APu: Front and back individual page spread?

[Morbus Iff]

I am working with single pages that have a front and a back. I'd like multiple single pages in a single Publisher document. These single pages will nearly never have any design elements that spill over into the next page - there's not really a concept here of "facing page" or a "gatefold center spread of a magazine". Each single page (front and back) will standalone by itself. As such, I'd like to view these pages in Affinity Designer in a word processor-like "two up" display: the front page (pages ODD, 1) is on the left, and the back of that same page (pages EVEN, 2) is on the right.

I can do this in Affinity Publisher with File > Document Setup > "Facing pages" ticked  and "Start on" "Left". However, the Affinity Publisher documentation suggests that the "Left" page is still considered the back page (i.e., pages EVEN, 2): "To start with a verso (back) page on two-page spreads without an initial single page ... choose Left." That causes me to pause in fear of some crazy workflow issue in the future where a printer or exporter will assume that page 1 (of the document) is really a "back page" (since I've chosen my spreads "to start with a verso (back) page") instead of literally, like a word processor, being the front of page 1.

Is this actually an issue, or am I overthinking this?

Edited November 10, 2021 by Morbus Iff

[Old Bruce]

Try Start on Left in the New... document dialog.

 

[Morbus Iff]

24 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Try Start on Left in the New... document dialog.

Thanks. As indicated in my OP, though, I already knew that much That's not the question I'm asking.

Edited November 10, 2021 by Morbus Iff

[Old Bruce]

6 minutes ago, Morbus Iff said:

That's not the question I'm asking.

This is the only question you are actually asking.

38 minutes ago, Morbus Iff said:

Is this actually an issue, or am I overthinking this?

So what is it you are wanting? Is it a Publisher Document with "multiple single pages" that you can view the pages in Designer with the Odd Page on the Left and the Even Page on the Right?

This works

Untitled.afpub

[Morbus Iff]

 

Quote

This is the only question you are actually asking.

If that were the case, then I already answered it in the OP (I can do this in Affinity Publisher with File > Document Setup > "Facing pages" ticked  and "Start on" "Left" which is the "existing document" version of your "new document" answer), so why would I have posted the OP in the first place?

Quote

However, the Affinity Publisher documentation suggests that the "Left" page is still considered the back page (i.e., pages EVEN, 2): "To start with a verso (back) page on two-page spreads without an initial single page ... choose Left." That causes me to pause in fear of some crazy workflow issue in the future where a printer or exporter will assume that page 1 (of the document) is really a "back page" (since I've chosen my spreads "to start with a verso (back) page") instead of literally, like a word processor, being the front of page 1. Is this actually an issue, or am I overthinking this?

To restate: "Is this actually an issue or am I overthinking this?" where "this" applies to "the Affinity Publisher documentation suggests that the "Left" page is still considered the back page" which makes me worried about "some crazy workflow issue in the future where a printer or exporter will assume that page 1 (of the document) is really a "back page".

[Old Bruce]

You are probably overthinking this. 

You want to work in a manner that is not conducive to an established workflow. You want to have the odd numbered pages on the left, that is not conventional, not impossible just unconventional. one problem is that Page 1 is usually the Front Cover which is physically on the Right. You will need a Page 0 (zero) which is not at present possible....

Is there a compelling reason you want to have a front and back presented side by side in Designer?

[Morbus Iff]

Thanks!

The only "compelling reason" I have is that I'm designing single front-and-back pages that are then mailed out as one sheet in an envelope. There is no "book" or "gatefold center spread of a magazine" that would justify seeing my spreads as 2,3 (visually together on my screen, either in my workspace or as a thumbnail) when 3 (in Publisher) has very little to do with 2. Page 1 and 2? Certainly; seeing them together "makes sense" as that is the "entirety" of the "one sheet in an envelope" deliverable. But page 2 and 3? Never. Page 3 and 4 (front/back single sheet) would be sent out in a second envelope. Page 5 and 6 (front/back single sheet) in a third envelope. And so on.

My concern with "Start on" "Left" was shooting myself in the foot for those "established workflows". Like if one day far in the future I wanted to take all these dozens of "single sheet deliverables" and package them up into a book, where there WOULD be a "gatefold center spread of a magazine". If that were ever the case, would I "just" be able to toggle "Start on:" "Right" in my existing document and everything would be a-OK? Is "Start on: Left" and "Start on: Right" purely a visual metaphor for the designer, or does it mean something more, something that would get codified in an external file intended for the printers?

[Old Bruce]

2 minutes ago, Morbus Iff said:

Like if one day far in the future I wanted to take all these dozens of "single sheet deliverables" and package them up into a book, where there WOULD be a "gatefold center spread of a magazine". If that were ever the case, would I "just" be able to toggle "Start on:" "Right" in my existing document and everything would be a-OK?

No.

In the future,  open the document add one single blank page to the document after you have the Start on Right Change.

Test this advice out first.

If I was you I would just work with a single page workflow. No headaches, no problems introduced for sometime in the next year when you send the document to someone else to work with.

[Morbus Iff]

2 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

No.

Due to margins or something? I would want heavier left and right margins on these single-sheet deliverables (heavier left margin on the front of the page, heavier right margin on the back of the page), as there is an expectation that people would be hole-punching them.

5 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

In the future,  open the document add one single blank page to the document after you have the Start on Right Change.

... ... If, in a "Start on: Left" world, my page 1 is "the front of the first page, which is not a cover" then, when moving to a "Start on Right" world (in this far future theoretical) and adding a single blank page to the front of the document (the new blank page 1, pushing my original page 1 to page 2), then wouldn't I want to add a SECOND single blank page (blank page 1 and 2, my original page 1 is now page 3), so that my original content is now "on the right" ("the beginning of the content in the book")?

10 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

If I was you I would just work with a single page workflow. No headaches, no problems introduced for sometime in the next year when you send the document to someone else to work with.

Heh, heh. Given my ignorance, this might be the best approach

I just wish I could view something 2-up regardless of what page was on the left, to maximize monitor space.

[Old Bruce]

This thing about Hole Punching makes me think you should work with the standard Facing pages mode. It would be easy to mess up using other methods we have been discussing. Far too easy to mess up and make something impossible to print. But <sarcasm on> nice to look at... <sarcasm off>

[Morbus Iff]

Fair enough. Thanks for your help and patience!