Publisher file organisation - book chapters

[SubTric]

Hi all,

I'm 'almost' a convert - currently migrating from Adobe Photoshop and InDesign to Publisher and Photo. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad to be here!

I wondered if any existing users could offer me some advice?

I do layout on RPG rulebooks - typically 200-400 page US letter full colour books. 200,000+ words and hundreds of images of all different shapes, sizes and placement. In InDesign, I got used to working in chapters and using the 'Book' function to organise them. The primary reason I worked this way was that if I was tweaking and art piece in the book and that caused a line of text or other element to get nudged over a page, it was fairly easy to remedy - I was only ever dealing with an eco system of around 30 pages. Additionally, books like this rarely get finished and ready for layout in chapter order and the amount of content per chapter can ebb and flow - I might need to lay out chapter 7 first, then 3, then 6 etc... and the number of pages in those chapters may change mid project - maybe 2 pages will get cut from this chapter and added to that one.

I know the book organisation functionality isn't a part of Publisher and so far I've found two possible solutions. I wondered if anyone could suggest which is likely to be the best work flow long term, or suggest other alternatives that I may not have yet stumbled on...

1. Create each chapter as a different Publisher file, importing/setting up the same set of master pages for each. This effectively recreates what I did in InDesign, but prevents me from easily bouncing between them or syncing styles via the book. For the current 288 page book I'm finishing up, this isn't an issue as the styles are solidly nailed down, but going forwards this could be a pain over 12 or so chapters. When the book is finished and ready to print, I can use the 'Add Pages From File' function to combine all the files one by one into a single document.

2. Create as a single 288 page document, but unlink the text flow/master page on the last page of each chapter, preventing anything from nudging from one chapter into the next one, effectively recreating the isolated chapter concept. After working in any given chapter, I'd need to sense check the last page to ensure nothing has been bumped over the edges so to speak.

The bite-sized chunks of option 1 is the most familiar to me and what I'm drawn to, but the reduced admin of set up and future style editing of option 2 is obviously superior.

I appreciate any thoughts and feedback you all might have on this.

Regards,

Shep

[Old Bruce]

I would stick with your current chapter by chapter method. It is a method you are used to. Make a Template for the pages and include all the Text Styles you'll need as well as the layout of the pages on various Master Pages, make sure you give the Master Pages descriptive names and not the default 'Master A', 'Master B' etc. .

[SubTric]

22 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

I would stick with your current chapter by chapter method. It is a method you are used to. Make a Template for the pages and include all the Text Styles you'll need as well as the layout of the pages on various Master Pages, make sure you give the Master Pages descriptive names and not the default 'Master A', 'Master B' etc. .

Thanks for this - currently I'm feeling the same about it. The lack of style syncing between chapters is going to be an annoyance when starting a new project, but I do think overall that this approach is going to make my transition between platforms feel smoother.

[h_d]

6 hours ago, SubTric said:

lack of style syncing

You can import styles from an existing document via the 'hamburger' menu in the Text Styles panel:

 

[SubTric]

15 hours ago, h_d said:

You can import styles from an existing document via the 'hamburger' menu in the Text Styles panel:

 

This is really helpful! I'd overlooked that functionality!

Thanks.