Page Numbers cut off

[Timothy J. Luoma]

(New Word user here)

This is one of the reasons I've always hated Word. It's so stupid.

I told it to insert page numbers (which don't appear in the

"A footer of section 1 is set outside the
printable area of the page. Do you want to
continue?"
NO YES

How about if WORD was smart enough to NOT PUT PAGE NUMBERS OUTSIDE THE
PRINTABLE AREA?!

Or, failing that, how about if it was smart enough to offer an option FIX
rather than just NO or YES?

While we're at it, why isn't Word smart enough to show the page numbers in
the View > Page Layout format?

I'm hoping that there is an easy way for me to adjust Word's stupid and
broken way of working to fix this problem so I don't have to manually
adjust things for the rest of my life.

*sigh* My kingdom for a decent version of WordPerfect for OSX :-(

TjL

 

[Bill Weylock]

Did you try shouting at the screen?

In this case, it doesn't matter much what version of Word you're using, but
if you want more help about this, please post that in your reply.

I'm afraid the answers are all going to boil down to the fact that you have
to read and absorb basic information about setting margins and and headers
and footers before you can have anything like control or comfort over
printing.

The good news is that it's not all that hard.

Go into Page Layout view. If you don't see numbers, that's because you have
set up your page so they do not appear. Numbers are probably in your footer
from what you write, so your mission is to make sure that you have told Word
to put the footer inside the printable area of the page. Actually, I think I
agree that it should be possible for Word to specify footer spacing in
relation to the printable area you have set up instead of to the Greenwich
Mean Line.

But there are probably reasons why people with advanced layout needs want
more flexibility. And surely it's not hard to figure out what the dialog
means by "From edge?" It's the edge of the paper.

So set up your footer at least as far from the edge of the paper as the
boundary of you're printer's printable area is from the edge of the paper.

In Page Setup, by the way, be sure you have selected your actual printer
type. Many printers can go closer to the edge than the default "Any
printer".

If you experiment with this just a little, you'll get it.

The best way to check things like this is not Page Layout, although that's
pretty good. Check in Preview, which gives the closest view to what you'll
see on the printed page.

 

[Sam Elowitch]

Timothy,

You're absolutely right. This is indeed one of the truly infuriating and
stupid things about Word. But Microsoft will never fix this, ever. They're
too busy devouring other software companies and making static and expensive
bloatware.

May I suggest Mellel or OpenOffice?

-Sam

 

[JE McGimpsey]

This is one of the reasons I've always hated Word. It's so stupid.

I told it to insert page numbers (which don't appear in the

Was there something missing here?

"A footer of section 1 is set outside the
printable area of the page. Do you want to
continue?"
NO YES

How about if WORD was smart enough to NOT PUT PAGE NUMBERS OUTSIDE THE
PRINTABLE AREA?!

Which margin should it move automatically? Guaranteed: half the users
will be PO'd, whichever choice you make. Instead, Word expects you to
set margins appropriately.

Even if it did an automatic correction, placing the page numbers inside
the printable area, that could change on the fly by you choosing a
different printer driver with a different printable area when printing.
Should it then repaginate your document automatically?

In many cases, a printer driver tells Word that the headers/footers are
outside the printable area when the printer can in fact print it.
Clicking Yes produces a perfect printout. Should Word instead
automatically override your format?

Or, failing that, how about if it was smart enough to offer an option FIX
rather than just NO or YES?

Again, which of the many fixes should it offer?

While we're at it, why isn't Word smart enough to show the page numbers in
the View > Page Layout format?

It does for me in Word v.X and Word 2004, using either Insert Page
Number or inserting a Page field.

I'm hoping that there is an easy way for me to adjust Word's stupid and
broken way of working to fix this problem so I don't have to manually
adjust things for the rest of my life.

*sigh* My kingdom for a decent version of WordPerfect for OSX :-(

AFAIK, Wordperfect 3.5 still works in Classic. Other options include
OpenOffice (if you're adventurous - it's free, but it's still a work in
progress and requires using the X Window interface, and it's ugly to
boot). AbiWord is another, better, X Window WP, but it doesn't come as a
binary - you have to compile it. Better choices (i.e, OSX native apps)
include Nisus Writer Express, Mellel, and Mariner Write.

I've used all of them - they all do a decent job, have their own bugs
and "by design" flaws, and are "compatible" with Word for relatively
simple documents.

 

[incognito]

Arrogance and stupidity are growing on the same tree.
You might be better off hating yourself. I have been using Word as well as
Word Perfect, both are great programs. Is there really a real problem? Of
course not. Perhaps too much flexibility? Possible.
I am glad that people like you do not write programs for stupid people like
me. I bet most people can handle flexibility. Should programs be written
just for dummies? This could take a generation of programmeers to
accomplish.
How boring.

You wrote on 7/11/04 8:46 AM

(New Word user here)

This is one of the reasons I've always hated Word. It's so stupid.

I told it to insert page numbers (which don't appear in the

"A footer of section 1 is set outside the
printable area of the page. Do you want to
continue?"
NO YES

How about if WORD was smart enough to NOT PUT PAGE NUMBERS OUTSIDE THE
PRINTABLE AREA?!

Or, failing that, how about if it was smart enough to offer an option FIX
rather than just NO or YES?

While we're at it, why isn't Word smart enough to show the page numbers in
the View > Page Layout format?

I'm hoping that there is an easy way for me to adjust Word's stupid and
broken way of working to fix this problem so I don't have to manually
adjust things for the rest of my life.

*sigh* My kingdom for a decent version of WordPerfect for OSX :-(

TjL

(e-mail address removed)