text frames on master page - how to use in normal pages

[000]

After playing with it for a while, I quite like the way master pages are currently ser up and used.

Coming from InDesign, I am used to the master text frames too, however, if you REALLY think about it  as soon as you ,use' the master text frame, it kind of becomes a normal text frame in this page.

To keep Publishers approach with the layers and such, I could image having a special marker on some master page objects (right mouse button, set as template object?) and when a master page is applied, all objects with this marker are moved in the standard layer instead of the locked master layer of that page. This would solve the problemof a ready available text frame AND give users the advantage to set these markers on other objects as well, e.g. picture frames that are always at the same position but include different images.

Not sure how to get the text frame flow going, but manually connecting the frames wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, until someone comes up with a genious idea.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Jens Krebs said:

After playing with it for a while, I quite like the way master pages are currently ser up and used.

Anybody else notice that in the Layers panel, master page elements have a red stripe on the left, sort of like symbols in Affinity Designer? And on regular pages in the Layers panel, the 'parent' master page appears with a lock & the half-red bar that looks like the one for a symbol 'parent' in AD? Turn off the lock, expand that & you can manipulate the master page element on the regular page, which updates the master page. There is even a tooltip that pops up showing 'unlinked attributes.'

This suggests to me that the currently non-functional Vector Persona might somehow hook into that.... 

[tariq]

On 8/30/2018 at 3:09 PM, Dave Harris said:

Have you tried using Autoflow for text? Create the first frame, add the text, then shift-click on the Text Flow button at the lower right of the frame. It will create new pages and frames by cloning the one you clicked on.

I tried it last night. Creates new pages which is ok but 2 key things are missing:

 

• you can't change the design of the text frames across all the pages by simply making a change to the master page template frames
• you can't have more complex designs, eg two or more linked frames on a page which then auto create new pages

 

its also too easy to accidentally change a frame on page 7 of 20 for example .. when if the frames were defined on a master page they would be not easy t change (a good thing)

 

thanks for the suggestion anyway - appreciate it

[geraldv]

I'm a newbie with Publisher but have found it to be a lot better for what I require than InDesign which I have used for 20 years and prior to that worked in Quark Xpress.

I have also used the "Publisher" DTP software on an Acorn Armstrong computer I owned and actually gave training on this. I am saying this because what I'd really like to see eventually on Affinity Publisher would be the ability to place a master text frame on any page anywhere in the publication which allows that text to be edited on any of the master text frames throughout the document and it automatically changes across the publication. This was possible on the Acorn using that *Publisher* software. (*obviously same name but different developer and since Mac bought out Acorn it is no longer available)

Currently I am creating modules for a Real Estate Advertisement of various sizes to place on a page. I currently create assets of each module and it would be awesome to be able to change it once and all the other sizes update. Apparently Quark Express does this very well. I believe you have to use tags to do it though.

Anyway Affinity Publisher is very good and easy to use and I look forward to seeing it develop.

MacOS 10.14.2  Macbook Pro

[hawk]

On 8/30/2018 at 2:04 PM, A_B_C said:

Imagine you have a text frame with some contents on a master page. Then this text frame and its contents will be propagated to all pages based on this master page. Now, suppose there is just one page in your document that should feature a different content in the propagated text frame.

On 8/30/2018 at 3:05 PM, Jens Krebs said:

@R C-R: No, what people in this thread are looking for is, placing a text frame on a master page, and having this text frame work as template, meaning whenever you add more text or pages, the text flows from one page to the next, using the text frame / dimensions set up on the master page.

On 9/1/2018 at 2:54 PM, tariq said:

I tried it last night. Creates new pages which is ok but 2 key things are missing:

 

• you can't change the design of the text frames across all the pages by simply making a change to the master page template frames
• you can't have more complex designs, eg two or more linked frames on a page which then auto create new pages

 

its also too easy to accidentally change a frame on page 7 of 20 for example .. when if the frames were defined on a master page they would be not easy t change (a good thing)

Almost all of these needs are met by the Symbols panel and I don't understand why almost no one ever mentions Symbols (except @R C-R ), as if it's the 30-year-old son who lives in the basement. I must be missing something here because I think the Symbols feature is great and I feel like the Affinity team aren't capitalizing on it and don't want to for some reason.

Hint: the orange border on master layers shows that they're Symbols. Unlock a master layer, open the Symbols panel (View→Studio→Symbols), click the 'Sync' button to disable syncing, and make some changes, such as editing some text. When you're done, remember to toggle the Sync option again and lock the master layer to prevent accidents. You can later change any other attributes across all pages, except for text (including color/style), but you can use Text Styles to keep such changes shared.

