Adobe FrameMaker 9: Deleting Empty Pages

by Barbara Binder

For those of you transitioning to FrameMaker from Microsoft Word, the empty pages left at the end of a document can be bothersome.
The first rule to learn is that the single fastest way to delete empty pages is to save your document. When you save, empty pages are deleted. Of course, this assumes a few things.

Choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination. Ensure "Before Saving & Printing" is set to Delete Empty Pages.




If you confirm the settings shown above, but the empty pages refuse to go away when you save or print, read on...

If the page in question is using a custom master page, choose Format > Page Layout > Master Page Usage and reassign the default Right/Left masters.




Save your work and the empty page should be gone.

If not, read on...

Another reason that empty pages stick around is if the master pages are using overrides. View the master pages via View > Master Pages and switch back the Body Pages (View > Body Pages). Select Remove Overrides.



Save your work and the empty page should be gone. But... if not, read on...

Yet another reason a page won't go away is if the page contains the start of a new flow (i.e., Flow B) or a disconnected page. Choose Special > Delete Pages and remove the page manually.



If the page disappears, but returns after you update your book, it's likely the book pagination is set to add blank pages to force a new chapter to begin on a specific page side. In the book window, you can choose Format > Page Layout > Pagination and you'll find the same options you saw for single documents. Book commands override the document commands, so I just ignore document pagination and always set it at the book level.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.

Comments

[Charles]

Hi Barbara,

I've tried to solve this problem for two weeks and it's maddening. Frame keeps adding blank pages to documents in a book. It seems to usually occur when the last page that contains content is a Right master page, although there's a document whose last page has content AND is a Right page, yet the blank page doesn't appear in this file.

I've tried everything on the help forums, including your steps. I have done the following: 1) Selected Special > Delete pages 2) Re-applied Master pages by selecting Format > Page Layout > Master page usage and then re-applying the Master pages to all pages. 3) Deleted blank pages by selecting Format > Page Layout > Pagination and selecting Delete Empty Pages in Before saving and printing frame. 4) I also tried #3 at the Book level, as opposed to the document level (in the Book's Format menu).

If I follow these steps, the blank pages will disappear, but once I click Update book and and generate lists and indexes, the blank pages re-appear. One thing I noticed: when I go to Format > Page Layout > Pagination and select Delete empty pages, I get a message saying "a new column layout in [filename] seems to ovelap other objects on left and right master pages. Are you sure you want to do this? I click "yes" and when I do this, I can be assured that the blank page will appear again. How can I get rid of these pesky blank pages once and for all?

-Thanks
Charles

[Barb Binder]

Hi Charles:

This sounds like a book-level issue. My suggestion is that you open your book window, select all the files in the body of the book, and then re-visit Format > Page > Layout > Pagination. For a standard bound book that opens all chapters on a right hand page, you would use the following settings:

• Pagination > Double-sided, First Page Side: Right
• Before Saving & Printing > Make Page Count Even

These settings will force each new chapter to begin on an odd-numbered right-hand page, and it will add an extra blank page to the end of chapters that end on an odd page to make it work.

If the goal is to run the chapters continuously, without concern about the starting page side, then try:

• Pagination > Double-sided, First Page Side: Next Available
• Before Saving & Printing > Delete Empty Pages

I hope this helps. If you need additional help, you can purchase an hour of online consulting time through IconLogic. We can log onto you computer, you can demonstrate the problem, and we can help you troubleshoot it.
~Barb

[Jeanne Christiansen]

I just wanted to say thank you. The First Page Side setting solved my pagination issue today!