formatting from headers goes to previous page

[RKL]

I am using Word 2007 and am using style sets (currently formal). When I
create a page break, and then format the first line of the next page, the
formatting I apply also goes to the actual page break. This is particularly
noticable when using shading, which causes there to be a shaded area at the
end of the previous page. I have used hard breaks, I have put in hard returns
to seperate the previous material from the new material, but it is not the
material that is taking on the new formatting of the next section, but the
page break itself. (As is shown when showing "hidden characters".

 

[Jay Freedman]

Don't use page breaks or hard returns -- as you've found, it's impossible to
solve the problem when they're used.

Instead, set the paragraph formatting of the heading to include "Page break
before". This is on the Line & Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog, most
easily reached by right-clicking in the heading and choosing Paragraph from
the context menu.

If all the headings that have the same style (say, Heading 1) should always
start a new page, you can modify that style to include the "Page break
before" setting. Right-click the style in the Home tab or in the Styles
pane, click Modify, check the box for "New documents based on this template"
if desired, then click the Format button and choose Paragraph.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[RKL]

Thanks Jay, that fixed my problem. I hadn't thought of the fact that all
headings of this style start new pages, so that is a good automatic fix. I
still wouldn't mind knowing why the formatting does that though, since the
page break should be invisible no matter what.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Now that I think of it, since you're using Word 2007, page breaks should work
the way you originally expected. This is different from the way Word 2003 and
earlier behaved, so I wonder if the document or the template it was based on
were created in an earlier version and brought forward.

In 2003 and earlier, the page break behaves as a character that's part of the
paragraph on the next page. When you apply shading or other visible attributes
to that paragraph, the page break shows them too.

In 2007, the default is to insert a page break with its own paragraph mark,
separate from the first paragraph on the next page. It's possible to cause the
old behavior in Word 2007, by going to Office button > Word Options > Advanced >
Layout Options and checking the option "Split apart page break and paragraph
mark". If you open an unconverted document from an earlier version, that option
will be checked. Using Office button > Convert to make the document a
2007-format document will clear all the layout options, including this one.

 

[PamC via OfficeKB.com]

In both W2003 and W2007, manual page breaks take on the style of the
following paragraph. Manual page breaks in W2007 end with returns, so you
can now the style of the break without affecting the style of the following
paragraph (which is frustratingly not true in W2003). It's not always
possible to set page break before in the style. So this info should help too.

PamC

Thanks Jay, that fixed my problem. I hadn't thought of the fact that all
headings of this style start new pages, so that is a good automatic fix. I
still wouldn't mind knowing why the formatting does that though, since the
page break should be invisible no matter what.

Don't use page breaks or hard returns -- as you've found, it's impossible to
solve the problem when they're used.

[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]