Let me start by giving you an example of why using Master Pages in InDesign are crucial when creating multi-page documents:
You sent a 250 page catalog to your client and they love it but they want to change the blue graphic element in the footer area to red. It appears on every page. The thought of selecting 250 blue rectangles one-by-one makes your head hurt. The good news is you don’t have to—you need to use Master Pages!
What are Master Pages?
Master pages are used in InDesign to setup repeating objects like page numbers, footers, image and text place holders, etc…If there is an item in your work that will repeat on several pages, it will be beneficial to use Master pages.
How do you use Master Pages?
Double-click on the Master page in the pages panel to add items to multiple pages. If you need to make a change (like the example above), you make one change on the master page and it will be applied to all pages that Master page has been applied to.
There are two ways to apply the Master pages to document pages—you can use the “Apply Master to Pages” option from the Pages panel menu or simple drag the Master page over the document page thumbnail in the pages panel. By default, all pages will have the A-Master page applied to it.
[message type=”simple”]Interested in learning more about Master pages the other great features in InDesign? We offer small, hands-on InDesign classes, taught by expert instructors. We teach from experience—not from a manual.[/message]
