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Empty Text Boxes Mucking up Everything...

Community Beginner ,
Jun 09, 2017 Jun 09, 2017

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Hi - somehow, I have a couple of empty text boxes in a 180-page document. If I delete them, the order is disturbed. The threads go every which way. I don't know how they came into this book, or how to get them out. Help? I'm a relative novice.

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Mentor , Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

Obviously, frame threading is a bit screwed up. Normally, text flow should look like this:

TextFlow.png

In your case, I think, it’s enough to delete frames I marked in red:

FramesDel.png

Before doing this, reveal Hidden Characters and check those frames. If there is any Frame/Column Break, delete it.  After deleting invisibles, some text may appear in those X frames. Don’t bother about it at the moment: after deleting those frames text will jump back where it was. Removing some threaded frames doesn’t remove text itself.

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LEGEND ,
Jun 09, 2017 Jun 09, 2017

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what software are you using?

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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It sounds like this is InDesign.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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sorry, I forgot to say: InDesign CS6 on Windows 10 (PC)

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Moved to the InDesign Forum.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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The order of the threads impacts the flow of the text. Can you show an example of a troublesome spread (before and after would be great)—but first go to the View menu > Extras and be sure Frame Edges and Text Threads are showing (they will both show Hide when they are).

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Here's the screenshot. Maybe my question is ... if I did duplicate the

document in these extra frames, how do I delete it without damaging the

layout I've created?

While when I look at the frames, as suggested, there's nothing in them,

there is an arrow on the bottom, and if I click on that, the text of the

document appears

On Sat, Jun 10, 2017 at 9:46 AM, BarbBinder <forums_noreply@adobe.com>

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Hi Leila: the screen shot isn't appearing. Use the button outlined in orange to add it to your reply.

JIVE Add screen shot to reply.png

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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empty frames.png

thanks - here it is!

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Mentor ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Obviously, frame threading is a bit screwed up. Normally, text flow should look like this:

TextFlow.png

In your case, I think, it’s enough to delete frames I marked in red:

FramesDel.png

Before doing this, reveal Hidden Characters and check those frames. If there is any Frame/Column Break, delete it.  After deleting invisibles, some text may appear in those X frames. Don’t bother about it at the moment: after deleting those frames text will jump back where it was. Removing some threaded frames doesn’t remove text itself.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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leilagolden  wrote

Hi - somehow, I have a couple of empty text boxes in a 180-page document. If I delete them, the order is disturbed. The threads go every which way. I don't know how they came into this book, or how to get them out. Help? I'm a relative novice.

Hi Leila,

what order is disturbed?

Why do you want to remove the text frames, if any order is disturbed after removing them?


The frames could fulfill purposes…

( like wrapping text with other text frames )

I take from your discription, that you did not build this document.
So if you have a chance, ask the one who build the doc.

Always test things on duplicated files.

Regards,
Uwe

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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I'm the culprit. I built the doc. I'm a writer and editor but I enjoy book

design and have done a bit, though this is only the second massive indesign

project I've done, and since it's a minimal grant and thus more of a

volunteer offer for my town, I can't hire a professional. So yes, I'm

learning! And it's fun, except that somehow I have these tw toext boxes

that go every which way and if I delete the box, the next page drops down

yet another page. I'm afraid they duplicate those pages - and thus the

entire document!

I seem to remember that a few days back I duplicated a spread out of some

frustration. I now believe I duplicated the entire document - which sits to

one side...yikes! 2/3 of the book is in place, with photos and captions.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Can you show us what you are working with? Otherwise, we are just guessing. And Winterm has a good point, please have text symbols showing too.

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Mentor ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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People often mistakenly treat Text Frame as empty if there’s no visible characters in it. In addition what Barb said, show non-printing, too (Type > Show Hidden Characters). There may be some Column/Frame Break inserted. Then you need to delete that ’empty’ text frame AND Break character itself.

FrameBreak.png

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Some other tips:

  • In addition to turning on Hidden Characters, look at the story in the Story Editor with Hidden Characters on.

  • Also look in the Layers panel and spin open the disclosure triangle to see what you have on each spread. You may have frames behind frames.

  • Click an insertion point in the text and do a select all to select all of the text in the story and see what gets selected in the threaded frames.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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It may be more effective to open a new document and reflow the text now that you have an idea of what it should look like. It could take you longer to untangle the mislinked text boxes and looking for frames behind frames. No shame in starting over!

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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Well, I did what winterm suggested - saving the file as a new document first, and then deleting everything extraneous. It did bump my text down a page or two, which meant I needed to realign it with the photos, but, hey, it's all learning.

If anyone has had this issue, I'd love to know how it started!

BTW: I did have a tiny thing on the "empty" frame:

I can't seem to paste it here, a tiny circle with a wedge beneath it. And it seems to make a frame when I add it to indesign. I tried it in Word and it created "control"

Thanks so much all! My first try at using this forum has been very useful.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 10, 2017 Jun 10, 2017

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InDesign Secrets has a 5-page PDF that shows the invisible characters. See if you can match it here:

https://indesignsecrets.com/free-guide-to-indesign-special-characters.php

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Mentor ,
Jun 11, 2017 Jun 11, 2017

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leilagolden  wrote

... a tiny circle with a wedge beneath it.

Must be some kind of a Page Break:

PBreak.png

Glad you sorted it out!

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