InDesign How-To: Create Sections and Section Markers (Video Tutorial)

[@KiizaHillary-q5u]

One of the best instructors in the whole universe. I have lacked the right words to use

[@CreativePro]

😀 -EG

[@idleboy23]

Thanks so much - I'm using indesign for 15+ years and thanks to you just figuring how to do this properly 🙌

[@CreativePro]

Never too late to learn!

[@KiizaHillary-q5u]

​@@CreativePro How do they create a paragraph style that can automatically insert any selected text inside quotes? Also, how they create character styles that can automatically insert a dash before quote author. For example, Author's name when i apply i get _Author's name. For quotes, example. This is a boy. After applying the style, I get "This is a boy" These things are common used while editing Bible verses . Thanks, hope to hear from you soon.

[@DavidBlatner]

@@KiizaHillary-q5u There is no easy way to have it insert the dash or quotation marks automatically as you type. But it is easier to do with Find/Change.

[@CreativePro]

@@KiizaHillary-q5u You can't add quotes with using a style by itself. You could use a GREP in find/change. Find text with your specific style, return an opening quote, the text from the paragraph, then a closing quote. -EG

[@KiizaHillary-q5u]

@@CreativePro Do you have any video that shows that?

[@alonemanuel]

This was the best tutorial I have ever watched.

[@denhamk]

Wow.. great tutorial!! Was amazed by your master page layouts.. please will you be able to do a tutorial on all those different Master Pages.. and Pic layout Master pages .. never knew those were possible.

[@infographie]

Excellent, thanks for sharing this.

[@raskolqqq]

Fantastic tutorial. You saved me tons of time and grief. Thanks.

[@CreativePro]

Glad to help!

[@carrieharris1910]

Great tutorial. I need to learn more about cascading pages, though. I've never used it, but it looks like it's simple layering.

[@thisiscemeryilmaz]

great tutorial! i was wondering how you made the lines resize automatically when the chapter name changes?

[@CreativePro]

In the text I used paragraph rules. I think on the footers I used a white text frame set to auto size and it’s on top of the blue line. -EG

[@thisiscemeryilmaz]

thanks for the reply! definitely going to try it @@CreativePro

[@grahambull846]

Thanks for that. Can one have a section for endnotes and other sections after that?

[@mbt6049]

Great tutorial, thanks. What if you need all the verso pages to be the same (author name), but the recto pages will be chapter titles? Is there a way to do this using section markers?

[@CreativePro]

If the author name is consistent, put it in a text frame on the parent page. Only put a section marker on your recto pages. -EG

[@syedirtazahassan1080]

I have watched your video the first time. Found it very informative. Liked it and subscribed to your channel for learning more and more InDesign secrets.

[@CreativePro]

Welcome!

[@TheAisleOfPlenty]

Section markers on the master pages! Wowsa ! only ever used page numbers but this.. this opens up a whole new world of possibilities! Thanks!

[@CreativePro]

::hums “A Whole New Worrrrld”::

[@ruairi_d]

Thank you for this! I've been trying to figure this out for soooo long.

[@portergraphicdesign]

Great video! I have a section marker on the bottom of my parent page so it automatically updates and orientates users throughout the document. The thing I am trying to do is to add clickable hyperlinks to that master section marker on the parent page that will automatically update in each section and be clickable to the first page of each section. How is that accomplished?

[@andykite1]

Thanks a lot for the tutorial. However, I'm having issues adding two sections on the same page. How can I do it?

[@CreativePro]

Do you mean two section markers? You can just put two on the parent page (or the document page). -EG

[@aakashdimri9903]

wooo wooo wooo That was the thing i was searching for a while till now always manually created the chapter name at bottom of file you saved a lot of my time Thanks

[@CreativePro]

Glad I could help! -EG

[@usernamehandle]

Brilliant, this popped in my feed right when I needed i--.... wtf they really are listening to every word, great.

[@meisamsaeb2276]

I saw your movie and it was very good.

[@chenchrissie1266]

Thank you! Its the best narrated tutorial on ID! Love your voice.

[@kisahserambuddy]

Hi Erica, What if the chapter has 2 lines? (Long text and make it into 2 lines)

[@CreativePro]

You might want to look at text variables instead. -EG

[@kisahserambuddy]

@@CreativePro I have tried, but the text is still one line. ☹

[@4syriaonly]

did u manage to find solution bro? i wanted to have 2 lines section too, i've tried everything possible.

