Confusion with page style edit dialog, odd/even page margins

[DylanMuir]

I'm using the page style edit dialog in Mellel 2.9.1. I have "different odd/even pages" checked, "different first page" checked and "facing pages" off.

But when I edit the margin on the odd page, the margin on the even pages changes as well... am I missing something here? What does "different odd/even pages" mean, if not that I can change them independently?

DRM

[jannuss]

I'm using the page style edit dialog in Mellel 2.9.1. I have "different odd/even pages" checked, "different first page" checked and "facing pages" off.

But when I edit the margin on the odd page, the margin on the even pages changes as well... am I missing something here? What does "different odd/even pages" mean, if not that I can change them independently?

DRM

Yes, this is confusing.

In Mellel 2.9 options that used to be in different menus have been combined into a single Page palette, but the logic of what action is controlled by which option hasn't changed:
-- "different odd/even pages" controls the header/footer definitions
-- "facing pages" controls the margins definitions.

So, if you want the margins of the odd and even pages to differ, you have to click "facing pages" on.

Janet

[DylanMuir]

...but if "Facing pages" is turned on, all that happens is that the margins are mirrored between the pages. They are still not independent.

DRM

[jannuss]

...but if "Facing pages" is turned on, all that happens is that the margins are mirrored between the pages. They are still not independent.

DRM

No, not exactly.
-- in the Page palette, Margins and Orientation, if you click Facing Pages on, you can set the inside and outside margin. And, then, the pages are indeed mirrored
but
-- in Style Sets, Edit Style Sets. select your page style and click Edit. You can now do just about anything you want

And, just a curiosity question: why would you not want them mirrored?

Janet

[DylanMuir]

If I edit the page through the style sets dialog, I get the same page style edit dialog as before. I still can't change the odd and even page margins independently.

I wanted different odd and even page margins due to my paragraph style, which had different start and end margins. To have an equal visual inside margin, the inside page margins need to be different.

I could solve it by re-working my paragraph style, I just thought the whole thing was weird.

DRM

[kjmatthews]

It is indeed impossible to set page margins independently, but DylanMuir's use case makes a strong argument for building that function in for future releases.