If every page of an InDesign photo book shows the same numeral, check whether the repeated footer contains ordinary typed text. A typed “1” remains “1” when repeated. Use the Current Page Number marker for a footer that should reflect each document page, then inspect section rules separately.
Check what the footer actually contains
Work on a copy and inspect the relevant parent-page footer. Determine whether it contains a literal number, the automatic marker, or a document-page override. These can look identical on the first page, so the first page alone is a poor test.
Adobe documents placing Current Page Number through Type > Insert Special Character > Markers and applying the parent to the intended document pages. On a parent page, the marker can show the parent prefix; document pages show their actual numbers. Adobe: Add page-number markers.
Use three separated pages as the first check
The following is a proposed review exercise, not an executed layout test. In a fictional travel book, inspect the first, middle and last numbered pages. Write the visible footer and the intended document-page number side by side. Do not assume that a correct middle page proves all other parents or overrides are correct.
Replace a literal numeral with the marker on the appropriate parent, preserving approved typography and position. For facing pages, check both sides of the spread. A left-page footer does not establish that right pages have an equivalent frame.
If one page remains different, inspect its parent assignment and local override before changing the whole numbering scheme. Keep unnumbered covers deliberate rather than forcing numbers everywhere.
Test the next real edit
On a duplicate, insert a page before the middle of the book. Check whether later automatic footers update, then undo or discard this diagnostic change. The purpose is to test the behavior the project needs next, not simply to make the current PDF look correct.
List intentional section restarts alongside this test. A front-matter section using Roman numerals and a main section starting at 1 may be valid. Repeated values caused by an explicit restart need a section decision; replacing all markers with hand-typed numbers would hide that structure.
Review the exported sequence
Pass when intended footers are automatic, deliberate omissions and restarts are documented, and the exported PDF shows the approved visible sequence. Fail if the apparent repair works only until another page is inserted, or if one parent variant still repeats a fixed numeral.
Keep visible printed numbering separate from a viewer's page-label navigation. They can be related, but correcting one does not automatically repair the other.
Imagild can help create the photographic interpretations used in the book. Parent pages, marker insertion and book-numbering decisions are external InDesign layout work. Exact folios should remain editable text rather than generated numerals inside the artwork.