InDesign

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Create variables for running headers and footers

By default, the Running Header variables insert the first occurrence (on the page) of the text to which the specified style is applied.

  1. If your content is not already formatted, create and apply the paragraph style or character style for the text you want to appear in the header (such as a title or heading style).
  2. Choose Type > Text Variables > Define.
  3. Click New, and then type a name for the variable.
  4. From the Type menu, choose Running Header (Paragraph Style) or Running Header (Character Style).
  5. Specify the following options:
    Style
    Choose the style to display in your header or footer.

    Use
    Decide whether you want the first or last occurrence of the style that’s applied on the page. For example, you may have three headings on a page. First On Page is defined as the first paragraph that begins on a page, not one that merely ends on the current page. If there is no occurrence of the style on the page, the previous occurrence of the applied style is used. If there is not previous occurrence in the document, the variable is empty.

    Delete End Punctuation
    If selected, the variable displays the text minus any end punctuation (periods, colons, exclamation marks, and question marks).

    Change Case
    Select this option to change the case of the text that appears in the header or footer. For example, you may want to use sentence case in your footer, even though the heading on the page appears in title case.

  6. Click OK, and then click Done in the Text Variables dialog box.

    You can now insert the variable in a header or footer you create on the master page.