I imagine it isn't ideal for the workflows that some may have coming from other software packages, and I appreciate the devs baking a more fitting solution, but I'd say it's a decent enough workaround for many cases that at least deserves to be mentioned in threads like this.

Cheers, guys!

[000]

1 hour ago, hawk said:

Almost all of these needs are met by the Symbols panel and I don't understand why almost no one ever mentions Symbols (except @R C-R )

Love sybols and they are great in many instances.

When you work publishing however (and the application name "Publisher" hints  at Serif targeting this market), you need  a MUCH more efficient way of working with master pages and a master text frames than touching every page manually --- just imagine textbooks with several hundred or novels with 1.000 or more pages.

I'm not saying you cannot do that in Publisher as it is, but when working on such a big book, I will certainly choose an application that can work with this as swiftly and effortlessly as possible so I can spend more time on the actual design work.

Again: Symbols are great and work well for the master pages as they are -- the master text frame / main text area is just another standard feature that most people require when working on long documents. How exactly it is implemented doesn't matter as much as that it's there.

I'm happy to learn something new and get used to another way of doing things, but I cannot compromise on having the functionality.

[floatingonair]

Very timely discussion. I'm having the same problem. Set up a master. Insert pages and apply a master to them. When I enter text on the pages, they show up in the master.

Doesn't matter which of the several master pages get applied to Pages, the results are repeatable. My thinking is that objects on master pages can be applied to normal pages, not the other way around. Don't know if this is a bug or feature.

[fde101]

Currently Publisher does not support objects on master pages having distinct content on the individual document pages.  If you are trying to add text to a text box that was created on a master, it is adding the text to the master and thus it is being shared with all of the other pages.

While there is a workaround that is kind of a hack (turn off "sync" in the Symbols palette before editing the object on the page), a "correct" fix for this will be coming later.

[000]

The current workflow is this:

1. Create a normal text frame on your first page (not on the master page!)
2. Copy / Paste all your text
3. Hold the SHIFT key and left-click on the little textflow icon in the lower right corner of the your text frame

This will continue adding pages with the text flowing in new text frames for as much text as you have copied in the first frame. Be aware though, that you have to change the size / column setting of each frame / page manually if needed -- the text flows through the frames, but the frames stay individual.

Even thought this is far from ideal (and far from what I need), this is how it currently is implemented.

[floatingonair]

I turned off sync or enabled Detach in the symbols panel as fde101 suggested. However, every time I paste in a lot of text, Publisher crashes. 

In further testing, pasteing in one small paragraph at a time works. Text flow into another page also causes crashes when pasting, as well as trying to save.

I'd be happy to send whatever data the team needs to figure out and fix this issue.

[Josh_C]

On 1/16/2019 at 10:44 AM, Jens Krebs said:

The current workflow is this:

1. Create a normal text frame on your first page (not on the master page!)
2. Copy / Paste all your text
3. Hold the SHIFT key and left-click on the little textflow icon in the lower right corner of the your text frame

This will continue adding pages with the text flowing in new text frames for as much text as you have copied in the first frame. Be aware though, that you have to change the size / column setting of each frame / page manually if needed -- the text flows through the frames, but the frames stay individual.

Even thought this is far from ideal (and far from what I need), this is how it currently is implemented.

So I think I have the solution that you are looking for. I don't know if it was added in more recent updates or what, but it works. This is in regards to editing a word heavy document with flowing text, such as a long novel:

1. Create text boxes on your master pages, one on the left and one on the right. Link the left box to the right box on the master pages. After this, you will NOT edit the master pages any more, unless you later decide to resize the boxes.

2. On your actual pages, paste or place your first chapter into the first text box. (Note: do not create any new, empty pages, intending to fill them).

3. Shift-click on the box's text-linking triangle. This will create new pages and fill them with the flowing text.

4. If it ends on a left page, and you want your next chapter to start on the right page, unlink the text boxes, then paste your next chapter into the single text frame on the right and repeat the process.

Now if you want to edit your margins by adjusting the master text boxes, all your pages will reflect the changes. If you do make changes, you'll have to go through and check the end of your chapters that no text is missing since you adjusted everything. You might have to manually add pages and text boxes to show the hidden text after you adjust the master pages text box size, or even delete any empty pages, depending on the adjustments to the master that you make.