It is often necessary to have a different layout for the first page in a group of pages. This could apply to an entire publication or to groups within a publication (for example, chapters).
In this example we’ll assume that most pages are laid out
using the 1 column page type, but the first page of a
chapter has a different format: there is no header, and the data area extends
to the top of the print area so the chapter title can appear at the top of the
page.
We’ll start by creating a new page type called
chapter which uses the 1 column page
type as its template. Create the new page type as described in
“Creating a New Page Type” and select 1 column from
the
Template field drop-down. (If it doesn't appear in
the template drop-down, make sure the new page type has the same paper size as
1 column).
Also select 1 column from the
Followed by field drop-down. This means that after
one page using the chapter page type, the following pages
will use 1 column.
At this point the page type will look identical to the
1 column page type. We don’t want the header
fixed block and rule on this page type, so we need to prevent them being
inherited from the template. On the
Blocks tab of the chapter page
type, clear the
Inherit headers from template checkbox. The two
fixed blocks will disappear.
Select the Data tab and clear the Inherit data from template checkbox. This allows you to change the data area on this page type. Select the data area and adjust its height by holding down the Ctrl key and dragging its top edge to the top of the print area. Another way to achieve this is to set its Top margin field to zero in the right-hand pane.
The two page types will now look like this (using the horizontal split view):
To use these two page types, the mapping for the
chapter element needs to start a new page and select the
chapter page type.
Note that it isn’t necessary to use a template when you want to create a “followed by” relationship; the two page types can be set up independently if required. The only requirement is that both page types have the same data width; in other words, all data blocks in the two page types must have the same width.
