Stuck in the H * ll IDCS4 Table - please help

I am working on updating a catalogue of spare parts for my company (800 + pages) and it's my first big project using IDCS4. We have separated each section in a document (most between 50 and 80 pages, but a couple of the sections are 100 + pages).

Due to the nature of the project, I tried to make my documents as flexible as possible.  In the coming years we will be inserting new information at different locations in the catalog, we start to wear new items.  Because of this possibility, the current information for each section are placed in a single table that runs off the first page through the last page of this document.

The problem, I keep turning, is that the rows of the table for the different parts of the same document must be formatted differently to get a consistent look. There are a few parts that have additional information required the split or merge cells in a table.

Here are a few questions I met:

* When I try to shift + drag a cell border, ID does not allow me to slide it past the threshold of another cell in the line above or below.  For example, I have a 3-inch cell in row 2 of my paper starting at 0 "and ends at 3".  Further down to line 7, I divided the line 3 "vertically.  Half right of the divided cell has been merged to the adjacent cell (right).  When I try to drag the left of this cell to the left wall, ID doesn't let me drag them beyond the mark 3 "on the rule (in fact, it stops about 1/16" for short).  Is it possible to replace this and freely drag the cell wall at any size, I want to be?

* My other question is trying to paste the lines in a document of identity to the other.  Occasionally, ID allows me to do, but it plays hell with my formatting when it does.  Most of the time, even when the lines appear to be straight or very close the same dimensions, the function paste is not available after cut or copy the lines in the older document.

Can anyone provide advice and solutions or even explain that I'm going about this all wrong, or I've met an inherent weakness of the InDesign features.  I understand that an application that does every thing you'll ever want or need isn't there, but it seems that it is these things I want or have the most need that ID refuses to do.

Thanks in advance!

RW

I don't see anything here that wouldn't work as ordinary tabulated text (although you may have to make some changes to the way that lists of two product lines are constructed). You can use one image per page, the image at the beginning of every description of anchor and if you have CS4 running on Smart Text reflow (or look at the plugins to InTools.com).

If you delete a product, the others would have just straight up. If you need to add, just paste and foillowing products would be routed down and text reflow new Smart pages would be added (or old pages deleted if empty) automatically.

For ads, I would create a paragraph nested style. The main style should be Arial 8 pt (or other). Add a style of character for 10 points and the other for the offset base line if you really think that you need (I have not, but I think it's from text aligned at the top in the table cells). Nest style 10 pt through 2 tablets, then baseline offset if really necessary until a forced line break. the second line in the lists of two lines should be added at the end of the list and moved to the second line using the forced line break. Set a left indent overall to push the second Inland line and a first line negative indent to move the numbers oout to the left and set the tab stops.

I don't do a lot of work to catalog, so have not played with the plugins, but I think they would be a big advantage if your information is stored in a database.

Peter

Tags: InDesign

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