[@kisahserambuddy]

@@4syriaonly Not yet bro.. I'm still waiting for the answer.

[@4syriaonly]

@@kisahserambuddy ill be waiting with you, i've ask an another person too.

[@schoolartsupplies732]

Amazing! The cleanest clearest tut I've found please tell me you do more!

[@CreativePro]

Thanks! We have this channel and also CreativePro. Also check out InDesignSecrets.com! -EG

[@plfernald]

When I add more pages or when I change a paragraph style (which increases the number of pages), the section respects the original page number and does not remain in the new location on the page. Does the primary text frame have something to do with it?

[@CreativePro]

Not quite sure what you mean. You can ask on the InDesign Secrets FB group or clarify what you mean by “does not remain in the new location...” -EG

[@Naorachel]

I have been wondering about this too: how to keep the section marker linked to a title for example and not the page it is on. Because as Lorena says above, when you add text or change style, which results in content being shifted, the section marker stays on the original page and doesn't follow the content (or the title).

[@eneehquarter2707]

@@Naorachel I have the same problem. Did you find an answer?

[@shxttynails]

What’s the benefit to naming sections instead of using a running header?

[@CreativePro]

A running header pulls from elements on the page (via styles), and section header pulls the info regardless of what’s on the page. Depending on page content and your needs, one will usually work better. -EG

[@sumeetgupta77]

Loved it, great video and lovely explanation

[@mlektra]

what if you need to add the name of the section/chapter (on top of the page) + the # of the chapter (on the bottom of page) and both follows? How do you set this up in the master page? I only see a function to add the section marker (name) and not the number.

[@eagleeyemind4800]

See, I knew there was something to those section breaks! Thanks a bunch

[@JessieMerriman1]

So simple and easy. Thank you!

[@annejohnston9383]

Very clear and helpful - thank you!

[@CreativePro]

Glad it was helpful!

[@enochburke4198]

Very helpful video, thanks. Explains section markers very well!

[@arunb6184]

How to handle more number of instance? Is this useful for more number of section??

[@CreativePro]

I’m not quite sure what you’re asking for. Can you describe it further? -EG

[@woodandblue]

Thank you for the great video! Q: can sections in indesign be used to indicate the different sections a hand sewn book will have?

[@CreativePro]

Sections can break up a document in whatever way you need!

[@claudioabado3317]

InDesign is a powerful productivity tool -- thank you for sharing this 'Section' feature :-)

[@juliemackenzie-gomes1032]

Thank you for this video! Now, how do you apply the running headers to a table of contents, so that the titles only show the first instance and not repeating over and over (Burning Fire 4, Burning Fire 5, Burning Fire 6, etc).

[@CreativePro]

Hmmm…I’m not sure you can, since running headers are a variable. If you haven’t yet, join our FB group (in the description) and ask there. Lots of ID folks there! -EG

[@juliemackenzie-gomes1032]

@@CreativePro Thank you for the quick reply! I just requested to join the Facebook group. I searched for "running header" but didn't see any previous questions regarding running headers in a TOC, so once my request is approved, I will post the question there. I also posted the question on the website's forum, but no replies yet :-( Thank you again!

[@CreativePro]

I just got to thinking, do you mean section headers or running headers? -EG

[@pepeetxeberri9273]

I looked for this for a while. Thank you for the great video!

[@newtonoluoch8103]

Wowwww. Just Wowww!

[@aquarius8063]

I have an InDesign document created by another designer. She created 2 sections. So I have page 1-12 in one section and then the new sections starts right after that and is number 1-184. I'm trying to make a PDF of just page 4 in the second section. When I do, I'm getting a prompt that there are 2 "page 4". I tried labeling the sections as "Intro" and "Catalogue" and put in a print range like "Intro4" or "Catalogue4", but I can't seem to figure out how to get a pdf of page 4 in section labeled Catalogue. Any help appreciated.

[@CreativePro]

Put a plus sign (+) in front of the number of the actual page. For instance, it sounds like it's actually page 16 in the document. You could also switch your page numbering to Absolute Numbering in Preferences... but if you have auto page numbers, it would use those. You can toggle it on/off to see which page you need.

