Auto Flow Text in InDesign (Auto Create New Pages)

[@user-dh6eu5in6q]

THIS IS THE BEST, EASIEST AND MOST INGENIOUS WAY TO FLOW TEXT I have ever found on youtube. You're a genius Michael, you have saved me hours of agony trying to find such a simply short-cut. A MILLION THANKS!

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey thank you. That's quite the compliment and very kind of you to say. Happy to have helped.

[@dondoernberg6064]

I do have one question, which may just be a variant of Michael's excellent instruction. I have to paste a large amount of text within a multi-page document. Can I insert that large block of text in a way that simply pushes the remaining pages of the document back and creates new, linked pages as needed? Thanks.

[@thekingtwins8568]

Thank you thank you thank you. I should have looked at this before starting to design my book. I invested 8 hours yesterday inputting page by page the text only to find out that there were 49 errors that did not allow me to export the book simply because I was inputting each page individually ignoring the little plus signs. Anyway, I started all over again today and in 5 minutes it was done. No manual input. Just the shift key and magic!!!! Thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing. 5 minutes verses 8 hours is quite the difference. I wish you well with the book.

[@queensmum]

Thank you so much!! Saved me hours. I noticed if you've already started to manually set the pages, you can still hold down shift when you place on the next page and it will still autoflow.

[@MichaelBullo]

I'm genuinely happy to hear this will help. Thank you. Nicely spotted regarding flowing text in an existing document.

[@mehreenmalikk]

OMG!!!! Thank you so so so much for this wonderful video😉 it is amazing and 💯 💯 working

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey that's fantastic. Great to hear and thank you.

[@WebFanNY]

AMAZING!!! Thanks for helping me solve an InDesign crisis I had all weekend. It drove me crazy trying to get new pages with auto flow. Thanks!!! And I just subscribed, too.

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey that's great to hear. Auto flow in InDesign can definitely be confusing initially. Thank you and welcome to the channel.

[@denhamk]

Amazing!! Another thing I didn’t know you could do. I wish I knew this three months ago!!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. I know how you feel ;)

[@Manupachon]

Thank you SO MUCH! Best tutorial, right to the point and super clear

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you very much. I hope you are having fun in InDesign.

[@isaacktrigueros1495]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! You´ve saved me so many hours with this trick :')

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Isaack. That's great to hear this will help speed up things for you in InDesign.

[@Faith4Miracles111]

Super easy - super quick! Awesome and thanks!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you for the feedback and the support. Have yourself a great day.

[@br0ckloeven]

Thank you Michael!! The first two methods were working fine for me until indesign decided to recognize paragraph breaks as page breaks.. the third method was a perfect work around to this. If anyone knows why this is happening please let me know

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Assuming you are using Paragraph Styles, look inside the "Keep Options" section when editing the style. There is a "Start Paragraph" option which should generally be set to "Anywhere". Perhaps yours is set to something like "On Next Page".

[@MichaelBullo]

If "Start Paragraph" isn't the problem, be sure to explore the other options within the "Keep Options" section. Best of luck.

[@VincentForDesign]

Jesus of Indesign! Thanks!

[@MichaelBullo]

That's quite the compliment. Thanks Vincent.

[@engrvarsi3774]

Thank You Saved a lot of time for me.

[@MichaelBullo]

Hey that's great to hear. Thank you.

[@artmediaestudiodiseno6747]

gracias amigo, corto y al punto! 👌

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Hope this helps speed things up for you.

[@jdmichaels4996]

YOU, SIR, ARE FANTASTIC. Thank you so very much.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Much appreciated. I was pretty happy when I learned about this technique. A real game changer.

[@claire1078]

you deserve the world michael

[@MichaelBullo]

Now that's a compliment. Thank you.

[@BADBRYZ]

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU!!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Cheers Brian 👍

[@p.echegaray2049]

Life saver, thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@erickonego1100]

Thank you. It helped me

[@MichaelBullo]

I'm happy to hear that. Thank you.

[@martafonseca5475]

This is exactly what I was looking for

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Marta. Best of luck with all those docs.

