Master Page Usage confusion

[Combs, Richard]

Tim Pann wrote:
 
> I'm not going to blame FrameMaker for my goof but I would like to know
> if anyone else finds setting Master Page Usage to be very confusing?
> Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem very "smart," meaning, I seem to
> have to keep going back and re-setting usage as pages add. Especially I
> find that when I apply a master page that changes the layout from
> portrait to landscape or vice-versa, I have to keep re-selecting pages
> that missed the conversion because the layout caused repagination.

It would help to tell us what version of FM you're using and some more details about how you're using master pages. 

FM's master page usage isn't, by itself, intended to be "smart" -- just simple and consistent. Unless you tell it otherwise, FM automatically applies the Left master page to even pages and the Right master page to odd ones. 

In recent versions of FM (starting at 6 or 7, IIRC), you can use master page mapping to assign a specific master page when a particular pgf format occurs. Look up master page mapping in the help or doc. 

I've never used master page mapping myself. My chapter files are designed to use the default Left and Right master pages for everything except the first page. And the appendix files use the same master pages as the chapters. Files that require different master pages (title page file and index) have their own master pages different from those in the chapter files. 

If you can't rethink the way you use master pages (e.g., don't create custom master pages for an appendix), I suspect master page mapping is what you need. 

HTH!

Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
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