Affinity Publisher (2.2.1) – start right page on ZERO

[tersmuse]

When I select a frame, an object on the right page, the dimensions are displayed including the left page. Which setting is needed, that the right page also starts with X = 0 (ZERO).

Example: If I create a frame on the left page X = 15, Y = 20. If I create the same frame on the right page, X is plus the page width (perhaps 210): X = 225, Y = 20

That's exhausting with a book (facing pages). How do you change this?

[walt.farrell]

I guess I don't spend much time looking at X/Y positions of objects in relation to the page size in Publisher, and therefore I don't find that "exhausting". But as far as I know, there's no way to reset the spread origin to behave as you want.

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, tersmuse said:

That's exhausting with a book (facing pages). How do you change this?

You can drag the ruler origin to the top of the spread so it is in the centre. Then you have the Righthand page start at zero but then you have negative numbers for the Lefthand page. There is no setting for each page to be starting at zero, zero.

[walt.farrell]

51 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Then you have the Righthand page start at zero

Yes, but this does not seem to affect values shown in the Transform panel.

[Old Bruce]

4 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Yes, but this does not seem to affect values shown in the Transform panel.

Does here on Mac OS 12.7. The grey rectangle is on the Righthand page of a two page spread.

[tersmuse]

the approach is unusual for old hands, here is a comparison:

ID

QXP

APUB

I think you get what I mean why it is difficult to get used to this approach. As a graduate graphic designer, I work exclusively via XY coordinates, for all elements.
Now with calculator ;)

[tersmuse]

@Old Bruce

this is how it looks under macOS 12.7 for me, also the right page:

why is it different for me? Is it because of any settings?

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

You can drag the ruler origin to the top of the spread so it is in the centre

 

3 minutes ago, tersmuse said:

why is it different for me? Is it because of any settings?

Did you drag the ruler's origin over the centre of the spread? No.

 

[tersmuse]

6 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

 

Did you drag the ruler's origin over the centre of the spread? No.

 

No, why would I do that if I have a book?

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, tersmuse said:

No, why would I do that if I have a book?

It's the only way to have the right-hand page start on 0.

[tersmuse]

@walt.farrell then I have negative values on the left page in each case. It can never be seriously thought that way. Madness, completely new ways.

[tersmuse]

When I work with multiple canvases in Designer, each canvas has its zero point … funny

[walt.farrell]

29 minutes ago, tersmuse said:

When I work with multiple canvases in Designer, each canvas has its zero point … funny

The equivalent of that in Publisher would be non-Facing Pages. A Facing-Page spread is a single object, like a single Artboard in Designer.

[Oufti]

33 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

A Facing-Page spread is a single object, like a single Artboard in Designer.

And generally, facing pages are mirrored, hence the facility to set the ruler origin in the middle and having negative measures for the left page. 

[R C-R]

30 minutes ago, Oufti said:

And generally, facing pages are mirrored, hence the facility to set the ruler origin in the middle and having negative measures for the left page. 

I don't understand what you mean by mirrored. Can you explain a bit more about what specifically is mirrored on the pages in a spread?

[Oufti]

25 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Can you explain a bit more about what specifically is mirrored on the pages in a spread?

Margins, text frames, folios… 

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, Oufti said:

Margins, text frames, folios… 

Hmm. I was looking at some of the sample APub V2 documents & it does not seem that most of them mirror text frames, though of course the ones intended for book printing do mirror the margins.

[lacerto]

9 hours ago, tersmuse said:

Madness, completely new ways.

Not completely. The default in InDesign is (was at least up to CS6) that the rule origin is at the top left a a spread, and when dragged to be at he spine, coordinates of the left pages are negative. 

It is just that InDesign offers three options for the user to choose the default. Spread is the application factory default, and then the behavior is the same as in Publisher (including what happens when dragging the zero point at spine, or anywhere within the spread) -- negative coordinates to the left and up, positive to the right and down. Page has page specific coordinate system  (which is what you prefer and which option is not available in Publisher when using Facing pages), Spine places origin at the spine and shows negative values to left and up and positive to right and down, similarly as when the spread-based origin is manually set at spine.

9 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Yes, but this does not seem to affect values shown in the Transform panel.

It does, but the change is not "live" since you need to reselect an object to have the coordinates updated.

[anto]

18 годин тому tersmuse сказав:

When I select a frame, an object on the right page, the dimensions are displayed including the left page. Which setting is needed, that the right page also starts with X = 0 (ZERO).

Example: If I create a frame on the left page X = 15, Y = 20. If I create the same frame on the right page, X is plus the page width (perhaps 210): X = 225, Y = 20

That's exhausting with a book (facing pages). How do you change this?

Change the reference point of the coordinate system, just like in Indesign.

 

 

[anto]

Another way is to set Transform origin and rotate on 180.

 

 

[tersmuse]

5 hours ago, lacerto said:

The default in InDesign is (was at least up to CS6) that the rule origin is at the top left a a spread, and when dragged to be at he spine, coordinates of the left pages are negative.

The same in QuarkXPress. The origin of a spread is the top left corner of a page, not the spread. This is the standard setting. This setting makes more sense. The fact that you can change it in other apps just shows how well thought out the competitors apps are.
How to set the values depends on your layout. I prefer the coordinates page by page, because the pages in a book, for example 1 + 16, are designed individually, not as one page.
For me it was "unusual" because I know it from InDesign, QuarkXPress, PageDesign, Ventura Publisher ... differently. Maybe Serif will give us a selection one day.

Many thanks for your attention, the question is answered. Everyone likes it different.

[lacerto]

1 hour ago, tersmuse said:

The origin of a spread is the top left corner of a page, not the spread.

In InDesign the origin of the spread is at that lop left corner of the spread, though, so if you have facing pages, it is at the top left corner of the left-side pages, similarly as in Publisher. I do not remember how it is in QuarkXPress (I have 2018 version). Personally I often move the origin to the spine when needing to check e.g. symmetry of a (mirrored) facing-pages layout (and in this case it helps to have identical readings, (except of the plus/minus sign). In some facing pages projects page-based origin may be more convenient, though, and as you mentioned, we all have our preferences. 

[tersmuse]

1 hour ago, lacerto said:

In InDesign the origin of the spread is at that lop left corner of the spread, though, so if you have facing pages, it is at the top left corner of the left-side pages, similarly as in Publisher.

I have only the CS6 version, there it's like I wrote, each page has the zero point at the top left. It is certainly possible that there are individual settings by country?

[lacerto]

I checked QXP2018, there the default is that coordinates are per Page. If they are by Spread, coordinates behave similarly as in Publisher. Moving the origin to anywhere else than top left of the spread will show negative coordinates to the left of the origin, similarly as InDesign and Publisher, and if the origin is not changed, the rightmost pages do not start from zero.

I too have version CS6 but it is still the same in current CC versions. Whether app defaults vary depending on the country I have no idea. But the option that says "Spread" does what it says, and if you need "Page" coordinates, the appropriate option is "Page".

[joseb]

Hi all,

Does the new version 2.4 of Publisher solve this problem?

Is it possible to set the origin per page in a document with facing pages?

Can a spread have one origin for the left page and another origin for the right page?

Edited March 12, 2024 by joseb