Override resolution

A body page's OverrideList names the master items it has taken over; those items are no longer shown from the master.

In short An author usually wants most of a master and a different version of one item: a chapter title where the master has a generic head. Overriding a master item in InDesign copies it into the body spread as an ordinary, editable page item, and records the master item's Self id in the page's OverrideList. A reader resolves a page by showing every master item except the ones listed there, and then the page's own items, the copy among them. Listing an id with no copy deletes that master item from the page.

A worked example

The master below holds one header rectangle. The body page lists it in OverrideList and holds its own header in the same place, at a 40% tint.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<idPkg:Spread xmlns:idPkg="http://ns.adobe.com/AdobeInDesign/idml/1.0/packaging" DOMVersion="20.0">
  <Spread Self="uspread" PageCount="1" BindingLocation="0" ShowMasterItems="true" AllowPageShuffle="true" ItemTransform="1 0 0 1 0 0">
    <Page Self="upage" Name="1" AppliedMaster="umaster" OverrideList="umasterHeader" ItemTransform="1 0 0 1 0 0" GeometricBounds="0 0 841.89 595.276" MasterPageTransform="1 0 0 1 0 0"/>
    <Rectangle Self="ubodyHeader" ContentType="Unassigned" AppliedObjectStyle="ObjectStyle/$ID/[None]" Visible="true" Name="$ID/" ItemTransform="1 0 0 1 57.638 56.6929" FillColor="Color/Black" FillTint="40" StrokeColor="Swatch/None" StrokeWeight="0">
      <Properties>
        <PathGeometry>
          <GeometryPathType PathOpen="false">
            <PathPointArray>
              <PathPointType Anchor="0 0" LeftDirection="0 0" RightDirection="0 0"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="0 24" LeftDirection="0 24" RightDirection="0 24"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="480 24" LeftDirection="480 24" RightDirection="480 24"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="480 0" LeftDirection="480 0" RightDirection="480 0"/>
            </PathPointArray>
          </GeometryPathType>
        </PathGeometry>
      </Properties>
    </Rectangle>
    <TextFrame Self="uframe" ParentStory="ustory" PreviousTextFrame="n" NextTextFrame="n" ContentType="TextType" AppliedObjectStyle="ObjectStyle/$ID/[None]" Visible="true" Name="$ID/" ItemTransform="1 0 0 1 57.638 145.8237" FillColor="Swatch/None" StrokeColor="Swatch/None" StrokeWeight="0">
      <Properties>
        <PathGeometry>
          <GeometryPathType PathOpen="false">
            <PathPointArray>
              <PathPointType Anchor="0 0" LeftDirection="0 0" RightDirection="0 0"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="0 400" LeftDirection="0 400" RightDirection="0 400"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="480 400" LeftDirection="480 400" RightDirection="480 400"/>
              <PathPointType Anchor="480 0" LeftDirection="480 0" RightDirection="480 0"/>
            </PathPointArray>
          </GeometryPathType>
        </PathGeometry>
      </Properties>
    </TextFrame>
  </Spread>
</idPkg:Spread>

The page shows two items: its text frame and its own header. The master's solid header is not among them. Without the OverrideList entry a third item, the master header, would appear behind the copy.

What OverrideList records

OverrideList is an attribute of the body <Page>: a space-separated list of Self ids of items on that page's master. Resolution has two sides that must agree:

1. The listed master items are left out of the page.
2. The page's own copy paints as an ordinary item of the body spread, in its own position in the stacking order and on its own layer.

The copy is not tied to the master item by any attribute in the files surveyed for this reference: the copy has its own Self id, and the only link is the master item's id in the page's list. Because the list alone decides, an id with no copy on the page is a clean deletion of that master item from that page.

The list is per page. On a facing spread, overriding the left folio touches only the left page's list; the right page still shows its master folio.

Attributes a reader can ignore

• AllowOverrides on a master item says whether InDesign's user may override it. InDesign writes ids into OverrideList only for items that allow it, so a reader needs only the list.
• OverriddenPageItemProps appears on page items and on <MasterSpread>. It is InDesign's bookkeeping of which properties of an item were edited. The edited values are already on the copy, so the result does not depend on it.

In Paged: master items named in a page's OverrideList are left out when the master is placed; AllowOverrides and OverriddenPageItemProps are not read.

Supported · verified

Override resolution works on top of master items and stamping; read that page first for which master items a page receives.

Frequently asked questions

What does the OverrideList attribute do? It lists, on a body <Page>, the Self ids of master items the page has taken over. Those items are not shown from the master on that page.

Where does the overridden copy live? In the body spread, as an ordinary page item with its own Self id. It paints like any other item of the page.

What happens if I list a master item but supply no copy? The master item disappears from that page. The list alone decides what is left out.

Does a master item need AllowOverrides for an override to work? Not for a reader. AllowOverrides governs what InDesign lets a user do; the result is decided by the page's OverrideList.

Can a page override only some properties of a master item? The override copies the whole item into the page, and the edited properties are on that copy. OverriddenPageItemProps records which properties were edited, but the copy already holds the result.