Page numbering
When refering to a particular page, or when giving filenames to individual page scans, a consistent system for numbering pages are needed. This document outlines the system I use for my own scans and normally also converts contributed scans into.
The main principle is that normal pages with a page number are denoted with the lowecase letter p plus the page number written with three digits. A page numbered 42 would then be referred to as p042 and a scan of this saved in the PNG format would become p042.png.
Often, a book starts with a few unnumbered pages. If the first numbered page is not page 1, the preceding pages are given the page numbers they would have had if they were numbered continually with the ones with printed page numbers. Unnumbered pages at the end is dealt with in the same manner.
For small booklets this might cover everything; but books with a thicker cover, p001 will normally be the first interior page, so the front cover would become "page minus 1" if one continued to extrapolate backwards. In this case the front cover becomes f001 and the inside of this f002. Similarly, the interior back cover becomes r001 (even if it has a page number continuing from the main part), and the outer back cover becomes r002.
The reason why the numbering of the back cover inside and outside is
the opposite from the front cover and the letter r for
rear
is used instead of b for back
is that in this
way an alphabetical list of the files will be in the order in which the
pages appear. This principle should always be followed when exceptions
to these rules must be made. The remainder of this text is mostly a list
of such exceptions that I have had to handle this far.
If there are pages between f002 and p001, these are numbered
sequentially from i001. The letter i is chosen both as an
abbreviation of introductory pages
and a mnemonic recalling that
such pages often are numbered with lower-case Roman numerals.
If there are any loose appendices to a book, these pages are numbered sequentially from x001. Remember that blank backsides of all pages, even of such additional material always must be counted.
Any internal material that does not form part of the numbering flow, such as fold-in pages must be handled carefully to avoid breaking the alphabetisation principle. I do this by appending .x and a two digit sequential number to the identifier of the preceding page. A manual with a fold-in front cover would then end up with the following parts:
| f001 | The outer front cover |
|---|---|
| f001.x01 | The part of the flap that continues the outer front cover when folded out |
| f001.x02 | The overleaf part of the flap |
| f002 | The interior front cover that would remain if the flap was removed |
Some of these manuals have pages numbered with chapter
plus
page in chapter
; for example 4-15- for the fifteenth page
of chapter four. I number these as p04-15, and change the other
sections accordingly (f01-01 and f01-02 for the front cover etc.).
When summarising how many pages a manual contains, I write it as
p+c+i+x, where p is the number of normal
pages (of
the form pnnn or pnn-nn), c
the number of cover pages (of the form fnnn,
fnnn.xnn, f01-nn, rnnn
or rnnn.xnn), i introductory pages (of the
form innn or i01-nn) and x
extra
pages (of the form xnnn or
pnnn.xnn). If a manual consists of an outer cover
with fold-ins at both ends, 4 introductory pages, 100 normal pages and
three single-sided additional sheets, I would write this as
100+8+4+6. A PDF file of this manual should contain 118 pages,
including a blank one after each of the three single additions.
 |
back | Tor Gjerde <i@old.no> |