Section ''tabs''

I have a document with seven different sections. I want to display a vertical, tab-like indexing feature on the far right side of every page. There is a tab for each section, and the tab for the section your'e currently in is displayed with a dark background and light text (whereas the other six tabs have a light background and dark text.)

That way, no matter where you are in the document, you have a very clear indication of which section you're in relative to all the other sections.

So far I've created my seven tabs (they're just text boxes with some paragraph styles and object styles applied.)

I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to do this. I know I could create seven different masters and apply one to each section, but there's got to be an easier way.

The only other option I've come up with is to copy + paste the tab structure into every page of my document, and modify the current tab's styles so it appears darker than the others. That's even more work.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Section ''tabs''

Different masters is the way to go, in my opinion.

I used to work in a shop where we printed real die-cut tabs from time to time. Those we could set up with a single page with the text in postion for each tab, but since the actuyal tabs extended beyond the page edge and unused tabs were cut off that extra text never made it into the finished document.

Section ''tabs''

Thanks for the reply, Peter! I guess you're right. It's just a shame because other than this feature, there's no need for me to use more than one master for the entire document. Now if I make a change to my master, I'll have to do it seven times so all the sections look the same!

I was hoping there was a more ''dynamic'' way of setting up the tabs. (I've done this kind of thing a million times in creating Web sites... it's a snap with javascript or PHP, etc. That's more my area of specialty rather than desktop publishing.)

Maybe Adobe could add some features to future release of InDesign to make this kind of thing easier. Again, I appreciate the reply.

You can minimize the work by doing things like using styles (edit the style and every place it's applied will change) and basing one master on another, so you change only the single element on each page.

InDesign can be scripted using Javascript, and there's a whole forum dedicated to scripting.

What about using a Running header in your master, then on the first page of each new section set some text off the page that would be whats displayed in your ''tab''. Use of tabs for placement, then some clever underline options would get the effect. You could likely get fancy and use an anchored object for the tab too!

M.Jay.Victor wrote:

What about using a Running header in your master, then on the first page of each new section set some text off the page that would be whats displayed in your ''tab''. Use of tabs for placement, then some clever underline options would get the effect. You could likely get fancy and use an anchored object for the tab too!

Christ man... good work...it was humbling just reading that haha

That being said, i think i would create one master like Peter said at first, with all 7 tabs. Then create 7 new masters each based on the first one. Release and delete the unnused tabs, then release the used one bust just to change color. I think this would accomplish your goal, but with the simplest method, and at least some ability to make global changes.

M.Jay.Victor wrote:

Christ man... good work...it was humbling just reading that haha

That being said, i think i would create one master like Peter said at first, with all 7 tabs. Then create 7 new masters each based on the first one. Release and delete the unnused tabs, then release the used one bust just to change color. I think this would accomplish your goal, but with the simplest method, and at least some ability to make global changes.

peter@knowhowpro.com wrote:

M.Jay.Victor wrote:

Christ man... good work...it was humbling just reading that haha

That being said, i think i would create one master like Peter said at first, with all 7 tabs. Then create 7 new masters each based on the first one. Release and delete the unnused tabs, then release the used one bust just to change color. I think this would accomplish your goal, but with the simplest method, and at least some ability to make global changes.

P Spier wrote:

peter@knowhowpro.com wrote:

M.Jay.Victor wrote:

Christ man... good work...it was humbling just reading that haha

That being said, i think i would create one master like Peter said at first, with all 7 tabs. Then create 7 new masters each based on the first one. Release and delete the unnused tabs, then release the used one bust just to change color. I think this would accomplish your goal, but with the simplest method, and at least some ability to make global changes.

peter@knowhowpro.com wrote:

P Spier wrote:

peter@knowhowpro.com wrote:

M.Jay.Victor wrote:

Christ man... good work...it was humbling just reading that haha

That being said, i think i would create one master like Peter said at first, with all 7 tabs. Then create 7 new masters each based on the first one. Release and delete the unnused tabs, then release the used one bust just to change color. I think this would accomplish your goal, but with the simplest method, and at least some ability to make global changes.