Trouble removing blank pages and maintaining page structure in Affinity Publisher for PDF export

[M1chel]

Hi,

I have a book with a total of 360 pages formatted in A5 size, intended to be published as a paperback.

While working in Affinity Publisher, I always had the left and right pages visible. I would always start a new chapter on the right page, but actually both on the left and right. On the left, there would be an image, and on the right, the text of the new chapter would begin. So, here and there, I have a blank right page before a new chapter starts (when the previous chapter ended on the left page).

Now, I want to offer this book as a downloadable PDF in A4 size (with one page displayed at a time). Therefore, I want to export it as a digital PDF, but before doing so, I want to remove the blank pages to enhance the reading experience.

In Affinity Publisher, I can change the size to A4 through the document settings and export a PDF with one page displayed by choosing "all pages" instead of "spread." That's great, but I still have the blank pages. I can remove those blank pages using Adobe Acrobat or Preview on macOS, but then I'm left with incorrect page numbers and a table of contents that I would have to manually edit, which is not ideal. So, why did I even consider this option?

Now, in Affinity Publisher, I can't get rid of most of the blank pages (15 in total). I have tried deleting invisible elements like page breaks or shifting text frames, but I can't remove the blank pages. I select the blank page in question and click "delete," but it remains there, even though I see text shifting on the subsequent pages. It seems like the text is even disappearing. When I try to solve this by dragging the text frames from the next page to the blank page, the text becomes invisible, as if it's positioned behind the page.

Does anyone have suggestions on what else I can try to solve this issue?

 

[Oufti]

I have no precise idea how your document is set but this is how I would do from scratch:

I would create a paragraph style for all the initial images:

• https://affinity.help/publisher2/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Text/textStyles_create.html?title=Creating and managing text styles

and set in its definition: Paragraph > Flow Options > Start > On Next Even Page. 

• https://affinity.help/publisher/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Panels/paragraphPanel.html?title=Paragraph panel

When it's time to export as an e-book, you just change the style definition to be Start > On Next Page (no more necessarily an even one). 

P.S. Choosing Start > On Next Page for the Chapter title style will suffice to have them correctly placed, as in any case they will immediately follow an initial image page. 

 

[Old Bruce]

18 hours ago, M1chel said:

... I would always start a new chapter on the right page, but actually both on the left and right. On the left, there would be an image, and on the right, the text of the new chapter would begin. So, here and there, I have a blank right page before a new chapter starts (when the previous chapter ended on the left page).

Now, I want to offer this book as a downloadable PDF in A4 size (with one page displayed at a time). Therefore, I want to export it as a digital PDF, but before doing so, I want to remove the blank pages to enhance the reading experience.

In Affinity Publisher, I can change the size to A4 through the document settings and export a PDF with one page displayed by choosing "all pages" instead of "spread." That's great, but I still have the blank pages. I can remove those blank pages using Adobe Acrobat or Preview on macOS, but then I'm left with incorrect page numbers and a table of contents that I would have to manually edit, which is not ideal. So, why did I even consider this option?

Your best bet is to bite the bullet and make two Publisher documents. First one for Print and the other for the eBook. The Print document would be done with two page Spreads and the eBook with single page Spreads. You would most likely have to adjust the margins for the eBook so they are centred (left and right) on the page if they are not already that way. Finish the Print document first, then convert it to Single page Spreads, delete the blank pages in Publisher.

[M1chel]

Thanks Oufti and Old Bruce.

@Old Bruce, where/how would you convert the document to Single page Spreads? Is this done in the master pages' properties? If I do that, it will remove half of the running headers from either one page or the other, unless I opt to create two separate master pages and have them alternate with each other... Is there another method?

The print document is complete -- it only needs one more round of proofreading. I intended to use the A4/single spread version for the final proofread.

[Old Bruce]

4 minutes ago, M1chel said:

@Old Bruce, where/how would you convert the document to Single page Spreads?

Go to Document Setup, File > Document Setup... or if you have the move tool selected and no layers selected hit the Document Setup button on the Context Toolbar.

Then choose Model and untick Facing Pages.

[M1chel]

@Old Bruce

Thank you, your solution worked. However, I did encounter some issues. Some of the images that I initially placed on the left page before the start of a new chapter on the right have been lost. I think I'll need to manually place/add them again. Also, I momentarily lost the running headers and footers that were previously on the left; these were found on the master pages that were previously on the right. They are now back in place. So, I now have four single master pages instead of the two double master pages (C-Chapter Open and A-Text Master). It's looking significantly better this way, rather than the previous confusion.

There's one more issue, which I think you were also referring to: the centering of the objects, particularly in the case of an eBook (and now conversion to A4). You're right, they're slightly off-center due to the print version. Do you know how I can detach and center the "helper frames" on my master pages? I can't seem to find a way to do anything with them. Please refer to the image for a clearer understanding; this example illustrates the A-Text Master (right page)… it has more space on the left than the right, as it was originally designed for print.

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by M1chel

[M1chel]

Okay, found it... 🫠