A parent page, previously called a master page, is like a background that you can use on many pages at once. Everything on a parent page shows up on all the pages it's applied to. On the pages where the parent page is used, you can see dotted lines around the items from the parent page.

When you make changes to a parent page, those changes automatically happen on all the pages that use that parent page. This is useful for things that repeat on many pages, like logos, page numbers, headers, and footers. The parent page can also have empty spaces where you can add text or pictures later. You can't directly change items from the parent page on a document page unless you decide to do so.

Tips and guidelines for parent pages

• You can compare alternative design ideas by creating a variety of parents and applying them in turn to sample pages containing typical content.

• To quickly lay out new documents, you can save a set of parents in a document template, along with paragraph and character styles, color libraries, and other styles and presets.

• If you change column or margin settings on a parent, or apply a new parent with different column and margin settings, you can force objects on the page to adjust to the new layout automatically. 

• Automatic page numbers inserted on a parent display the correct page number for each section of the document to which the parent is applied. 

Create a parent from scratch

• Choose New Parent in the Pages panel menu.

• Specify the following options, and click OK:
   

  • For Prefix, type a prefix that identifies the applied parent for each page in the Pages panel. You can type as many as four characters.

  • For Name, type a name for the parent spread.

  • For Based On Parent, choose an existing parent spread on which you’ll base this parent spread, or choose None.

  • For Number Of Pages, type a value for the number of pages you want in the parent spread (as many as ten).

Base one parent on another

You can create a parent variation that is based on and updates with another parent (called the parent parent) within the same document. The parent spreads based on the parent parent are called child parents. For example, if your document has ten chapters that use parent spreads that vary only slightly, base all of them on a parent spread that contains the layout and objects common to all ten. This way, a change to the basic design requires editing just the parent parent instead of editing all ten separately. Vary the formatting on your child parents. You can override parent parent items on a child parent to create variations on a parent, just as you can override parent items on document pages. This is a powerful way to keep a consistent yet varied design up to date.

Original parent and child parents (left); when the parent parent is modified, the child parents are automatically updated (right)

• To base one parent on another, in the Parents section of the Pages panel, do either of the following:
   

  • Select a parent spread, and choose Parent Options for [parent spread name] in the Pages panel menu. For Based On Parent, choose a different parent, and click OK.

  • Select the name of the parent spread you want to use as the base and drag it onto the name of another parent to apply it.

Edit the layout of a parent

You can edit the layout of parent pages at any time; changes you make are automatically reflected on all pages with that parent applied. For example, any text or graphic you add to a parent will appear on document pages to which the parent is applied.

Note: When you override or detach a parent page object on a particular page, that object may not update to reflect changes made on the parent page.

• In the Pages panel, double-click the icon for the parent you want to edit, or select the parent page from the text box list at the bottom of the document window. The parent spread appears in the document window.

• Make changes to the parent.

InDesign automatically updates any pages using that parent.

To change the size of the parent page, select it using the Page tool, and then use the options in the Control panel to change the dimension. See Use multiple page sizes.

Note: Use multiple views to see the results of parent edits. Choose Window > Arrange > New Window, and then choose Window > Arrange > Tile. Set one view to a page and the other view to the parent applied to that page. Then edit the parent and watch the page update.

Unassign parents from document pages

• Apply the None parent from the Parents section of the Pages panel.
  
  When you unassign a parent from a page, its layout and items no longer apply to the page. If a parent contains most of the elements you want, but you need to customize the appearance of a few pages, you can override parent items and edit or modify them on those document pages instead of unassigning the parent.

Override or detach parent items

When you apply a parent page to a document page, all objects on the parent, called parent items, appear on the document page. Sometimes you want a specific page to be only slightly different from a parent. In this situation you don’t need to re-create the parent layout on the page or create a new parent. You can override or detach the parent item, and other parent items on the document page will continue to update with the parent.

Note the difference between overriding and detaching parent items on a document page:

Override parent item attributes

Overriding a parent item puts a copy of it on the document page without breaking its association with the parent page. Once the item itself is overridden, you can selectively override one or more attributes of the item to customize it. For example, you can change the fill color of the local copy. After that, changes to the fill color on the parent page itself will not update to the local copy. However, other attributes, such as size, will continue to update because they have not been overridden on the local copy. Overrides can be removed later to make the object match the parent.

Attributes you can override for a parent page object include strokes, fills, contents of a frame, and any transformations (such as rotating, scaling, shearing, or resizing), corner options, text frame options, lock state, transparency, and object effects.

Detach items from their parent

On a document page, you can detach (disassociate) a parent item from its parent. The item must be overridden on the document page, creating a local copy, before you can detach it. A detached item does not update with the parent because its association with the parent page is broken.

Override a parent item

• Make sure the parent item can be overridden.
  
  You can override a parent item only if Allow Parent Item Overrides On Selection is selected in the Pages panel menu for that item.

• Do either of the following:
   

  • To override specific parent items on a document page, press Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) and click the item (or drag to select multiple items). Change the selected parent items as desired. The item can now be selected like any other page item, but retains its association with the parent page.

  • To override all parent page items on a document spread, target the spread, and then choose Override All Parent Page Items in the Pages panel menu. You can now select and modify any and all parent items as you wish.

