TransformMaster

Intro

TransformMaster lets you rotate and scale master pages in InDesign CS5 and higher. It extends on the InDesign CS5 Page Tool functionality, which only lets you shift master pages.

Installation

IMPORTANT: Around October 2011, Adobe released an update to Extension Manager that broke TransformMaster (and a host of other third party plug-ins): it refuses to install, and complains about missing signatures. More info here:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/3997193

Hopefully Adobe will release an update to Extension Manager soon!

After downloading, make sure InDesign CS5.x is not running. Expand the .zip archive, and find the .zxp file in the decompressed result. Double-click the .zxp file – that should start up the CS5.x Adobe Extension Manager.

You’ll get some questions thrown at you by Extension Manager - answer them in a positive manner.

Uninstalling TransformMaster is easy as well – fire up the CS5.x Adobe Extension Manager, find the entry named com.rorohiko.cssdk.transformmaster - that’s the TransformMaster. Click it to select it, and click the Remove button.

Usage

Use the Window – Extensions – TransformMaster menu item to make the TransformMaster palette visible, and use the Angle and Scale fields to rotate and scale the master page.

If the master page suddenly ‘vanishes’ when you do so – that’s normal. This happens when you put in some angle/scale parameters that cause the master page to move ‘outside’ the page area, and when that happens it becomes invisible. Click the Reset button to bring it back into view. You can get best results by first moving the master page downwards, then putting in the scale factor, then putting in the rotation, if any.

Now you can use the same master page for both the business card and the letterhead, and any change you make to the master page is immediately reflected on all pages that use that master page.

More Info

For more detailed information on TransformMaster, go to:

http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/manuals/transformmaster-manual/