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Adobe FrameMaker: When Chapter Titles are Too Long for a Running Head

by Barb Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor on FrameMaker
Updated: May 22, 2020

In my ideal world, authors would always write short, concise headings. In real life, some heads are so long they look like bold, multi-line paragraphs. When I need to pull lengthy chapter titles and section heads into a running head, the trouble begins. My solution? A Header/Footer Marker.

There are two of these markers lurking in the Marker dialog box, just waiting for you to find them. Once you do, the rest is easy. First you edit the marker definition to match the desired header wording, then you call in the marker from the master page. Here are the specific steps:

  1. Select the chapter title or section head.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Header/Footer marker
  2. Choose Insert > Marker. Choose Header/Footer $1 from the Marker Type menu. (Prior to FrameMaker 2017, this was Special > Marker.)
    Adobe FrameMaker: Header/Footer marker
  3. Edit the marker text to a short, concise version of the heading and click the Create button.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Header/Footer marker
  4. Select View > Master Pages.
  5. Place in your cursor in the background text frame where you’d like your running head to appear.
  6. Select Insert > Variables to open the Variables panel. (Prior to FrameMaker 2017, this was Special > Variables.)
  7. Click to highlight the Running H/F 3 variable. Note that it is already assigned the <$marker1> building block. (If it isn’t, or if you are using a different Running H/F variable, you can always edit the variable and change the definition to <$marker1>.)
    Adobe FrameMaker: Header/Footer marker
  8. Click the Insert button on the Variables toolbar.
  9. Select View > Body Pages to admire the short, concise running head!
    Adobe FrameMaker: Header/Footer marker

More on working with master pages

Master page basics

Adobe FrameMaker: Master page basics

Using variables in headers and footers

Adobe FrameMaker: Smart Running Heads

Adobe FrameMaker: Even Smarter Running Heads

Adobe FrameMaker: Dictionary-Style Running Heads

 

Working with custom master pages

Adobe FrameMaker: Creating Custom Master Pages

Adobe FrameMaker: Automatically Assigning Custom Master Pages

Rotating pages

Adobe FrameMaker: Adding a Landscape Page to a Portrait Document

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2 thoughts on “Adobe FrameMaker: When Chapter Titles are Too Long for a Running Head

  1. it did not work for me. Is there a limit to the length of the running H/F 1? My truncates after 43 characters on three different chapters.

    1. No, for the Running H/F1, it’s the type size you are using and the length of the background frame.