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Table of content order from layer not correct


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Without seeing the entire document (and especially the entire layer stack) it's hard to say for sure, but one key point is that generally the TOC order within a page runs from first-created text to last-created text, and what determines that is indeed the layer order in the Layers panel. Earlier text is lower in the layer stack than later text.

If you create a Text Frame, and put some text with headings into it, they will be in the Toc from top to bottom of that frame. If you then add another Text Frame, it will be higher in the layer stack, and the text headings from that frame will follow the headings from the first frame.

It's easy to think that it's the physical order you see them on the page, especially if you create some text on the page, then realize you want a header before it and add a new text frame for that header. Where you put the header on the page doesn't matter to the TOC generation process. It's only where it exists on the Layer panel, and by default it will be above the earlier text in the Layer panel, and thus follow that text in the TOC. You would need to move the layer down in the stack to get it right in the TOC.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Ok so its ordered after what text you write. But how can I change this order after the text is set? Would not dragging a group layer up/down to change the order then?

Cause the text is indeed created differently. But they all use same header, except for main heading.

 

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4 minutes ago, Vegard said:

Would not dragging a group layer up/down to change the order then?

Yes.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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Dragging them up and down might not change the TOC order if you are using linked Text Frames on the page. There, the order of linking would be an additional determining factor on the TOC order.

Beyond that, I am not willing to make any guesses without seeing the atual document. Sorry, but there is too much that cannot be seen simply from the Layers panel (such as which layer contributes which text, whether (and how) frames are linked, etc.).

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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59 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Dragging them up and down might not change the TOC order if you are using linked Text Frames on the page. There, the order of linking would be an additional determining factor on the TOC order.

Beyond that, I am not willing to make any guesses without seeing the atual document. Sorry, but there is too much that cannot be seen simply from the Layers panel (such as which layer contributes which text, whether (and how) frames are linked, etc.).

Ok. I have PM you the file so you can look. Is there a way to see or re-order these text frames?

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4 hours ago, Vegard said:

Ok. I have PM you the file so you can look. Is there a way to see or re-order these text frames?

Thanks for the file.

The entries are appearing in the order I would expect.

As I see it: you have two pages, page 1 and page 2 (physical pages 4,5) on the 2-page spread. You have text boxes laid out as below (with | representing the border between page 1 and page 2), to which I will give simple numbers to represent the logical order I think you see them in:

1

     2 (starting on page 1 and spanning onto page 2)
     3 (starting on page 1 and spanning onto page 2)
     4 (starting on page 1 and spanning onto page 2)

5  6  7  |  8  9  10

11       | 12

I think that you see the 2-page spread as reading left-to-right across the spread, and then top to bottom, so you think the TOC should be in order from 1 to 12. But TOC entries follow the physical  page order, so your TOC has entries for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11 (all on page 1) followed by 8, 9, 10, 12 (all on page 2).

I don't think there's anything simple that you can to do to get the order you expected.

Sorry. (I'll delete my copy of your file.)

 

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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1 hour ago, Vegard said:

Other than if a document can use both A3 and A4 pages?

You're welcome. It was an interesting project to analyze, as I had never considered how a layout like that would appear in a TOC.

If you use Facing Pages, then I don't think there's a solution for you.

However, if you can use single (non-facing) pages, then yes, you can mix A3 and A4 pages, and could have the smaller pages oriented in portrait mode, and the larger page oriented in landscape. If you set it up that way, your TOC would come out correct, I think.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

You're welcome. It was an interesting project to analyze, as I had never considered how a layout like that would appear in a TOC.

If you use Facing Pages, then I don't think there's a solution for you.

However, if you can use single (non-facing) pages, then yes, you can mix A3 and A4 pages, and could have the smaller pages oriented in portrait mode, and the larger page oriented in landscape. If you set it up that way, your TOC would come out correct, I think.

Thanks I am actually going to try use publisher/designer to create documents instead of using Lucidchart. As this solution is not subscription based and is also more powerfull. 

I tried now combining A4 and A3 in same document and at looks like this could actually work good. Using 2 different master pages.

Not sure what drawbacks this could mean, other than with printing. But then again we try to export 2 copies. One for printing on A4 and one that is exported as a spread sheet, so its good to look at on table/pc.

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