Can horizontal ruler in Word be changed to begin w/ zero?

[smithy]

--
csmith

 

[Graham Mayor]

It does begin at zero - at the left margin position! If you mean can you set
the left margin at the edge of the paper, then the likely answer is no. Very
few printer drivers allow printing to the edge of the page and Word will
only set what the driver will permit.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[smithy]

I can see that the ruler within the margin begins with zero. And, I am aware
that most printers will not print a bleed.

What I am trying to find out is whether it is possible to change the ruler
to a realistic view where zero is at the edge of the paper?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

No, the ruler origin cannot be set in Word as it can in Publisher and other
page layout programs. That is due to the differences between word processing
and page layout functions.

 

[smithy]

Thank you Suzanne, for providing a response that answered my question, and
lacked the smart-aleck tone of Graham Mayor's answer.

 

[SProvost]

My problem was slightly different: I got to this subject because, one day,
the print display stopped showing the white margin at the top. To fix this:
I went to the Word button. I clicked the Word Options button. I chose
Advanced, then Display, and in the Page Display Option section, a selected
Show white space between pages in Print Layout view. That fixed my problem.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

That's discussed in http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/WhiteSpace.htm, but
it has to do with the vertical ruler, not the horizontal one.

 

[The Blue Max]

Great question, Smithy! Like you, we also feel that Microsoft should provide
an option for calibrating the ruler to zero at the left edge of the page.
WordPerfect refers to these two options as absolute margins (left edge of
page) and relative margins (left margin).

WordPerfect has had this feature for many years and it has some distinct
advantages. For example, it allows the user to immediately visualize the
actual width of the paper, the margin widths, and column offsets. It would
be nice if Microsoft would provide a similar feature.

 

[FrankBlank]

Great question, Smithy! Like you, we also feel that Microsoft should provide
an option for calibrating the ruler to zero at the left edge of the page.
WordPerfect refers to these two options as absolute margins (left edge of
page) and relative margins (left margin).

WordPerfect has had this feature for many years and it has some distinct
advantages. For example, it allows the user to immediately visualize the
actual width of the paper, the margin widths, and column offsets. It would
be nice if Microsoft would provide a similar feature.

 

[FrankBlank]

A year and a half later, it would still be nice.

Great question, Smithy! Like you, we also feel that Microsoft should provide
an option for calibrating the ruler to zero at the left edge of the page.
WordPerfect refers to these two options as absolute margins (left edge of
page) and relative margins (left margin).

WordPerfect has had this feature for many years and it has some distinct
advantages. For example, it allows the user to immediately visualize the
actual width of the paper, the margin widths, and column offsets. It would
be nice if Microsoft would provide a similar feature.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

But it's not going to happen.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

And if your screen is wide enough, or you zoom down enough, you can
see the whole page width.