[@BzdAlex]

Nice video, short and just what I was looking for ! Thank you

[@CreativePro]

Glad it was helpful! -EG

[@idevsl8245]

Good lesson.

[@eneehquarter2707]

I did as described in the video. Unfortunately, if I add pages, the section page remains the same. Let me explain: for example, section 2 is on page 10. If a page is added in section 1, section 2 is still on page 10, whereas it should be on page 11. So I have to delete the section and recreate another one on page 11. On a long text (in my case, 700 pages and nearly 40 sections), this is a pain. Indeed, I have done my layout and indicated the sections. Then I realised that it would be better to enlarge the fonts. This led to the addition of pages, of course, but not to the moving of the sections. Is there any option to indicate? Thank you.

[@CreativePro]

Something isn’t working with your doc or copy of InDesign. If you add pages to section 1, then section 2 will shuffle down to accommodate. Try saving as IDML, then re-opening and saving as INDD. SOmetimes that clears out the cobwebs. -EG

[@eneehquarter2707]

@@CreativePro After doing several tests, I realised that if I manually add pages, the sections move as desired. The problem is if I add a page and then add text which implies a page shift, or if, as I did, I enlarge the characters or other objects and indesign automatically adds pages. Then the sections shift and I have to put everything back in order.

[@CreativePro]

You might want to turn off Smart Text Reflow if you don’t want it adding pages for you. -EG

[@ZoranImsiragic]

This is great! But isn't it easier to use Text Variables for this markers in the Footer? It will automaticaly take what is the title of section/Chapter.

[@CreativePro]

You can’t do different styles within the text frame with ext variables or let it wrap to a 2nd line. Several ways to do things depending on your needs. -EG

[@nazmulislamsumon9259]

Very informative. Love from me❤️

[@kanadalux3621]

Gracias, me sirvió.

[@taniacarrier6859]

This was amazing! Do you know if you're able to keep some elements while changing the section as well? For example I want it to say the chapter number but I want to keep the section number. So it would look like this..... Pg.1- Ch.1 - Section 1.... So only the page and chapter numbers change, but I want to keep the Section 1 for a bunch of chapters. I hope that made sense.

[@martinorssaud3948]

merci beaucoup maria i love you

[@carlieheimann2916]

lifesaver, thank you!!

[@CreativePro]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Barry101er]

Grazie

[@AceHardy]

👑

[@patty386]

Thank you for the video, very educational! Can you please tell me how I can do that but with numbers? For example instead of "Built with fire" I wanna have "Chapter 1". I'vee tried but I can't seem to make it work

[@CreativePro]

You can just type in “Chapter 1” where I typed “Built by Fire.” -EG

[@patty386]

@@CreativePro So I have to do it manually? I can't have the counting of the chapters done automatically like it's done page numbers? I have to write chapter 1,chapter 2 ect? Sorry for all the questions, I'm trying to explain myself 😅

[@CreativePro]

There is a workaround to auto number the sections. See the discussion here: indesignsecrets.com/topic/automatic-section-numbering

[@danielleshelbourne220]

OMG This is amazing! 😮 I had no idea you could create sections like this - so simple. My life just got easier, thank you so much. 😊

[@CreativePro]

You are quite welcome!

[@paulcristo]

Thanks for the video. It sounds to be narrated by Ellen DeGeneres.

[@CreativePro]

Oh, I’ll take it! 😂 -EG

[@keithnayo4582]

😂Exactly who I was thinking of when I listened to her voice

[@markjjnstradling]

One thing about Adobe is that their developers must sit in 'dark rooms' somewhere and think up ways to make life as complicated as possible. Very nice video, but in the 'real world', it does not work. I have an Id document of 500 pages , in some sort of order, with individual pages about my business, with multiple masters in each, numberered 1-500. The only way I can put them into sections is with the use of 'Colour Labels', whereas you have created sections based on Masters. Adobe is so frustrating......

[@PauloF1959]

You speak so fast that I can't follow you :(

[@EricaGamet]

Hmmm... I'm talking slower than normal here. 🤣 If you need it to go slower, you can always set the speed in the player from the gear/settings menu to .75x. Any slower is just comical, but maybe .75x is a happy medium.