InDesign CS2: Links palette alphabetizes PDF page #s

[PrintNW]

Our print shop does a lot of newsletters, which our clients often supply as multi-page PDFs. I then use InDesign to impose the PDFs as 2-up printer spreads, using the Links palette to keep track of which pages are on each spread. Curiously, when I have the palette "Sort by Name," the PDF's page numbers are sorted alphabetically, not numerically:

newsletter.pdf <-- (page 1 has no number)
newsletter.pdf:10
newsletter.pdf:11
newsletter.pdf:12
newsletter.pdf:2
newsletter.pdf:3
newsletter.pdf:4
...and so on. (See attached .gif for a screen dump.)

Is there a way to get the page numbers to sort numerically? I can't be the only one who's wondered this, but a Google search was fruitless. Many thanks in advance! Our e-mail: printnw [at] viclink [dot] com.

System info: We're running CS2 on a G4 under OS X 10.3.9.

 

[DavidMa]

put a zero in front of the single digit numbers and it will sort them correctly.
example:
newsletter01.pdf
newsletter02.pdf
~
newsletter10.pdf

 

[Shawn]

I agree with David. That's how we've handled the same type of situation here. There are a couple of nice utilities for renaming pages. My favorite is Name Mangler, it's wicked powerful for a free tool.
Many Tricks · Name Mangler

I just checked and Name Mangler is 10.5 only, but there is also an earlier version also available
http://www.manytricks.com/download/filelist

Shawn

 

[PrintNW]

>put a zero in front of the single digit numbers and it will sort them correctly.

I think that would only work if I split the PDF into multiple files (one for each page), adding the original page number to the filename. That's too much work for me, to fix what I admit is just a minor gripe. With multi-page PDFs, the Links palette displays the page numbers *after* the filename and extension (since it's technically only one file), and it's those appended digits I'd like to see sorted correctly.

 

[Shawn]

Sorry, I misread the question.

It looks like InDesign is displaying the pages based on the total number of pages in the PDF and ignoring the page number assigned to each page in the PDF file. I just tried it, and although you can add a zero before each page number in Acrobat, InDesign still numbers the pages based on total number in the file. Hopefully Dov or Leonard might be able to help you here, or you could ask over at InDesignSecrets.com to see if anyone has a workaround.

Shawn