You can create an asymmetrical layout by adding or changing text frames directly on the master pages. For example, you may want the left margin to be wider than the right on both left and right pages. Or you may want a single-column layout on the left page and a two-column layout on the right. You can even create a layout that contains columns with different widths or with different gaps by using several text frames on a page—one text frame for each column.
When you make changes on a master page, FrameMaker automatically updates all body pages using that master page. When you make layout changes on a body page (for example, by changing the number of columns, the gap between columns, or the margins), you create an override to its master page’s layout. You can then do any of the following:
•Update the master page and all corresponding body pages with your changes.
•Create a master page based on the body page changes.
•Do neither of the above, leaving the override as a one-time-only page layout.
Updating body and master page layouts
Creating one-time-only page layouts
The following steps always produce either a single-column layout or a multicolumn layout with equal-width columns.
If you want to create a multicolumn layout with unequal column widths or gaps, use one text frame for each column, and position the text frames one by one.
1)Select the text frame whose margins you want to change by Control-clicking the frame.
2)Choose Format > Customize Layout > Customize Text Frame.
3)Do the following:
•To change the margins, specify the new size and position in the Unrotated Size and Offset From areas. The Offset From Top and Offset From Left options specify the top and left margins. The bottom and right margins are then determined by the text frame’s width and height.
•To change the number of columns or the gap between columns, change the values in the Columns area.
4)Click Set.
tip: Another way to change the margins is to select a text frame and then drag a resize handle. When you resize a multicolumn text frame, the column widths change to fit within the text frame, but the column gap remains the same.
Add a template text frame on a master page
Adding text frames on body pages
For a master page to contain unequal-width columns of text, or to set up the layout for a newsletter or other document in which the articles don’t flow continuously from the first page to the last, you use multiple text frames—one for each column. For example, for a page with two unequal-width columns, you would add a second template text frame. You can add a template text frame by drawing it or by duplicating an existing one.
1)To draw the text frame, use the Place A Text Frame tool on the Graphics Toolbar. To draw more than one text frame, draw them in the order you want them connected.
2)In the Add New Text Frame dialog box, click Template For Body Page Text Frame, and choose a tag from the Flow Tag pop-up menu. Choose the current flow tag, unless you’re setting up a text frame for a different flow in a multiflow document.
3)In the Columns area, specify the number of columns in the text frame and (if it’s more than 1) the gap between adjacent columns. If you’re setting up a layout with unequal-width columns, set the number of columns to 1, because you use a separate text frame for each column.
4)Click Add.
5)Move the text frame as needed.
tip: To copy an existing text frame, select the frame, choose Edit > Copy, and then choose Edit > Paste. FrameMaker copies the text frame, its contents, and its properties (including the flow tag).
When you draw a text frame on a body page, you are prompted for the number of columns and the gap between them. However, FrameMaker does not assign a flow tag and does not connect the text frame to existing text frames on the page. To use the new text frame as part of the document’s text flow, connect it to the flow. If the new text frame is the first one in the flow, also select Autoconnect so that new pages are automatically added as needed.
You can change template text frames on more than one master page and then update all corresponding body pages in one step. However, if you make column layout changes on a body page, you must update the corresponding master page before you can update the other body pages that use that master page.
Before FrameMaker updates body pages, it checks whether any body pages have column layouts that override their master page. If any pages contain layout overrides, you specify whether to keep the overrides.
1)After making layout changes on master pages, display body pages.
2)If FrameMaker displays an alert message, specify whether to keep or remove layout overrides, and then click Continue. If you keep layout overrides, FrameMaker updates those body pages with the master page’s background text and graphics, but does not update the template text frames.
1)Choose Format > Page Layout > Update Column Layout. A message asks you to confirm the master page and body pages that are to be updated.
2)Click Update.
3)If FrameMaker displays an alert message, specify whether to keep or remove layout overrides on the pages being updated, and then click Continue.
You may need to change the layout of only one body page in a document. For example, you can make a text frame longer to fit one more line of text on the page, or shrink a text frame to make room for a graphic placed directly on the body page. When you change the column layout of a body page without updating the master page, you create a layout override.