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Introduction
Master pages are really helpful for creating consistency throughout a document for things like page headers, footers, and other repetitive page elements.
In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create and modify master pages and how to apply master pages to document pages.
With InDesign CC open, open this file from the downloadable practice files for this tutorial to follow along.
Understanding master pages and their role
To see thumbnails of the pages in this document, you can use the Pages panel.
If your Pages panel isn't visible, choose Window, Pages to display the panel.
You can see that the Pages panel is divided into a top section and bottom section by this horizontal line.
Pages above this line are master pages, and pages below the line are document pages.
Every new document that you create from scratch always has one master page called A-Master.
And that master is automatically applied to all of the document pages.
The little A displayed on each of these document page thumbnails indicates that Master Page A is applied to that document page.
In other words, content we put on the A-Master page will automatically appear on those document pages.
Typically, master pages should contain margins, guides, and design elements that you want to appear on multiple pages.
These items don't need to appear on every document page, but if you have several pages that all need the same margins, columns, footer text, or header artwork, it's worth setting up a master page for those pages.
This document needs to have colored bars in the footer area of each page.
Instead of drawing them on each page, you'll add one to the master page.
Creating and editing master page content
To work with the master page, come to the Pages panel, and double click on the thumbnail for the A-Master.
This displays the A-Master page in the Document window.
These guides were specified in the New Document dialog box as the file was initially created.
Now let's add that simple color bar as a footer that we want to appear on most of our document pages.
Select the Rectangle tool in the Tools panel and draw a rectangle across the bottom of the page about 0.5 inch high.
To change the color of the rectangle, we'll use the Properties panel.
If your Properties panel isn't visible, choose Window, Properties to display it.
Then click the Fill icon in the Properties panel and choose this yellow color.
Because this yellow bar is on the master page, it will automatically appear on every document page that has this master page assigned to it.
Let's take a look.
In the Pages panel, turn to Page 1 of the document by double clicking on the Page 1 thumbnail.
And you'll see that the yellow bar is now in the bottom of Page 1.
Turn to the rest of the pages, and you'll see that the yellow bar is on each of those pages also.
Now I want some of the pages in our document
Duplicating master pages for variations
to have a red footer bar instead of a yellow bar.
To make this easy, let's create a second master page.
We'll do this by duplicating the A-Master page, and then changing the duplicate.
Duplicate A-Master by dragging the A-Master thumbnail onto the New Page icon at the bottom of the Pages panel.
And then release the mouse.
This will create a master page named B-Master.
That is an exact duplicate of the A-Master.
And it displays the B-Master page in the Document window.
You might need to drag this divider here down a bit, so you can see all of your master pages.
Now to change the color of the rectangle, select the Selection tool in the Tools panel.
And then click on the yellow bar at the bottom of the page.
Change the color to red using the Fill icon in the Properties panel.
Applying and removing master pages
Now let's see how to apply master pages to your document pages.
Turn to Page 1 of the document by double clicking on the Page 1 thumbnail in the Pages panel.
I don't want the yellow bar or the red bar on Page 1.
So, you can apply the master page named [None] to this page.
Drag the [None] thumbnail onto Page 1 to apply no master to this page.
When a black rectangle surrounds the page thumbnail, release the mouse button.
The A is removed from the page thumbnail, and the yellow bar is removed from the page.
Turn to Page 3 of the document by double clicking on the Page 3 thumbnail in the Pages panel.
To apply the B-Master to Page 3, drag the B-Master thumbnail onto the Page 3 document thumbnail.
Release the mouse button when you see the black rectangle surrounding the page thumbnail.
Now Page 3 has the red footer.
Creating master pages that contain page elements that are used over and over again makes creating multi-page documents quick, accurate, and efficient.
What you learned: How to create, modify, and use master pages
What are master pages?
Master pages are used to create consistency from page to page in a document.
Master pages typicially contain page headers, footers, margin and column guides, and other elements that occur on multiple pages in your document.
Every new document automatically contains one master page called “A-Master,” and this master page is automatically applied to every page in the document.
Add items to the A-Master page
The elements that you add to the A-Master page will automatically appear on any document page that has the A-Master page applied to it.
To display the master page in the document window, double-click the A-Master page thumbnail at the top of the Pages panel (Window > Pages).
Add text frames, objects, or images to the master page.
Double-click any page thumbnail in the Pages panel that has an “A” displayed on the thumbnail to show it in the Document window. You’ll see that the page contains the elements you added to the A-Master page.
Duplicate a master page
Some document layouts will require more than one master page. An easy way to create multiple master pages is to duplicate an existing master page and then modify it.
To duplicate a master page, drag a master page thumbnail onto the New Page icon at the bottom of the Pages panel.
Change the layout of the new master page as desired.
To apply the master to a document page, go to the Pages panel and drag the master page thumbnail onto the document page thumbnail.
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