•  
  Once you override any parent item, its dotted bounding box becomes a solid line to show that a local copy has been created.
   

• Note: If you override a threaded text frame, all visible frames in that thread are overridden, even if they are on a different page in a spread.

Detach a parent item

• To detach a single parent item from its parent, first override it by pressing Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command+Shift (Mac OS) and clicking the item on a document page. Then choose Detach Selection From Parent in the Pages panel menu.

• To detach all overridden parent items on a spread, override the parent page items you want to detach, and target that spread in the document. (Don’t go to the original parent page.) Choose Detach All Objects From Parent from the Pages panel menu. If the command isn’t available, there aren’t any overridden objects on that spread.

A table of contents (TOC) can list the contents of a book, magazine, or other publication; display a list of illustrations, advertisers, or photo credits; or include other information to help readers find information in a document or book file. One document may contain multiple tables of contents—for example, a list of chapters and a list of illustrations.

Each table of contents is a separate story consisting of a heading and a list of entries sorted either by page number or alphabetically. Entries, including page numbers, are pulled directly from content in your document and can be updated at any time—even across multiple documents in a book file.

The process for creating a table of contents requires three main steps. First, create and apply the paragraph styles you’ll use as the basis for the TOC. Second, specify which styles are used in the TOC and how the TOC is formatted. Third, flow the TOC into your document.

Generate a table of contents

Before you generate a table of contents, decide which paragraphs should be included (such as chapter titles and section headings), and then define paragraph styles for each. Make sure that these styles are applied to all appropriate paragraphs in the document or booked documents.

When you generate the table of contents, you can also use paragraph and character styles to format the table of contents.

Table of contents without paragraph styles (left) and with paragraph styles applied to entries (right)

• Choose Layout > Table Of Contents.
  
  If you’ve defined a TOC style that has the appropriate settings for your TOC, you can choose it from the TOC Style menu.

• In the Title box, type a title for your TOC (such as Contents or List of Figures). This title will appear at the top of the table of contents. To format the title, choose a style from the Style menu.

• Determine which content you want to include in the table of contents by double-clicking paragraph styles in the Other Styles list to add them to the Include Paragraph Styles list.

• Specify options to determine how each paragraph style in the table of contents is formatted.
   

• Note: It’s a good idea to define a TOC style that contains the formatting and other options for your table of contents, especially if you want to include multiple TOCs in your document. To do so, click Save Style. You can also create TOC styles by choosing Layout > Table Of Contents Styles.

• Click OK.

• Click or drag the loaded text cursor on a page to place the new table of contents story.

Creating Tables

Tables comprise rows and columns of cells, each akin to a text frame where you can input text, inline graphics, or even additional tables. Tables can be crafted from scratch or converted from existing text, and it's even possible to nest one table within another.

When initiating a table creation process, the newly created table typically spans the width of the text frame container. If the insertion point is at the start of a line, the table is inserted on the same line; otherwise, it's placed on the subsequent line.

Tables behave dynamically alongside surrounding text, much like inline graphics. For instance, as text above it changes size or content is added or removed, the table adjusts accordingly within threaded frames. However, tables cannot be placed on text-on-path frames.

For further insights into creating and formatting tables, Michael Murphy offers an article on table etiquette titled "Mind Your Table Manners." Additionally, Jeff Witchell from InfiniteSkills.com presents a video demonstration titled "The Basics of Setting Up Tables."

Creating a Table from Scratch

When creating a table in InDesign, you have two primary options:

Using the "Insert Table" Option:

1. Utilize the Type tool to position the insertion point within an existing text frame where you wish to place the table.

2. Navigate to Table > Insert Table.

3. Specify the desired number of rows and columns.

4. If necessary for multi-column or multi-frame content, designate the number of header or footer rows.

5. Optionally, apply a table style.

6. Confirm by clicking OK.

Upon completion, the new table seamlessly fills the width of the text frame.

Understanding Table Styles, Cell Styles, and Paragraph Styles

Before delving into the steps, let's grasp the essence of these style types:

Table Styles: These encompass a broad spectrum of properties for the table, including border settings, spacing around the table, and patterns for row and column strokes and fills.

Cell Styles: These are applied within Table Styles, enabling customization of individual cell appearances such as stroke, fill, diagonal lines, and text/graphic properties.

Creating Your Styles

Cell Styles:

1. Open the Cell Styles panel (found under the Window menu under Styles).

2. Select "New Cell Style" from the panel menu.

3. Apply the respective paragraph styles within the New Cell Style dialog box for header and body cells, customize strokes, fills, insets, and diagonal lines as desired, and name the styles "Header Cells" and "Body Cells" accordingly.

Table Styles:

1.  Open the Table Styles panel and select "New Table Style" from the panel menu.

2.  Assign the cell styles created earlier for header and body rows.

3.  Customize fill colors for alternating rows (if desired).

4.  Name your Table Style and click OK.

Using Your Styles

To apply your new styles:

1. Create a new table frame by selecting "Create Table" from the Table menu and dragging on the page.

2. With the table selected, apply your table style from the Table Styles panel. You'll observe immediate changes in cell fill colors.

3. Click within cells to confirm automatic formatting using the paragraph styles. If formatting appears incorrect, check for any overrides.