Adding page numbers to Publisher document retroactively

[IanJHarvey]

I have been working on a project using Affinity for the first time.
Distracted by the slight learning curve I forgot to put page numbers in.
I need to do this retroactively.

How can I do this?

There are too many pages and images now to start with new masters and redo it all!!!

 

[carl123]

10 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

There are too many pages and images now to start with new masters and redo it all!!!

Adding a Master page should make this process simple.

What is it with your document that you think will complicate this?

[Joachim_L]

13 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

now to start with new masters

I tend to take things literally, even in a foreign tongue, so this implies for me that you have old masters. Why not use them?

[h_d]

Why not edit the existing masters and add Page Number fields to each?

[thomaso]

14 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

There are too many pages and images now to start with new masters and redo it all!!!

1. You can apply more than 1 master to a page.
2. You can apply a master to more than 1 page at a time (e.g. to all pages at once).

This conditions let you create page numbers for the entire .afpub quite quick & easy – at any time and regardless of using an existing master to add page numbers or a new master page.

In case you need your page numbers in the front most layer (e.g. if backgound colors or images would cover them):
1. menu Layer > Master Pages > Edit Linked
2. menu Layer > Arrange > Move to Front

[Old Bruce]

18 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

I have been working on a project using Affinity for the first time.
Distracted by the slight learning curve I forgot to put page numbers in.
I need to do this retroactively.

How can I do this?

This is easy if you have an existing Master Page applied to all the pages, just add the page numbers to that Master page on the top layer.

Do the following with a copy of the document, it is easy to mess up.

If you don't have just the one Master Page but many then as others have said you can add a master page, name it Page Numbers and then select all the pages in the Page Panel (there should be a blue outline on them, select by clicking on the first page then shift + click on the last page) and right click (again on the Page Panel one of the pages and choose Apply Master... Make sure you uncheck the Replace Existing Masters box and choose Page Numbers from the list in the dropdown menu.

[IanJHarvey]

thanks but its not working.
Text>insert fields and then page numbers are greyed out.

 

[thomaso]

12 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

page numbers are greyed out.

Odd. Can you upload a screenshot incl. text cursor in selected text frame + grayed out menu command, with pages panel & layers panel? (or just an affected sample .afpub)

Edited July 3, 2021 by thomaso

[Old Bruce]

8 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

thanks but its not working.
Text>insert fields and then page numbers are greyed out.

 

You need to have a text frame and the text caret in that frame. It isn't enough to just select a text frame.

[IanJHarvey]

sorry none of these answers make sense.
I have no idea what a master page is or how to create one.
I have no master pages. I just selected A4 when I started a new project (chapter)
I tried to follow the instructions on the help but they are confusing since it is all geared for when you start a project.

as I said I have 100 pages over 13 chapters to number.

 

 

[Joachim_L]

4 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

sorry none of these answers make sense.

Some further reading. Once understood, your problem gets solved fast.

https://affinity.help/publisher/English.lproj/pages/Pages/masterPages.html

https://affinity.help/publisher/English.lproj/pages/Pages/numberingPages.html

[IanJHarvey]

thanks but how do you create one. I tried and it wiped out my project. (using an old version so it didn't matter and I didn't save)

And then having creeated one how do you get your existing project to flow into it.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

thanks but how do you create one.

One what? If you mean a Master Page, in the Page panel click on the Add Master icon. This won't wipe out anything in your project -- it just automatically switches the viewport to the newly created master page. To switch back to a document page you can double-click on one of them in the pages section of the Pages panel, use the navigator at the bottom left of the workspace window, or use one of the Document menu items to jump to the next, last, first, previous, or any specific page.

6 hours ago, IanJHarvey said:

And then having creeated one how do you get your existing project to flow into it.

The first thing you will want to do is add the page number to the master page (see the second link @Joachim_L posted above for how to do that). Then you can right-click on the Master page in the Pages panel & choose "Apply Master to pages ..." to apply it to your pages.

[IanJHarvey]

After puzzling over this I did get a master page started but when I apply it the numbering starts at 1 but then on page 2 goes to 21 then 31 and so on? What gives 

[R C-R]

15 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

After puzzling over this I did get a master page started but when I apply it the numbering starts at 1 but then on page 2 goes to 21 then 31 and so on? What gives 

Please post a screenshot showing your Master page in the workspace window with the page text frame selected with the Move or a text tool. It should look something like this:

[IanJHarvey]

As you see the idea (concept at this point) is there but why is it numbering 21 instead of 2??

[Old Bruce]

The Master Rabbit page, not the Pages 2,3.

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

As you see...

I can't see what I was asking for. What I would like to see is a screenshot of your master page (the one named "Master Rabbit") in the document window. You can do this by double-clicking on the thumbnail of Master Rabbit in the Master Pages section of the Pages Studio panel, or by selecting "View Masters" from the Document menu.

You don't need to include the whole master page but it should show all of the area in the lower left part of the page where you have entered the text. Again, this is the Master page I am talking about, not any of the document pages.

[IanJHarvey]

[R C-R]

Remove the 1 after the # so the line reads "# 400 Years Down the Rabbit Hole" -- the # is the placeholder for the page number, so anything after that will be included on each document page that master is applied to.

[IanJHarvey]

okay thanks.
Hopefully final question then.
Each chapter is a separate file.
There are 13
So I would drag the Master I made onto each of these chapters? 
How would I set the numbering then?
If chapter 1 ends with page 12, for example, how do I start Chapter 2 with page 13?

[Old Bruce]

You may want the Sections Manager. Once you add the chapter two set the numbering to continue not start at....

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, IanJHarvey said:

Each chapter is a separate file.

Do you mean you have 13 separate APub files, one for each chapter, or one APub file with all 13 chapters in it?

[IanJHarvey]

yes 13 separate chapters....safer that way....you can lose a file or it can get corrupted or accidentally deleted etc and you don't lose it all.

 

[IanJHarvey]

6 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

You may want the Sections Manager. Once you add the chapter two set the numbering to continue not start at....

Ohhhh okay have to read up on this then.
so I still bring the Master Page in and the go to section manager?