Manual imposition numbering in Preps

[cwillson]

At the risk of revealing how little we (my dept) use preps to it's potential...

I am building a template/layout for a large format job. 96 x 48 inch sheet full of 3x5 cards. 200 cards per sheet. Is there an easy way to number pages in a layout sequentially, without having the numbering tool jump from 1 to 4 to 5 to 8, and so on?

I just want to number 1-100, with front and back being the same page, twice per sheet.

Is there a specific workstyle that would allow this, or something else I'm not getting?


Grab attached of the basic layout that I started numbering one by one in the Page Properties sidebar. (That gets old REAL fast)

 

[Joe]

If I am understanding correctly this would just be a single sided imposition in Preps with one set of plates. The press would print one side of the job. Then flip the paper and print the other side using the same set of plates. Like a work and turn job. If you create the imposition as single sided when you start using the numbering tool it will number the pages as 1, 2, 3, etc...instead of the 1, 4, 5, 8 sequence you are seeing with a two sided imposition.

 

[cwillson]

Hi Joe, no, i'm afraid it's not. Think of it as playing cards being printed one deck per sheet. So the 100 different page positions represent one hundred different cards (But instead of a common back, each card has the same numbered image on both sides.) The cards are literally numbered 1-100 in the artwork. A work and turn set up wouldn't work.
They run in large format, sometimes only 3-4 sets per run, hence the need to get a complete set on a single sheet.
The "twice per sheet" is because the 96x48 stock will fit two full sets. The card numbers goes up to 300. Sometimes we run two sets of the same 100 cards, sometimes we run 1 each of 200 cards, etc. So in reality, the sheet will be numbered 1-200.

 

[Joe]

Do you have a bigger version of your screen shot so I can see the numbering?

 

[Glenn McDowall]

You can usually number fairly quickly using 1458... auto progression, you just have to flip from left to right (front to back) skipping every other card, suggest you do a mental check at the end of each row or column, and reset and repeat where necessary.
I think the biggest number I've done was 104 sorts.
Having the same back as front is best ignored in Preps and sorted out later.
So if you set up page 2 backs 1 and 4 backs 3, so that all fronts are odd and all backs are even, you end up with 400 numbers for 200 cards.
In Prinergy you can select your 100 pages and Command y, then add them all to odd pages only, then repeat and add to even pages only. Command y will default to the next free number so easy to add the second 100 cards.

 

[cwillson]

Job Layout Report screen grab. This is the one I started numbering manually. Only got to 16 (in the first and fifth rows) before deciding to look for help.

I'm noticing that my attachments are getting shrunk. Is there another why I can include them without this happening?

 

[cwillson]

Still reduced from original...

 

[Joe]

With this forum software the only way I can get the image to not shrink down is to upload it to an image host and link to it from there. A good free one is PostImage.

 

[cwillson]

Thanks Joe!

https://s13.postimg.org/jxqu36tpj/Screen_Shot_2017-06-27_at_7.40.18_PM.png

 

[Joe]

OK what I would do is create a single sided imposition with two sheets. Don't create them as front a back though. Number the first one for the front. The page numbering tool will number them in 1, 2, 3, etc...order. Then number the second one as the back.

 

[Prepper]

Not sure if this would help you but looking at it quick, if you make a placeholder with 100 or 200 pages in it, however many you need, and drop the pages onto your sheet, arrange them as they need to be, it numbers them 1 front, 2 back, and so on, then save that as a template and your layout is saved with those pages numbered like that. Create yourself a "Master" job by saving that layout with the placeholder pages, then when you need that particular layout again, open your master job and replace the placeholder with your live file. Maybe something in here helps?

 

[cwillson]

Joe, that sounds workable, and Prepper, your idea sounds good as well. I'll have to try them out and see which feels easier. I'll feedback when I have a chance.

Thanks everyone!

 

[cwillson]

Hi Guys, I finally got around to working this out. (it was more or less a backburner project)

I liked the ideas, Placeholders & 2 one-sided sheets, but I stumbled upon another option that worked out pretty well.

I used a SW layout, and since each page backs itself up, I duped all the pages in my PDF and arranged them one after the other. 1,1,2,2,3,3, etc.

The reason this worked out is that I realized that it didn't truly matter if all the "odd" pages were on one side and the evens on the other, as long as the twin pages backed each other up.

I was able to let the numbering do it's thing (1,4,5,8, etc.) and the pairs of pages all stay backed up to each other. 4 is always back up 3, no matter which side of the sheet they're on.

Not exactly the original idea, and it meant some editing to the PDF, but it beat numbering by hand in the sidebar.

__________

And now looking back at the thread, I see what Glenn was saying would work better. No need to dupe in the PDF if I can double up in the run list filling only odd or only even positions. But it still works without having to put all the odds on one side of the layout.

Once again, thank you guys for helping out.

Chris