to create your pages.

LESSON 4

BACKGROUND

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