About masters, stacking order, and layers

A master is like a background that you can quickly apply to many pages. Objects on a master appear on all pages with that master applied. Master items that appear on document pages are surrounded by a dotted border. Changes you make to a master are automatically applied to associated pages. Masters commonly contain repeating logos, page numbers, headers, and footers. They can also contain empty text or graphic frames that serve as placeholders on document pages. A master item cannot be selected on a document page unless the master item is overridden.

Masters can have multiple layers, just like pages in your document. Objects on a single layer have their own stacking order within that layer. Objects on a master page layer appear behind objects assigned to the same layer in the document page.

If you want a master item to appear in front of objects on the document page, assign a higher layer to the object on the master. A master item on a higher layer appears in front of all objects on lower layers. Merging all layers will move master items behind document page objects.

Master items (top left) appear behind page objects on the same layer (bottom left); moving a master item to a higher layer (top right) moves it in front of all objects on lower layers (bottom right).

Tips and guidelines for masters

You can compare alternative design ideas by creating a variety of masters and applying them in turn to sample pages containing typical content.
To quickly lay out new documents, you can save a set of masters in a document template, along with paragraph and character styles, color libraries, and other styles and presets.
If you change column or margin settings on a master, or apply a new master with different column and margin settings, you can force objects on the page to adjust to the new layout automatically. (See About automatic layout adjustment.)
You can thread text frames on a master, but only across a single spread. To automatically flow text across multiple spreads, thread text frames on the document pages instead.
Masters cannot contain sections for page numbering. Automatic page numbers inserted on a master display the correct page number for each section of the document to which the master is applied.