Layout of a piece that will be folded horizontally (InDesign)

Question

I'm creating a promotional map, that will fold down to 4" x 9"

When someone opens the map, it will get to be a large piece with one horizontal fold, so when opened, the text/folds are oriented like this:

There will be a lot of stuff to set up on the "upside down" page, so I would really like to be able to set up my InDesign file like that shown above (working upside down is not fun for me).

What would be the smoothest work flow to produce this?

• Set up 2 separate InDesign files (one for just page 1 and 2, and another for Inside and Outside) and place page 1/2 in the second file with page one inverted?
• Is there some other method I'm not thinking of that will be easier?

Answer 1

You can set up your InDesign document the way you want to, then create another InDesign document for the output and preview and place the working document inside. This lets you easily work how you want and preview the pages in their output format.

1. Create and save both documents

2. In the output/preview document go to "File → Place...". Make sure "Show Import Options" is checked and select the document with your individual pages.

3. Select "All" under pages and hit "OK".

4. Then single-click where you want to place each page in your output/preview document then manually rotate the page that needs to be rotated.

You now have two documents. 1 is your working document and the other is your preview and output document. You can have them both open as tabs so previewing is as easy as switching tabs (and hitting the warning icon to update the placed document).