[@martafonseca5475]

@@MichaelBullo thank you Michael! I'm going to layout my master thesis this week

[@MichaelBullo]

@@martafonseca5475 Hey that's awesome. Congratulations.

[@Fujiwara-no-Moko]

thank you, this will be a life saver. although i do have a question and i hope it's not too stupid. if i have a ready template with text box size and page numbers and everything is set is there a way to make the auto flow use the template and create new pages based on it? thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

Are you asking if it is possible for InDesign to create new pages and place specific content on specific pages based on the page numbers within the text? If so, I don't believe so. You could always ask on the official Adobe forum where experts might know of some plugin that could help you. Best of luck.

[@MichaelBullo]

Also, thank you for the kind words :)

[@Fujiwara-no-Moko]

@@MichaelBullo not really. i meant is it possible to have the new pages that auto flow generates use a specific page template or text box size, though i think that would probably require some plugin too. in any case, thank you for the reply!

[@MichaelBullo]

@@Fujiwara-no-Moko Ah. I'm pretty sure the answer is no. But hopefully some crazy plugin can help. Best of luck.

[@Fujiwara-no-Moko]

@@MichaelBullo thank you! :)

[@gautambharath3943]

Thank you for that, Michael.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Gautam. Have a great day.

[@brightfrost]

Hi, I am having problem when typing. The first word got pushed backwards as I am typing in Indesign. For example, if I type "How are you?" it becomes "?uoy era woH" I don't even know how to describe this issue.

[@kc7095]

THANK YOU!!!! game changer

[@MichaelBullo]

Awesome. Thanks for letting me know.

[@teirvin]

Fantastic! Thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Troy. I appreciate that.

[@R.D.G.C.]

This was brilliant! Thank you. But is there a way to do this with two columns per page? Thanks!

[@MichaelBullo]

You can do this but using a different method. You will want to read up on Primary Text Frames. These live on Parent (previously known as Master) pages. Primary Text Frames automatically flow text between themselves across pages. All you need to do is edit the Text Frame Options of the Primary Text Frame so that it has two columns.

[@R.D.G.C.]

@@MichaelBullo Yup! That did the trick! Thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

@@R.D.G.C. Excellent. Thank you.

[@guitarcookbook]

Thanks a lot !

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@MC-sh9pd]

Perfect - Thank You!

[@MichaelBullo]

Cheers. Thank you.

[@visualthings]

genius! thanks a lot.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate

[@sandraschultz3104]

Are there preferences we need set up prior? for the Auto flow pages. I get a dialog box first and it wont let it.

[@MichaelBullo]

When you choose Place, do you have the “Show Import Options” option checked within the dialog box? If so, turn this off and this might remove the extra dialog box you are seeing.

[@patriciaa.tudosa2838]

Thank you!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Patricia

[@nando603]

You're a genius!!! Thanks a lot

[@MichaelBullo]

That's very kind of you to say. Thank you.

[@nando603]

@@MichaelBullo np!!! Do you know if there is a way to paste an object/image on multiple pages at once?

[@MichaelBullo]

@@nando603 Are you familiar with Parent Pages (previously known as Master Pages)? You can put whatever content you like on Parent Pages. When you apply a Parent Page to any document pages their content will also show up on those pages. Any edits you make to the Parent will immediately show on the respective pages.

[@nando603]

@@MichaelBullo oh, I didn't know that! Thanks again :D

[@MichaelBullo]

@@nando603 Cheers mate

[@kimm7497]

Thank you sooooo much.

[@MichaelBullo]

Happy to have helped you out. Thanks.

[@angelaaguilar-dimas6027]

Thanks. ❤

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@Anubiss3301]

Great for pasting text, but what about creating new pages as I type..?

[@MichaelBullo]

Within the Type tab of the InDesign Preferences is a Smart Text Reflow section. This includes options for automatically adding and deleting pages. Does this solve your problem?

[@maroudigeorgakopoulou9281]

you save my dayyyy !!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Maroudi. I'm happy to hear that.

[@manojkn1073]

sir, very very thanks

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate

[@WilliamGarrisonArts]

That's if you are importing a file. My issue is that its not auto creating pages when I paste in the text. Auto create is turned on, but it still doesn't create them. Any ideas why?

