Text autoflow skips a page

[MickRose]

If I have 2 overset text frames on a page and apply autoflow (shift or alt) to both, the first one is okay but the second one skips a page. Same with beta. I assume this is a bug. This is what Publisher help says:

 

If you have more text than will fit into one text frame, you can use any of the following options to accommodate the text.

• Shrink the text to fit the frame.
• Manually create and link multiple frames.
• Trigger AutoFlow to automatically create new frames for you.

The AutoFlow feature lets you flow text through newly created text frames (of identical dimensions) on pages after the page containing your overflowing text frame

 

[Move Along People]

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[MickRose]

Yes, I know that will work. But autoflow shouldn't have to use master pages. It should copy a frame from any page on to the following page.

[carl123]

30 minutes ago, MickRose said:

If I have 2 overset text frames on a page and apply autoflow (shift or alt) to both, the first one is okay but the second one skips a page.

It's not skipping a page as such, it's skipping all pages that have text on them created by the first autoflow operation then it creates a new blank page and starts autoflowing the text from then onwards. So it can skip multiple pages, not just one.

Still looks wrong though

[MickRose]

The workaround would be to duplicate the text frame on to the next page, delete the text, then link the frames. Not too onorous I suppose.

[Gabe]

Hi @MickRose,

This is expected. Autoflow text will skip any pages that already have text frames, unless you do this on a master page, as you've already discovered. 

[bici]

i have text to continue onto a text frame but nothing that i do will autoflow text to the new text frame.  I click the Option Key (mac) and a new frame apperas but it is blank with no text. Nor can i add any text into that frame. It is outlined in BLUE and not RED...  What is going on this, shouldn't be that difficult! PUBLISHER V1

[thomaso]

Your screenshot doesn't show the second text frame to be linked to a third frame but displays text overflow instead. Linked frames show a connecting line with an arrow from one frame to the other. So make sure you have the frame linked.

Usually the bounding box colour is blue, also for text frames, so I assume the red is simply caused by a parent "Layer layer" property set to red which would colourize the bounding boxes of its containing child layers.

If this doesn't help to solve your problem please show a screenshot of your entire screen with the entire spread + Pages panel + Layers panel with the overflowing text frame selected.

 

[bici]

I had no idea about the Layers Panel! Basically i was never able to get the overflow text to appear in the third text panel. It was always blank. Nor could i actually type or add new text into the text frame whether it was red or blue. very odd. I went back to the Master Pages added some blank text frames which i linked over a two-page spread. Then in my document i added 6 pages and applied Master Page styles and then pasted the texts from my word document and it flowed over the available text frames. I then deleted the extra pages. Not sure if this is the way that one is supposed to add text, when one is wanting additional text frames on the fly.. But it seems convoluted.  In InDesign  I used to be able to simply create new pages on the fly if i needed more pages in which to flow overflow text. In the end i used the principals explained in this tutorial:  Set Up Text Flow (with master pages)

[bici]

PS i notice that the Layers Panels seem to suggest a number of TEXT frames to do with my one entry? Why is there not just one? or is that because title author and body are three different pieces of texts?

[Old Bruce]

On 1/28/2020 at 4:37 AM, MickRose said:

If I have 2 overset text frames on a page and apply autoflow (shift or alt) to both, the first one is okay but the second one skips a page. Same with beta. I assume this is a bug. This is what Publisher help says:

This will work if you use Text Frames on a Master Page (and name them Left and Right just to be thorough, and safe). Do not link the two text frames.

[thomaso]

4 hours ago, bici said:

a number of TEXT frames to do with my one entry? Why is there not just one?

In an existing text flow the Layers panel shows for every linked text frame the same indicator: the first words of the story. So in your case the story appears to begin with "Health Canada has granted".

Your two screenshots seem to show different documents, or different situations at least. Note in the screenshot with Layers panel: It shows the text frames are originally on a master page, indicated in the layout window by the 'x' at the bounding box … whereas the first screenshot shows round dots instead. Also there are two layers of type "(Layer)" custom named as "Type" and with red colour assigned, one of the frames inside a master layer, the other outside.

[bici]

28 minutes ago, thomaso said:

In an existing text flow the Layers panel shows for every linked text frame the same indicator: the first words of the story. So in your case the story appears to begin with "Health Canada has granted".

Your two screenshots seem to show different documents, or different situations at least. Note in the screenshot with Layers panel: It shows the text frames are originally on a master page, indicated in the layout window by the 'x' at the bounding box … whereas the first screenshot shows round dots instead. Also there are two layers of type "(Layer)" custom named as "Type" and with red colour assigned, one of the frames inside a master layer, the other outside.

 Thank-you. i started over again. This time I placed the first bit of text and then simply clicked the  > continue triangle and placed the additional text in individual text frames until the story was fully laid out.  Now all is good.  i think i went down a rabbit hole using the TEXT flow option. And i see how each text  frame is listed in the Layers Panel