Can't reverse page order in an action?

[CruzinCooler]

I am taking a 4 pg 8.5x11 document (pg1-FC, pg2-IFC, pg3-IBC, pg4-BC) and creating a 2 page saddle stitch cover spread with marks as my final to press on 19 x 13 media. First I resize pages 1 & 3 to 17 x 11. I can manually copy and paste page 2 into page 3 and then page 4 into page 1. Now I have the correct order and my spreads. I delete page 2 & 4. Add my print marks and resize media to 19 x 13. Done. Here’s the catch with the actions. The copy and paste action is OK from page 2 to page 3. I cannot get the copy and paste from page 4 to page 1 as in a previous post mentioned you cannot copy backwards in an action. I set up the action to reverse pages in between steps so I now paste forward and it works. I now try to reverse the page order afterwards and my PDF pages are coming out in strange sizes. But it's correctly produced if I do the reverse page order step as a separate step but not if I combine it in the actions where it does all the other work. I'm not saving the file in between steps so I'm puzzled why it can't reverse the page order correctly by adding it to my previous action. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[EZPower]

InDesign. Create 17x11 document with blees. Place PDF files in position. Save PDF. 3 Steps. Next Job. Select Link, Replace. Re Save with new Job Name. Save PDF.

 

[CruzinCooler]

InDesign. Create 17x11 document with blees. Place PDF files in position. Save PDF. 3 Steps. Next Job. Select Link, Replace. Re Save with new Job Name. Save PDF.

Yes thank you. While I understand the simplicity of your workflow, we are automating hundreds of files through Pitstop Server to eliminate manual work and time. I can do all these steps I outlined in the original post but the last step of reversing page order messes up the file. I’ve since than created a second folder for just reversing page order. Plus being a Pitstop user there is no need to implement InDesign with extra steps and processes with the power of Pitstop Server. We obviously are looking for a drop folder solution with no user input. Thank you for your input though.

 

[abc]

You need to use a 'Split Action List' to paste backwards, this is something relatively new. PitStop 2019 if I remember correctly.

To explain, Action Lists are linear, so they move forwards through the document doing whatever checks and fixes you request. So you can cut and paste forwards, but not backwards, which is where 'Split Action List' comes in.
It effectively restarts the Action List from the beginning, enabling cut and paste backwards.

It's also useful for where you want to do things like split spreads and then reorder pages. Without the Split Action List the new page order is not recognised after the split.

If you look in your Standard Action Lists > Examples. You will see 'Example how to Cut and Paste Backwards'

Hope that helps.

 

[CruzinCooler]

You need to use a 'Split Action List' to paste backwards, this is something relatively new. PitStop 2019 if I remember correctly.

To explain, Action Lists are linear, so they move forwards through the document doing whatever checks and fixes you request. So you can cut and paste forwards, but not backwards, which is where 'Split Action List' comes in.
It effectively restarts the Action List from the beginning, enabling cut and paste backwards.

It's also useful for where you want to do things like split spreads and then reorder pages. Without the Split Action List the new page order is not recognised after the split.

If you look in your Standard Action Lists > Examples. You will see 'Example how to Cut and Paste Backwards'

Hope that helps.

Brilliant! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That did the trick. Damn it even says 'Example how to Cut and Paste Backwards'. Guess I should look at every option available before posting questions. Thanks again for your help. I've been working on this issue for two days now and you solved it with one post. This action will save a very repetitious process that we do every day. All I need to do now is Import into Pitstop Server and my work is done. LOL Thanks again Andrew.

 

[abc]

These might be useful for you as well, as Printplanet is not looked at everyday.

Enfocus Community - Community index

 

[EZPower]

Yes thank you. While I understand the simplicity of your workflow, we are automating hundreds of files through Pitstop Server to eliminate manual work and time. I can do all these steps I outlined in the original post but the last step of reversing page order messes up the file. I’ve since than created a second folder for just reversing page order. Plus being a Pitstop user there is no need to implement InDesign with extra steps and processes with the power of Pitstop Server. We obviously are looking for a drop folder solution with no user input. Thank you for your input though.

Hundreds of files makes a huge difference. Your way is better in that case.