How to 'lock' finished pages

[Beachbud]

Hi, I have real problems with autoflow text, also with page breaks not preventing follow on pages changing.

Example, on review of a project, we need to insert an image, or text perhaps. We want to only change the current page. But when we make any changes at all, the following pages are all disrupted with text and images all over the place. 

Is there a function to lock pages that are finished?

 

[v_kyr]

You can try if locking the contents of page layers (through the layers panel) would have an effect here.

[sfriedberg]

For this sort of project, try putting one text frame on each page and do not link them together.  Text will then not flow to following pages.  Absolutely placed images will not move regardless, but pinned images will move if you insert or delete text above them.  However, if every page's text frame is not linked to a following frame, there will be no impact on following pages.

Basically, if you don't want text (and pinned object) flow, then don't use it.  Layout each page as a separate entity, with no flow connections among them.  They can still share styles and things from master pages.

Putting in a page break (or column break) is only going to work if the page break itself does not overflow out of its original text frame (or column).

[Old Bruce]

On 9/2/2020 at 3:23 AM, Beachbud said:

Hi, I have real problems with autoflow text, also with page breaks not preventing follow on pages changing.

Example, on review of a project, we need to insert an image, or text perhaps. We want to only change the current page. But when we make any changes at all, the following pages are all disrupted with text and images all over the place. 

Is there a function to lock pages that are finished?

 

You can make a new text frame or image frame and add the new text or image to that page alone. You could try putting in a Frame Break in the text at the end and enlarge the current Text Frame thereby giving you more space for additions or deletions.

 I think I need to see what the publication is.

I am having a hard time trying to figure out a situation where flowing text would have an edit made which would not affect the following pages. 

[Beachbud]

Thanks Old Bruce.

I pasted 170 pages of text into Affinity from word, using a preset font and paragraph into an autoflow frame, it worked so good, that's a lot of pages. I then began to arrange the pages and inserted styles and images. 

I am a third of the way though the book. I missed some images and want to insert them, even if it means adding a new page or two. But, when I want to add them into a page, in between paragraphs, when I create the space, the autoflow moves all the text on the following pages. So perhaps is there a way to unlink the book's text frames in the pages already completed but leave auto flow on for the remaining ones?

Cheers

RR

[Beachbud]

18 hours ago, sfriedberg said:

For this sort of project, try putting one text frame on each page and do not link them together.  Text will then not flow to following pages.  Absolutely placed images will not move regardless, but pinned images will move if you insert or delete text above them.  However, if every page's text frame is not linked to a following frame, there will be no impact on following pages.

Basically, if you don't want text (and pinned object) flow, then don't use it.  Layout each page as a separate entity, with no flow connections among them.  They can still share styles and things from master pages.

Putting in a page break (or column break) is only going to work if the page break itself does not overflow out of its original text frame (or column).

Thanks loads, as it was a large book with 170 pages of text pasted in, I had to link the frames initially. I'll have to yet watch the tutorials on master pages. Thanks, learning...

[sfriedberg]

40 minutes ago, Beachbud said:

perhaps is there a way to unlink the book's text frames in the pages already completed but leave auto flow on for the remaining ones?

Yes, but no.  🙂  You can unlink any pair of sucessive linked frames.  However, this will remove the existing text flow from the following frame(s), not simply break the flow into two pieces.  The ability to break an existing flow has been discussed in another thread.  By "break an existing flow", I don't mean just break the link between two text frames, but cut the flow into two pieces, each in its own set of frames, one before the break and one after the break.

This would be a new feature, not something you can do right now without making a copy of the original flow and manually deleting the post-break part of one copy and the pre-break part of the other copy.  It would be quite useful in some situations like yours where you are importing an existing single document, less so when the text is already broken into separate pieces.

[Old Bruce]

38 minutes ago, Beachbud said:

when I create the space, the autoflow moves all the text on the following pages.

Ah, I think I understand now, you have all the later images out of sync with the following text. I am sorry but I can't offer any simple automatic method of fixing things. It may be easiest to simply start afresh rather than going back and forth with me offering not very useful or just impractical advice. 

Look for advice on Pinning the pictures to the text, that way if the text moves from top of page to next page the picture will move with it.

I would suggest you should practise on the first half dozen pages instead of all 170 pages of text, add and delete pictures to see how pinning works. Save a copy as " Testing file.afpub " and delete almost all of the pages and text.

[Beachbud]

19 minutes ago, sfriedberg said:

This would be a new feature, not something you can do right now without making a copy of the original flow and manually deleting the post-break part of one copy and the pre-break part of the other copy.  It would be quite useful in some situations like yours where you are importing an existing single document, less so when the text is already broken into separate pieces.

Thanks. Not sure where that leaves me then. I think page locks would be very useful as there are on video editing layers. There must be a way, will have to keep trying. Cheers. RR

[Beachbud]

19 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I would suggest you should practise on the first half dozen pages instead of all 170 pages of text, add and delete pictures to see how pinning works. Save a copy as " Testing file.afpub " and delete almost all of the pages and text.

I'll try that! 😎

[TheOtherRoland]

Late to the party, but I have a partial solution to keep things in check: NEVER paste 170 pages into an apub document.

What you should/ought/could/might/perhaps can do is paste only single chapters and then stop the flow of text from chapter to chapter. That way, you have control of how ONLY THAT CHAPTER is affected, not the entire 170 pages of text, as is your case.

That way you can add an extra page to the document to account for increased space needs without influencing anything else in the document.

That's what I'm doing and it makes the whole thing far more manageable. If you get to the end of the chapter and see a red triangle, shift-click and it adds another page that flows automatically. It's truly a religious experience.

[Beachbud]

Thanks for the super reply, I'll certainly be doing that for the next book. Chapter by chapter.

Thanks, TheOtherRoland.

RR

[TheOtherRoland]

You're very welcome. Glad to help. And...the proof is in the pudding, as they say. I stand behind what I said because it really gave me the kind of precision I needed in creating the kind of book that I did. I have some tables and lists and things that needed to stay in place exactly where I'd left them (top of pages, etc.), so breaking the text flow between chapters was the ideal solution.

It may also be the first book in history without hyphens at the end of each line. That novelty alone is worth the price, I would think.

In case someone is curious, here's my book entitled:

Clearing a Path to Joy (And finding contentment along the way)

(I've heard from a reliable source that it's pretty good.)

Good luck with your project, btw.