How to Automatically Insert Page Numbers in QuarkXPress

QuarkXPress is a high-end professional page layout program similar to Adobe InDesign. It has an enormous number of options and capabilities available for complex document construction.

Among its features is the ability to automatically number the document pages in the style you designate when the proper page numbering code is placed on the Master Pages of your document.

In QuarkXPress, Master Pages are like templates for document pages. Anything placed on a Master Page appears on every document page that uses that Master.

Set Up Automatic Page Numbers on a QuarkXPress Master Page

Here's how to set up QuarkXPress for automatic page numbering using Master Pages:

1. Open the Page Layout palette if it isn't already showing: go to Window > Page Layout.

2. From the Page Layout palette, drag the Blank Single Page icon (the second icon from the left) to the white space just below A-Master A. This will create a new master page called B-Master B.

3. Double-click B-Master B to display the new master page in a way that lets you edit it.

4. Draw two text boxes on the spread using Text Content Tool from the Tools pane. You can position them anywhere you like, but they're typically on a bottom corner.

5. Select one of the text boxes and go to Utilities > Insert Character > Special > Current Box Page #. This will insert a special character that represents the current page.

6. Highlight the character and format it however you like that works best for the page design.

   For example, you might add text or embellishments in front of, behind, or on both sides of the character that represents the page number, or make the number a unique font or size.

   You might have to zoom up to see the character before editing.

7. Link the text boxes to the automatic text chain. To do that, select Text Linking Tool and then click the broken-link icon on the top left of the page, and then click the text box on the left page, and continue by clicking a blank part of the page and then the broken-link icon on the top of the right page, and finally the text box on the right page.

8. With the text boxes on the master pages now linked to the text chain, double-click B-Master B in the Page Layout palette and change it to B-Body Spread.

9. Switch to the layout pages through Page > Display > Layout.

10. As you work on your document, apply the new spread to the pages so that they reflect the correct automatic numbering sequence. You can do that through Page > Insert; select B-Body Spread.