Expert: Roy Wilhelm - 7/18/2008

Question
I have 120 pages of text in a Word document.  I am doing the layout for the book in InDesign.  I know how to Place text into a text frame, but is there a way to automatically create a frame on each page and autoflow the text into it (link them)?

Answer
I have exactly the solution you are looking for! Very simple.

If you haven't already created your document, begin here:

1. Open InDesign and go to File>New>Document.

2. In the New Document Window, verify all your settings: Leave the Number of Pages as 1. Yes, InDesign will create the proper number of pages for you with this technique. Check your margin size and make sure Facing Pages is checked. Press OK. Continue below...


If you have already set up your document:

1. With the document open, navigate to the 'Pages' palette. At the top of the palette, you will see [None], with an icon of a blank page to its right. Below this you will see A-Master with an icon of two blank pages side-by-side.

2. Double-click on the left-facing page in the A-Master spread icon.

3. Create a text frame on the left page that is the size you need.

4. Deselect the frame.

5. using the Selection tool (black arrow), select the text frame.

6. Click once on the little white square in the bottom right corner of the text frame. This will "load" the selection tool with a linked text frame.

7. Drag this linked text frame into the desired position on the right page.
(If you want multi-column text frames, select both text frames and go to  Object>Text Frame Options)

8. Now, navigate out of the Master page spread and back to page 1. You can do this by double-clicking the Page 1 icon in the Pages palette, or by pressing CMD+J (for Jump to) then enter '1' and press Return.
(you will notice that page one has a blue dotted line that represents the text frame you created on the right-facing page in the Master.

9. Now, place the Word file. Go to>File>Place and navigate to the file.

10. Hold Shift and click once in the top left corner of the dotted line text frame. Holding Shift lets InDesign automatically flow the entire document and create the exact number of pages you need.

If you need additional pages before or after the text pages you just created, simply add pages, and move them where you need them by clicking and dragging them in the Pages palette.

Let me know if this was helpful!