Producing a book with BookPlus

BookPlus is a management utility built into PagePlus that lets you produce a whole book from a set of separate PagePlus (*.ppp) publication files. Using BookPlus, you can arrange the chapter files in a specific order, systematically renumber pages, synchronize styles and other elements between all chapters, create a Table of Contents and/or Index for the whole book, and output the book via printing, PostScript®, or PDF. BookPlus can perform all these managerial tasks whether or not the original files are open! Your settings are saved as a compact BookPlus (*.ppb) book file, separate from the source publication files.

Working with books and chapters

A book consists of a set of PagePlus (*.ppp) publication files. Each publication file is considered a chapter in the book. To create a new book, you’ll need at least one constituent chapter file. Note: Be sure to define similar page setup options (such as dimensions and facing page structure) for each chapter, as BookPlus will not override these publication-level settings.

To create a new book:

  • In PagePlus, on the File menu, choose New and then click New Book….

BookPlus opens with an empty dialog reserved for the chapter list.

To add a chapter to the chapter list:

  1. In BookPlus, on the Standard toolbar, click PagePlus tbr standardbookplus add Producing a book with BookPlus Add….

  2. In the dialog, select one or more PagePlus files to be added as chapters. (Use the Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple files or a range of files.) Click Open.

The selected files appear in the chapter list, which can be reordered by dragging.

  • Once you’ve created a chapter list, you can add new chapters at any time, or replace/remove chapters in the current list from the Standard toolbar.

To reorder chapters in the list:

  • Drag a chapter file’s name (in the Chapter column) to the desired position.

To open one or more chapter files for editing:

  • In BookPlus, on the Standard toolbar, click PagePlus tbr standardbookplus openchapter Producing a book with BookPlus Open….
    – or -
    Double-click a specific chapter name in the Chapter column.
    – or -
    Select one or more chapter names and choose Open from the Chapter menu.

The selected file(s) open in PagePlus. In BookPlus, any open chapters are listed as “Open” in the Status column.

To replace or remove a chapter file:

  • PagePlus tbr standardbookplus replacechapter Producing a book with BookPlus PagePlus tbr standardbookplus removechapter Producing a book with BookPlus Select its name in the list and choose Replace Chapter… or Remove Chapter from the Standard toolbar.

The Remove command deletes the chapter from the list. The Replace command displays a dialog that lets you select another file to be substituted into the same position in the list.

  • Replace is useful if a file has been moved or externally modified and you need to update the BookPlus listing. Neither command affects the original file. Only the chapter list is updated.

To save the current chapter list as a book file:

  • Choose PagePlus tbr standardbookplus save Producing a book with BookPlus Save (or Save As…) from the BookPlus Standard toolbar.

  • You can open saved book files from PagePlus using File>Open…. You can have more than one book file open at a time.

Numbering pages

BookPlus provides a variety of options for incrementing page numbers continuously from one chapter to another, through the whole book. Page numbers will only appear on pages or (more commonly) master pages where you’ve inserted page number fields. To “suppress” page numbers—for example, on a title page—simply don’t include a page number field there.

BookPlus lets you change page number style choices you’ve made in the original file (using Format/Page Number Format… in PagePlus), and provides other options such as inserting a blank page when necessary to force new chapters to start on a right-hand page. You don’t need to have the original files open to update page numbering.

To set page numbering options for the book:

  1. Choose Book Page Number Options… from the BookPlus File menu.

  2. In the dialog, select whether you want page numbers to Continue from previous chapter, Continue on next odd page, or Continue on next even page. Typically you’ll want new chapters to start on odd (right-hand or “recto”) pages.

  3. Leave Insert blank page when necessary checked if you want to output an extra page at the end of a chapter where the next page number (if you’ve selected odd- or even-page continuation) would otherwise skip a page. Either way, BookPlus will number your pages correctly—but for correct imposition in professional printing it’s usually best to insert the blank page. Note: You won’t see the blank page inserted into your original file, only in the generated output.

  4. Click OK. BookPlus immediately applies your settings to all chapters.

To set page numbering options for a chapter:

  1. Select its name in the list and choose Chapter Page Nu
    mber Options…     from the Chapter menu.

The Page Number Format dialog displays current settings for numbering style and initial numbering for the chapter (or for any sections created within that chapter if you want to use mixed page number formats per section). (See Using page numbering for more details.)

If you’ve reordered chapters or changed the chapter list in any way, you can quickly reimpose correct numbering on the current list.

To update page numbering:

  • Choose Renumber Pages from the BookPlus File menu.

Synchronizing chapters

Synchronizing means imposing consistent styles, palettes, and/or color schemes throughout the book. This is accomplished by using one chapter (called the style source) as a model for the rest of the book. You define attributes in the style source chapter, and then select which attributes should be adjusted in other chapters to conform to the style source. For example, you could redefine the “Normal” text style in your style source chapter, then quickly propagate that change through the rest of the book. The Modified and Synchronized columns of the BookPlus chapter list let you keep track of recent file changes.

To set one chapter as the style source:

  • Select its name in the chapter list and choose Set Style Source from the Chapter menu.

The current style source is identified in the Synchronized column of the chapter list.

To synchronize one or more chapters with the style source:

  1. To update just certain chapters, make sure their names are selected in the chapter list.

  2. Choose Synchronize… from the File menu.

  3. In the dialog, select whether you want to update All or just Selected chapters. Check which attributes should be updated to conform to those defined in the style source file: Text styles, Object styles, Color scheme, and/or Color palette.

  4. Click OK.

BookPlus imposes the specified changes and updates the Synchronized time in the chapter list for each selected file. If the file was altered in any way, the Modified time updates as well.

Building a Table of Contents or Index

From BookPlus, you can build a Table of Contents and/or Index that includes entries for the entire set of chapters. In each case, you’ll need to begin by designating a specific chapter where the resulting pages should be added.

To create a table of contents or index for the book:

  1. In the chapter list, select the name of the chapter file where you want to add the table of contents or index.

  2. Choose Insert from the Chapter menu and select Table of Contents… or Index… from the submenu.

BookPlus opens the chapter file if it’s not already open, and the Wizard for the procedure you’ve selected appears.

  1. Select Yes when the Wizard asks if you want to build a table of contents or index for the entire book. Continue clicking Next> and selecting choices in the Wizard.

Printing and PDF output

When you print or generate PDF output from BookPlus, you’ll have the choice of printing the entire book or selected chapters, including all, odd, or even pages.

To print or create a PDF from the book or selected chapters:

  1. (Optional) To print just certain chapters, make sure their names are selected in the chapter list.

  2. Choose PagePlus tbr standardbookplus printbook Producing a book with BookPlus Print Book or PagePlus tbr standardbookplus publishaspdf Producing a book with BookPlus Publish as PDF from the BookPlus Standard toolbar.

  3. From the dialog, under Range, select Entire Book to output all chapters, Selected Chapters to output just those you selected previously, or enter specific page numbers or ranges. Whichever option you’ve chosen, the Include drop-down list lets you print all sheets in the range, or just odd or even sheets.

For printing, set other options as detailed in Printing basics, then click Print. For PDF output, set options as detailed in Exporting PDF files, then click OK.

Producing a book with BookPlus