[@MichaelBullo]

Have you tried what I demonstrate in the video on a new, blank document? This should help rule out if you have a single problematic file.

[@JenniferFleming-y8g]

Thanks - Anyone know how to do this with text boxes that are already drawn on a page - like, 4 linked boxes that you want one name in each? I haven't been able to figure out how to get ID to recognize a source for a data merge

[@MichaelBullo]

I'm not exactly sure what your situation is. Perhaps this menu option could help. Type > Insert Break Character > Frame Break

[@JenniferFleming-y8g]

@@MichaelBullo Thanks. I'm trying to create a page of labels in InDesign. I understand the process a bit more now and think I've figured it out. Was wanting to use text frames I had on the page already but see that I've got to do the multiple record layout in the merge options panel - Thanks for your video - it' got me moving on the path I needed to get to my answer.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@JenniferFleming-y8g Thank you for that. Good to hear you've now got your head around Data Merge. I agree that some of that process is definitely not obvious.

[@adeodatuskakorozya9064]

This is so cool bro

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. I appreciate that.

[@rimasdesigner9471]

I have created QR codes for 500 pages, and now I need to input serial numbers. Will this technique work for already existing pages? Please help.

[@MichaelBullo]

I don't fully understand your situation. Having said that, linked text frames on InDesign Parent Pages (previously known as Master Pages) might help you.

[@rimasdesigner9471]

what I need is; that I have created 500 pages of a document which has different QR codes, on each page, now I have to put serial numbers, can you help me with that? can you tell me any methods to do that easily, please?@@MichaelBullo

[@kanari1860]

You my hero....

[@MichaelBullo]

Thanks mate. Have a great day.

[@LalHK08]

Loved it.

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you. Hope it helps.

[@hishamshaker3490]

Hello, when I insert a Word file and press the Shift key, all the text disappears, and when I open new pages and insert the hidden text, the text does not appear either. How can I solve this problem?

[@MichaelBullo]

Have you run a test with something simpler like a text file with just a block of text?

[@hishamshaker3490]

@@MichaelBullo Yes I did and still same problem

[@MichaelBullo]

@@hishamshaker3490 Have you tried with a new, blank InDesign file? If you are still having problems, resetting the InDesign preferences would be a good option.

[@hishamshaker3490]

@@MichaelBullo What are the steps to do this?

[@ridhopraharsa2621]

i have a question. when i File > Place, the text just copied half document, not all pages copied into indesign. how to fix it.?

[@MichaelBullo]

Are you sure you are copying all of your document? Could your document be so large that not all of it is copying to the clipboard? If you paste it somewhere else do you get the same problem?

[@ridhopraharsa2621]

@@MichaelBullo it fixed, my document be so large hahaha. Thanks mate.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@ridhopraharsa2621 Hey that's great to hear. Congratulations.

[@marcelodeniz3932]

nice

[@MichaelBullo]

Cheers

[@Yakaflo]

is there any way to make an empty text box know it needs to autoflow on a master page? saw someone do it recently but can't figure out how.

[@MichaelBullo]

You might have seen someone demonstrating a Primary Text Frame. The New Document dialog box includes an option to activate this. You can also activate it afterwards if you don't do it during document creation.

[@Yakaflo]

@@MichaelBullo yup that was it, thank you sir! subscribed.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@Yakaflo Excellent. Thank you. Happy to help.

[@vimalah190]

how do you get the textbox to align the margins made in masterpages?

[@MichaelBullo]

Can you describe your situation in more detail? What exactly is happening when you follow the video?

[@aleemmohammed7794]

Can you have images inserted in between the text with this?

[@MichaelBullo]

Yes. Start by laying out the text as demonstrated in the video. Do you know how to insert images? If not, let me know.

[@aleemmohammed7794]

@@MichaelBullo No, I don’t no, totally new to this.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@aleemmohammed7794 One option would be to have multiple linked text boxes on a single page, one before and one after your image. Another option would be to have a single text box on your page, place an image on the page and then add text wrap to it. If you are a complete beginner, you will need to learn a few more of the basics. Start by learning how to "Place" an image which you do via the File menu. You will then need to learn how to "Resize" an image and its frame. Then you will need to learn how to add "Text Wrap" to an image. Best of luck.

