Pages, spreads and layers

Table of contents

• How it fits together

• Spread

  • Adding pages

• Page

  • Format
  • Margin
  • Columns
  • Adding elements

• MasterSpread

• Layer

  • Color
  • Placing objects onto a layer

How it fits together

A document is a collection of spreads. A spread holds the pages that are visible next to each other. Every page holds the elements — rectangles, text frames, images. A master spread can be applied to pages so they inherit the same layout. Layers are the vertical ordering of all objects, like in InDesign.

Spread

A Spread is the container for the pages of your document. Set it up with the Factory — it is registered in the Content object automatically:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Factory;

$factory = new Factory();

$spread = $factory->createSpread();

If you want to set your own unique identifier, create the Spread like that: $factory->createSpread('UniqueName');

Adding pages

Every page must be added to a spread:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Enum\Spread\PagePosition;

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Spread\Spread $spread a spread, created above */
/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, set up below */
$spread->addPage($page, PagePosition::RIGHT);

The second parameter defines the position of that page:

• LEFT: The page will appear on the left side of a document with facing pages
• RIGHT: The page will appear on the right side of a document with facing pages
• LEFT_OUTER: The page will appear on the outer left side of a document with facing pages. Every new page added with this option will be appended on the left
• LEFT_INNER: The page will appear on the inner left side of a document with facing pages. Every new page added with this option will be appended on the right of all left pages
• RIGHT_OUTER: The page will appear on the outer right side of a document with facing pages. Every new page added with this option will be appended on the right
• RIGHT_INNER: The page will appear on the outer right side of a document with facing pages. Every new page added with this option will be appended on the left of all right pages

This will be the position of all options:

Page

A Page is the sheet you place objects onto:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page;

$page = new Page();

Format

Add the format like that:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Enum\Unit;

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, created above */
$page->setFormat(210, 297, Unit::MILLIMETERS);

Add Unit::MILLIMETERS as third parameter if you prefer numbers in millimeters.

Margin

Add the margin like that:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Enum\Unit;

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, created above */
$page->setMargin(10, 10, 10, 10, Unit::MILLIMETERS);

Columns

Set columns like that:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Enum\Unit;

/**
 * @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, created above
 * This will define 6 columns with a bridge of 5 millimeters
 */
$page->setColumns(6, 5, Unit::MILLIMETERS);

Let's count all together: We have a page width of 210 millimeters and margin of 10 on all sides, this gives us a type area of 210 – 10 – 10 = 190 millimeters. There are 6 columns and so are 5 bridges with a width of 5 millimeters, in total 25 millimeters. 190 – 25 = 165 millimeters width for all columns. 165 width divided by 6 columns = 27.5 millimeters width for each column.

Adding elements

Place the objects of the shapes and text frames chapters onto the page:

<?php

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, created above */
/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Rectangle $rectangle a rectangle, created in the "shapes" chapter */
/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\TextFrame\TextFrame $textFrame a text frame, created in the "text frames" chapter */
$page->addElement($rectangle, $textFrame);

MasterSpread

A MasterSpread holds pages that other pages can inherit their layout from. Set it up like a normal spread:

<?php

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Factory $factory the factory, initialized in the "Spread" section */
$masterSpread = $factory->createMasterSpread();

If a page should use the master spread, add the master spread to the page:

<?php

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Page $page a page, created above */
/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Spread\MasterSpread $masterSpread the master spread created above */
$page->setAppliedMaster($masterSpread);

Be careful here! A page may inherit the objects like TextFrames or Rectangles, but you need to define the width, columns and bleed anyway by your own.

Layer

Layers order the objects of a document vertically. Set up a Layer object:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Layer;

$layer = new Layer();

Every layer needs to be added to the DesignMap:

<?php

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Factory $factory the factory, initialized in the "Spread" section */
/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Layer $layer the layer created above */
$factory->getDesignMap()
    ->addLayer($layer)
;

Color

Layers may have different colors when working in InDesign. Add a color from the Color Enum like that:

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Enum\Color;

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Layer $layer the layer created above */
$layer->addColor(Color::OLIVEGREEN);

Placing objects onto a layer

When working with layers in InDesign, the logic is to place an object into a layer. Our logic is different here: you need to tell an object to which layer it belongs.

<?php

use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Layer;
use BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Rectangle;

$rectangle = new Rectangle();

/** @var \BitAndBlack\IdmlCreator\Content\Layer $layer the layer created above */
$rectangle->setItemLayer($layer);