Master page shift

[dydevereux]

I'm hoping you can help me understand this issue and potential workarounds better.  I have inherited a 368 page book, setup in 2-page spreads, as one would expect. However, when I attempt to delete an odd number of pages, i have the same problem that Alta Graph posted above  - where master page elements shift into the gutter and overlap - they aren't switching sides. Unfortunately, these elements don't just shift on the facing page to the deleted single but on ALL pages that follow in the document. As you can appreciate, with such a large number of pages, this is definitely an issue.

I am running InDesign CS6 on a Mac OsX Sierra 10.12.5. I have tried creating a idml fle and the problem still existed. I then created a new file and moved the book into it, the problem remains. Of course, I'm all for changing the way things are setup for future however, we need to go to press like yesterday and yet, I cannot delete a single page without having this issue and needing to go through and fix the shift for the remaining document, which I don't have time left to do. Any suggestions??

Here's before deleting a single page - the header and side tabs are master page elements:

Here is a two-page spread that follows, after a single page is deleted:

Interestingly enough, the tabs that end up in the center are stacked.... so the side tabs have shifted inwards as well as somehow being duplicated and placed in the center (there are two sets of tabs there, stacked on top of one another).

The ONLY thing I can think of now is to remove master pages, remove the pages that need to be deleted and then setup the master pages again..... rather tedious but likely not as tedious as having to delete elements on every page that follows the one needing to be deleted.

Any suggestions??

[Barb Binder]

What happens if you just reassign the master pages? Or are the tabs master page elements that were customized on the individual body pages?

[dydevereux]

The problem still occurs. It just happens when I reassign the master pages after the deletion. There is definitely something weird here….

[Barb Binder]

You can share the file on dropbox if you like. Either reply here (public) or click my name and message me privately. I can take a look at it in a few hours.

(I'm also going to branch this to a new thread. This is a different issue than the original one posted.)

[dydevereux]

Thank you Barb. I’m not familiar with using dropbox for this forum. Can you clarify??

For what it’s worth, I have designed and taught professionals and post-secondary courses in Abode products since the early 90’s and inherited more than my fair share of files. I’ve never seen this.

[Barb Binder]

You can use any file sharing program. If you want to use dropbox, just set up a free account at dropbox.com, upload the file, click on Share and copy/paste the link into a reply or to me directly. I'll take a look and respond here.

[dydevereux]

No problem re dropbox. I thought perhaps Adobe had something setup there. I can certainly setup one myself.

First I’m going to try creating new master pages, assigning them & trying the delete.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll assign the pages no master pages, delete the page, then assign the new master page and see where either/both of these steps leaves me.

If either of these approaches doesn’t solve this, I’ll setup dropbox.

THANK YOU for your offer of assistance. I really appreciate it.