InDesign Refresher · Page 6 of 8

Parent pages, page numbers & the baseline grid

Put everything that repeats on a parent page, let InDesign number your pages, and lock your text to a baseline grid.

Parent pages & automatic page numbers

Parent pages (called master pages in older versions) hold everything that repeats: margins, columns, guides, folios and page numbers. Change the parent and every page using it updates.

Open the Pages panel: Window > Pages (Cmd+F12). Parents are at the top, document pages below.

Add automatic page numbers

Double-click A-Parent in the Pages panel to edit it.
On the left parent page, draw a small text frame in the folio area (usually the bottom margin, outside corner).
Choose Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number (Opt+Shift+Cmd+N). On the parent it shows as the letter A.
Add the magazine name or section if your folio includes it, and apply a Folio paragraph style.
Copy the frame to the right parent page and align it to the outside. Set the text to align right (or Align Away from Spine).
Double-click a document page. The real page number now appears.

The page-number marker shows the parent’s letter on the parent and the real number on every document page.

Make more than one parent

From the Pages panel menu choose New Parent. Set Based on Parent: A-Parent so it inherits the folios, then change only what’s different. For example: B-Feature Opener with no running head, or C-3 Column with different text frames.
Apply a parent: drag it onto a page or spread in the Pages panel, or right-click pages and choose Apply Parent to Pages.
Edit a parent item on just one page (for example, hide the folio behind a full-bleed photo): Shift+Cmd-click the item to override it on that page.
Use [None] for pages that shouldn’t show anything from a parent, like the cover.

Control the numbering

Layout > Numbering & Section Options sets where numbering starts (for example, start at page 2 when the cover is page 1) and the style (1, 2, 3 or i, ii, iii).
A Section Marker (Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Section Marker) puts the section name from that dialog into your folio.
A Running Header text variable fills in the article title automatically: Type > Text Variables > Define > New, choose Type: Running Header (Paragraph Style) and Style: Headline. Insert it on the parent with Type > Text Variables > Insert Variable.

Try it: Exercise 3 & the Pulse magazine

Exercise 3 asks for the folio name Journal of Exercise Medicine. Put it and the page number on your parent page, never on individual pages. The Pulse magazine requires page numbers in the folio on parent pages, and its page count must be divisible by 4. Watch the page total in the Pages panel as you storyboard.

Baseline grid

A baseline grid is a set of evenly spaced horizontal lines that your text sits on. When every column snaps to it, lines of text across columns and pages line up, and the page looks calm and professional.

Decide your body text leading (for example, 12 pt).
InDesign > Settings > Grids (Windows: Edit > Preferences > Grids). Set Relative To: Top Margin, Start: 0 and Increment Every: your leading (12 pt).
Show it: View > Grids & Guides > Show Baseline Grid (Opt+Cmd+').
In your Body style, go to Indents and Spacing and set Align to Grid: All Lines.
Give headlines and subheads leading or space that adds up to whole baselines (24 pt, 36 pt) so the body text after them lands back on the grid.

Turn on the baseline grid and check across columns: every line of body text should land on a blue line.

Add rows with Create Guides

To divide your page into modules, use Layout > Create Guides: set Rows, a Gutter equal to your leading, and Fit Guides to: Margins. Do this on the parent page. The grid recipe walks through a full example that lines up with a 12 pt baseline.