Pagination, Sections & Word 2002

[WinkinVan]

Hi there,

I can't seem to get the pagination right for a report with multiple
sections. The problem appears to be where I inserted newspaper columns. When
I look at the footer on the page before the columns, it identifies Section 3
and page 21. The columns are in the middle of page 21. When I then look at
the footer on the page after the columns, it identifies Section 5 and page 2.
So, as I say, the colmns (3) appear to be a separate section (#4) that is
impacting the pagination somehow.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Whenever you change the number of columns, section breaks are required, so
yes, the columns are in their own section. If this is in the middle of the
page, it doesn't have its own header and footer, which makes it harder to
access the Format Page Number command, but you can do it. With the insertion
point in the multi-column section, go to Insert | Page Numbers and click on
the Format... button. Choose "Continue from previous section" and click OK.
Back in the Page Numbers dialog, be careful to click Close rather than OK so
you don't insert a new PAGE field.

 

[WinkinVan]

Thanks Suzanne. I didn't know about the pagination issues re: columns and
section breaks. Unfortunatelyu, it hasn't fixed my problem.

What I now have is the following:

Page 21: ordinary page (section 3, footer reads -21-)

Page 22: text, text, text, etc.
Page 22: middle of page --> 3 columns (continue from previous section is
checked, Close - not OK - selected)
Page 22: text, text, text, etc.
Page 22 footer reads: -22- (section 3 in footer)

Page 23: ordinary page (section 5, footer reads -2-)

Do you have any other thoughts for me?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Click the Format Page Number button on the Header and Footer toolbar in
Section 5 and choose "Continue from previous section."

 

[WinkinVan]

Thanks for the help, Suzanne. I tried what you suggested below and found that
the correct box was already checked. The solution that I finally came up with
was transferring the data from the columns into a table, deleting all of the
sections and then replacing them. That worked.

I'm wondering if the problem might have been connected to the "Same as
Previous" marks I saw.

Oh well. The solution I have is at least good enough, though it bugs me to
not be able to figure this out.

Again, thanks.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

While "Same as Previous" is relevant to most of header/footer content, it
does not apply to numbering restarts or changes in number format, so it
should not have affected the numbering.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Adding to Suzanne's reply: The presence (absence) of a page number has to do
with content, which can be linked or unlinked to a previous header/footer.
On the other hand, the *format* of the number is a property of the section
itself (and it applies to all PAGE fields in the section). Of course, you
can modify a single PAGE field, by adding a formatting switch, but then you
have in fact changed the content.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To clarify further, you can go to Format Page Number and change the page
number format from, say, 1, 2, 3 to i, ii, iii without having to unlink the
sections. You can also restart the numbering without having to unlink the
sections. But if you want the page numbers in one section to be italic
(which I often do for lowercase roman numerals in the front matter), then
you would have to unlink the sections.

Another possibility that could have been explored here was whether the page
number was calculated. At this point we may never know, but it might have
been interesting to press Alt+F9 to reveal the underlying field code and
determine whether what was in the rogue section was a simple { PAGE } field
or something like { = { PAGE } - x } where x was the number of previous
pages.

 

[Stefan Blom]

To clarify further, you can go to Format Page Number and change the page
number format from, say, 1, 2, 3 to i, ii, iii without having to unlink the
sections. You can also restart the numbering without having to unlink the
sections. But if you want the page numbers in one section to be italic
(which I often do for lowercase roman numerals in the front matter), then
you would have to unlink the sections.

Yes, exactly, because attributes like italics are a property of the text in
the header, which can be repeated or not (via Link to Previous / Same as
Previous), while the format of the page number, or any setting in the Page
Number Format dialog box, applies to the whole section.

In a similar manner, the PAGE field itself is content; but it displays the
settings chosen for the section it is in.