[@IasmimOliveiraConde]

And how do we stop InDesign from creating new pages? I want to work with a fixed number of pages :(

[@MichaelBullo]

Have you looked into Primary Text Frames that are set up on Parent (previously known as Master) pages?

[@brunamayer5160]

OBRIGADA!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you

[@neraknerak1]

Does it have to start w/ a .txt file?

[@MichaelBullo]

No. Just a file that InDesign can read which includes Word files.

[@andrewcramer2193]

How do you delete pages without affecting the rest of the overflow??

[@MichaelBullo]

Can you be more specific about what you are wanting to do?

[@andrewcramer2193]

@@MichaelBullo So I have a book laid out with the flowing text from page to page. But I needed to do a new contents page. I made a new one at the end of the document using the TOC option but then I needed to delete the existing pages with the old table of contents on em and when I did that it just deleted the pages and not the actual text and the flow text just compensated for the missing pages and made everything out of whack

[@MichaelBullo]

@@andrewcramer2193 Within the Type tab of the InDesign Preferences is a Smart Text Reflow section. This includes options for automatically adding and deleting pages. Does this solve your problem?

[@andrewcramer2193]

@@MichaelBullo Hmm Im only seeing options to add pages to End of Story, End of Section or End of Document

[@MichaelBullo]

@@andrewcramer2193 Another thing that you might want to explore are Primary Text Frames. These are set up on Parent (previously known as Master) pages.

[@stephendallas9709]

How about 2 column fils?

[@MichaelBullo]

Select the text frame From the "Object" menu choose "Text Frame Options" Set "Number" (of columns) to 2 If you change the number of columns without a text frame selected, you will change the default for all text frames within that document.

[@steevwisher9255]

This didn't work for me using inDesign ver. 7.0

[@MichaelBullo]

Are you referring to InDesign CS5 that was released in 2010?

[@steevwisher9255]

@@MichaelBullo It's either that or CS5.5

[@MichaelBullo]

@@steevwisher9255 Perhaps this is functionality introduced after your version was released.

[@steevwisher9255]

@@MichaelBullo thanks I think so too. Problem with online "how to" pages is they rarely say what version they are using and you go in circles trying to figure out why the fix doesn't work. Thanks for responding!

[@MichaelBullo]

@@steevwisher9255 You raise a great point. I might start including version numbers in my own tutorials. Best of luck with all your designs.

[@caseydwayne]

PRO TIP: You can continue this out by doing the same thing again -- click the red +, hold shift, click into blank space (not page, just gray background area).

[@MichaelBullo]

Are you talking about having overset text flow into a box that sits on the Pasteboard?

[@caseydwayne]

@@MichaelBullo Yeah. When I came here looking for this and followed the video it was only auto-creating the first 10 pages (glitch probably, had 10 pages earlier then deleted). After trying a couple more times with the same result I tried the method above. It finished auto-creating the remaining pages!

[@caseydwayne]

@MichaelBullo sorry, not a box on the pasteboard. just click +, hold shift, and click into the pasteboard itself.

[@MichaelBullo]

@@caseydwayne So is everything working for you now? Was it just one specific example that was glitching out on you?

[@BradCaldwellAuburn]

Doesn't work. I don't have a ridiculously large text file to help indesign do what it's supposed to - I'm typing from scratch. I want it to add pages as I type, and nobody - not even adobe's tech help - knows how to add text to a document and have it automatically add pages 🤯.

[@MichaelBullo]

Hi Brad. When you create a new document, turn on the Primary Text Frame option. This will add a text box to each page that are automatically threaded to one another. These Primary Text Frames live on the Parent page and can be manipulated there. Another thing you might like to explore is the Type section of the Preferences. At the bottom is the Smart Text Reflow section with a bunch of options that might help including Delete Empty Pages. Hope this helps mate. Let me know if you have more detailed questions.

[@tomstewart8306]

Great thank you!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Tom. Good luck with those docs.

[@lisarahon3347]

Thank you!!!!

[@MichaelBullo]

Thank you Lisa