In a similar setup I wanted to start every chapter with image and short vita the author and came up with the following (of course not without help from our wizards): \definefont[ChapterFont][Sans*default at 30pt] \startsetups normalheader % default numbers of my bodyfont are oldstyle \setupheadertexts[chapter][{\addff{normnum}\pagenumber}][{\addff{normnum}\pagenumber}][] \stopsetups \startsetups noheader \setupheadertexts[][][][] \stopsetups \startsetups bigchapter \setupalign[flushleft,hz,hanging,verytolerant,nothyphenated] \doifelse{\structureuservariable{image}}{}{% if image empty }{% \directsetup{noheader} \vbox{% {\ChapterFont\structurevariable{title}\par}% \blank[big] \externalfigure[img/\structureuservariable{image}][width=0.8\textwidth]\par } \doifnot{\structureuservariable{vita}}{}{% if vita \vfill \vbox{% {\tf\ss\structureuservariable{vita}} }% }% \page[right] \vbox{% \doifnot{\structureuservariable{subtitle}}{}{% if subtitle {\definedfont[SerifItalic*eka at 30pt]\structureuservariable{subtitle}} }% }% }% \blank[3*big] \directsetup{normalheader} \setupalign[width,hz,hanging,hyphenated]% reset alignment \stopsetups \setuphead[chapter][ page=left, number=no, command=\gobbletwoarguments, before=, after={\directsetup{bigchapter}}, style={\ChapterFont}, ] This is the result: https://www.dreiviertelhaus.de/editionka/lauf-los-buch/ (see preview images linked at the bottom) Best, Hraban