Blank Page Issues in FrameMaker

[Seanb_us]

This thread addresses the prevention and removal of unwanted blank pages in FrameMaker.

Sean

[Seanb_us]

Working with Empty or Blank Pages

For the most part, if you have empty or blank pages in FrameMaker and want to get rid of them:

1) For your FrameMaker files, use Format > Page Layout > Pagination and set the Before Saving & Printing drop-down to Delete Empty Pages.

2) If you end up with pages you don't want, in your body pages, use Special > Delete Pages to delete one page or a range of pages.

Additionally, see Tim Murray's web site for some tips on handling blank pages, go to http://www.techknowledgecorp.com/help/ and select Other how-to > Pagination Issues in the left column.

[Seanb_us]

Blank Pages Inserted when Printing from a Book

If you have a chapter in your book that comprises a single side of content, then when printing duplex from the book, a blank page will be between the single side of content and the next chapter, regardless of your settings.

That is, your pages print from the FrameMaker book like this:

last page of chapter

first page of single-page chapter

blank page inserted during printing

first page of new chapter

And, you want this:

last page of chapter

first page of single-page chapter

first page of new chapter

To eliminate the blank side, try creating and printing from a PDF or rearrange your content so that you have no chapters that contain only one page of content.

Sean

[Seanb_us]

<b>Difficult to Remove Blank Pages Caused by Custom Master Pages</b><br /><br />Consider the following troubleshooting concerning customized master pages and unwanted blank pages:<br /><br />Make sure you assign default Left or Right master page to the empty page(s) you want to remove. <br /><br />To elaborate: if the empty pages are NOT due to book-level pagination changes by FM when the book is updated, then they could be due to one or more chapters having had user-created master pages assigned to body pages prior to content editing that resulted in smaller chapters. For example, in a 4-page chapter that has the following master page assignments: <br /><br /><ul><br />Right<br><br />Left<br><br />Special_Right<br><br />Special_Left </ul><br /><br />If content editing results in a 2-page chapter with only the Right and Left pages and then the book is updated, FM's "pre-historical memory" remembers that the Special_Right and Special_Left pages had been there <can we whisper B-U-G?>, and blindly adds 2 blank pages to the chapter. <br /><br />The way to delete these kinds of pages is to:<br /><ul><br />1. Open the recalcitrant chapter.<br /><br />2. Add a couple of new paragraphs and force them to start at the top of column so that you get 4 pages.<br /><br />3. Use Format > Page Layout > Master Page Usage to specifically apply the default Right/Left master pages to the two new pages, thereby clearing FM's "memory" of the user-defined master pages having been applied previously.<br /><br />4. Save the chapter.<br /><br />5. Update the book.<br /><br />6. Open the chapter again and remove the two new pages.<br /><br />7. Update the book.<br /><br />8. <required step>Resume your favorite "don't sweat the small stuff" chant.</required step></ul><br /><br />Thanks to Sheila Carlisle for her expertise on this issue!