Master pages
The shared background of several pages
What it is
A master is a page that acts as a background: its content shows in every page that uses it, under the page's own content. A logo, a frame, the page number are drawn only once. The master is not part of the page sequence: it has no number, does not sit in the rows, and is not printed or exported on its own.
The Masters panel
From the masters button on the right of the Pages header: the row of masters in place of the pages.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Click a master | goes to the master: you draw in it as in a page |
| + | a new master, the size of the active page, in a row above the pages; it is named "master A", "master B"… |
| duplicate | copies the active master |
| delete | sends the master to the trash with its content, and the pages that used it drop it, in the same step |
Masters cannot be reordered. With the Masters panel open the canvas shows only the masters; closed, only the pages.
Giving a page a master
- In the Page panel, Master row: the document's masters, or none. Choosing a master gives the page its size; with none the page stays as it is.
- In a document with masters, the + in Pages lets you choose the master of the new page.
- A new page, from + or from a template, takes the master of the active page.
In the page
- The master's content sits where it sits in the master, from the top-left corner, under the page's content.
- There it cannot be selected or deleted, and it does not appear in the page's tree: you edit it in the master, and it changes in every page.
- The master's ruler guides show dashed in its pages, and cannot be moved there.
- A master text with
{page}shows each page's own number.
Printing and exporting
When printing and exporting, every page comes out with the content of its master. Masters on their own do not come out.