It's difficult to converse via the forum but I have (at least) one question. Will this booklet/newsletter be printed on
one individual sheet of 11 by 17 inch paper? Or will it be printed on
two 11 by 17 inch pieces to make the four,
tall pages. I'm assuming (although that's sometimes dangerous!) that it will be four pages on two sides on of one 11 by 17 paper positioned long side as the top & bottom. Each side of that paper will have two 'pages' of stuff.
1. Open pages and tell it that you'd like to set up a 'custom' template of your own. Of course they didn't make it that easy. What you actually have to do is select the standard blank template just to get started.
There's a secret way to avoid that templates chooser, but that can wait...
2. Select View->Show Layout, that should be the default as far as I'm concerned...
3. Immediately select Page Set (command-shift-P).
4. I'm also assuming that you don't have a 11 by 17 inch paper defined in this dialog! So, let's create one.[list="a"]Make sure the printer you want to use is showing in the "Format for:" pull down menu.
Click on the "Paper Size: pull down menu and drag all the way to the bottom. The choice there is "Manage Custom Sizes."
Click the cute little "
+" button (lower left area of the window).
You will probably already have "11" in the 'Height' text box, so all we need to do is type "17" in the 'Width" box. The printer's margins should also already be defined for you.
Double-click the "Untitled" 'name' and type in something unique like "Tab19864z98fc". Or whatever will remind you of what the paper definition is.
Click the OK button on that window and then the first one that started this whole exercise.
You should now see a representation of an 11" tall, 17" wide piece of paper three default text areas. If not, go get some warm tea and watch "Nature" for a while.
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5. You will note that the 'layout' lines show one really wide text box and the two equally wide Header and Footer. I don't use either of those things but it's up to you. If you want to use that space for other stuff,
uncheck the boxes in the first tab of the Inspector under the "Document" tab. They are about half way down on that window. You can then enlarge the single text box to the limits set by your printer.
6. You now have a choice to make. Leave the layout looking like it is OR create two columns to help you see where the center fold is. Makes no difference to me, I seldom use the default text box, anyway.
That's it. If you want page numbers on the newsletter you can do that by creating tiny text boxes and typing in "Page 1", etc. and put them at the bottom of each page They cannot be place in the shaded areas, that's the part of the page that the printer can't use.
Note: Page 1 should be on the
right-hand side of this first layout. Page 4 will be on the
left-hand side. You will eventually create the other side of this piece of paper and it will contain Page 2 and Page 3. Again, the odd numbered 'page' should be on the right and vice versa.
You can now start entering text/graphics/shapes/tables/ink stains/etc.
Once again, I suggest ignoring the default text boxes in favor of creating your own (from the list of 'things' in the "Objects" icon) for every 'story' or 'topic' and even for the 'Header' (or footer) that may be different on each 'page.' That way it is easy to link paragraphs to other boxes that may end up on different sides of the piece of paper. you can create a few boxes guessing at how much space you can use on each 'page' and link up the boxes before you even start entering text but it's just as easy to do that after you see that everything won't fit on one 'page.' Just keep your text boxes and graphics inside those default layout boundaries so they will get printed completely.
The key idea to wrap your head around is that books/newsletters with more than two pages will have two different page numbers (and content) on
each side of a piece of paper. This is completely different than writing a letter which will completely fill one or both sides of the paper used. And because there will actually be four 'pages' on each single piece of paper, it will require some thought about what page goes on what side of which piece. That's really all that Cocoa Booklet does for you and it is really designed to put all the booklet on as few pieces of paper as possible but then requiring that paper be cut in numerous place to render the final pages. That
is how normally printed books are done but we fortunately don't have to create hundreds of pages and use giant, high pressure cutters to get things to the proper size.
When creating text boxes (or graphics) in pages it is important to use the Inspector set on the "Wrap" tab so that you can cancel the "Objects cause text to wrap" setting. Unless that exactly what you what for that particular object, be it text o graphic. It is also helpful to make sure it is set to 'float.' that way, you can drag the object around anywhere on your screen to any page, anywhere.
Once you've done one piece of non-standard paper it will become second nature. Trust me!
