Import pdf into frames of specific sizes

[jfontana]

I'm trying to do something that in principle should be very basic and easy but I haven't been able to figure out how to do. I have a document which is a collection of different articles among the articles there are some that are in PDF format.

I have created a master with the page numbers at the bottom. When I import the PDF documents, the frame containing the document covers the area where the page number should be and the number is invisible. I'd like o be able to define the area of the page that will be occupied by all the imported documents. I haven't been able to find the appropriate information in the available tutorials or help documentation. I'm pretty sure it must be there but, as I said, I have not been successful at finding the relevant section. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

JM

[NathanC]

Hi @jfontana welcome to the forums,

if you're referring to placing your PDFs as linked documents and they are higher on your layer stack than your master page this will cause the page numbers to go behind the PDF document, this can be corrected by putting the master page layer to the top of the stack as shown below.

If you want to better define the area of the page for the imported PDF, you can first draw out a picture frame using the Picture Frame tool and with the frame layer highlighted File > place your PDF document into the area

[jfontana]

Thanks for the quick response. I did have the master stacked above the pdf documents I had imported.  This is what happens by default since when I created the project it asks me to create a master. I imported the docs I wanted to include after that and they all occupied the whole page so the page number stayed behind.

It turns out this was not the only problem I have. The PDFs I imported had been modified and I had added notes, eliminated some paragraphs (hiding them behind blank blocks using Adobe Acrobat), etc. When publisher imports them, none of the changes are preserved. So, what I need to do now is something different. I exported the PDFs into tiff images so that all of the changes I made will be visible when I import the images into the new document I create with publisher.

I'm stuck again since I don't see how I can do what I would need to do. So, what I would like is to be able create a frame in the master that occupies the exact space that I want the images to occupy. Under that rectangular frame, I will insert the field for the page number so that the number will appear under the imported image. Alas, I don't see how I would import all the tiff images so that each one of the images is inserted in one new page in the space corresponding to the frame present in the master. One can do this (more or less) importing the pdf and then doing 'Apply Master to pages'. I don't see any way of inserting images into pages automatically. I can import all the images using the 'place image tool' but they are stored separately from the pages. Perhaps I'm using the wrong tool for what I need to do? When I bought Publisher, I thought these are the things that it would help me do.

[NathanC]

15 hours ago, jfontana said:

The PDFs I imported had been modified and I had added notes, eliminated some paragraphs (hiding them behind blank blocks using Adobe Acrobat), etc. When publisher imports them, none of the changes are preserved

It's possible that this is occurring because the resource placement policy is 'embedded' when in this case you would want it to be 'linked' if you wanted the resources to update. Resources can be changed from embedded to linked by going to Document > Resource manager.

15 hours ago, jfontana said:

Alas, I don't see how I would import all the tiff images so that each one of the images is inserted in one new page in the space corresponding to the frame present in the master.

One approach to this if you have 1 page per TIFF image saved is to have the picture frame setup on your master and applied to all your spreads/pages and to go to File > Place and highlight all TIFF images, this will enable the 'place images' panel where you can manually add the TIFF images to the frames.

instead of using TIFFs you could also try importing your PDF via Document > 'Add Pages From File'. this will automatically add the specified pages from your PDF directly into your file and you can then look at making adjustments after such as adding page numbers from the master.

 

[jfontana]

Thanks a lot for your quick and useful response!!

JM

[jfontana]

OK. I'm almost there but I need a bit more help.

I was a bit confused about how the layers worked with respect to the master. I see that linking the PDF instead of embedding it solves the problems I had. Now, the problem that I'm still having is that, when I import the PDF document by doing Document > 'Add Pages From File', the layers for each one of the imported pages wind up preceding the layer from the master. I can correct the problem for each individual page by moving the master layer above the layers for the page. When I do that the page number can be seen in that page but doing this for each one of the pages is very time consuming. 

So, how do you import the pages from the documents so that their layers will be lower on the layer stack than the master page or how do you switch the order of the layers in the stack for all the pages at once with respect to the master page layer?

 

[jfontana]

So, I am wondering whether what I'm trying to do is possible at all.  I mean to import all the pages from a file in such a way that they are all placed lower in the layer stack than the master.

I have spent some time trying to figure out if one can select all the imported pages at once and place them all lower in the layer stack than the master but I don't see any way of doing it.  

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, jfontana said:

I mean to import all the pages from a file in such a way that they are all placed lower in the layer stack than the master.

No, you can't do that.

1 hour ago, jfontana said:

I have spent some time trying to figure out if one can select all the imported pages at once and place them all lower in the layer stack than the master but I don't see any way of doing it.  

No, you can't do that, either. However, you can select the Master and move it higher than everything else, after you've imported your other pages. But depending, again, on exactly what you mean by "import", as there are at least 3 different meanings for that term. Please describe the exact steps you plan to take. Do you mean File > Open, File > Place, or Document > Add Pages from File?

Assuming you do something that actually has the Master pages applied to the document pages, and they are at the bottom of the layer stack but you want them at the top, then:

1. Select one page.
2. Right-click on the Master page layer in the Layers panel, and choose Edit Linked.
3. Select the Master page layer (click on it) in the Layers panel.
4. From the application Menu, Layer > Arrange > Move to Front.
5. Click the orange Finished button.

[jfontana]

Thanks for answering Walt!

I have followed your instructions and that has been really helpful. By moving the master layer to the front, now the page number is visible in all the pages that I imported.

Alas, I solved a problem and created another. The problem is now that all of the pages have the number 1. This didn't happen before. Even though the numbers were behind the page layers, they were all consecutive numbers. 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, jfontana said:

The problem is now that all of the pages have the number 1. This didn't happen before.

I have no idea how that could happen, and I would probably need to see a sample .afpub document to attempt a diagnosis.

If you'd like to make a copy of your file and delete all but the first few pages from it (enough to show the problem) I or another forum user can take a look.

[jfontana]

Sorry about taking so long to answer. Thanks a lot Walt. The problem about all the pages having the number 1 got solved by simply closing Publisher and opening it again.