Page layout

Page layout settings apply to the whole document. The controls are on the Layout tab, with headers, footers and page numbers on the Insert tab.

Writer shows the document as one continuous sheet at your page width. Page size, margins and orientation change the sheet on screen straight away; where each page ends is worked out when you print or export.

Page size

1. On the Layout tab, click the Page size list in the Page group.
2. Choose A4, Letter, Legal, A3, A5 or Executive.

Changing the size keeps the current orientation. The list shows the size the document’s pages match. A custom paper size from Word keeps its own size until you choose another.

Orientation

Do one of these:

• On the Layout tab, in the Page group, click Switch to landscape (or Switch to portrait when the page is already landscape). The button is highlighted while the page is landscape.
• Click More (three dots) in the title bar, then Rotate the page.

Margins

1. On the Layout tab, in the Margins group, click Narrow, Normal or Wide.

Narrow margins and Normal margins are also in the More menu in the title bar.

Each button sets all four margins to the same value. Different margins on each side from a Word document are kept until you click one of these buttons.

Columns

1. On the Layout tab, click the columns list in the Columns group.
2. Choose One, Two or Three.

In a printed or exported document, text fills the first column, then moves across to the next column on the same page, then on to the next page. The space between columns comes out of the text width, not the margins.

On screen, the text is shown in one column, with a note at the top of the page — for example “Two columns. Shown here as one — the export and the print are in two.” Export a PDF to see the columns. See Printing and exporting.

Headers and footers

A header is printed at the top of every page and a footer at the bottom, in the margin.

Add or edit a header or footer

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & footer group, click the header button (Add a header — printed at the top of every page) or the footer button (Add a footer — printed at the bottom of every page). If the document already has one, the tooltip shows its text, and you can also click the Header or Footer band on the page.
2. In the Header or Footer dialog, type the text. You can use more than one line.
3. Next to Align, choose Left, Centre or Right.
4. Click Save.

The header appears in a band at the top of the page on screen, and the footer at the bottom. On screen, each band shows the header or footer as it reads on page one.

Page numbers, dates and file names

Type these tokens anywhere in a header or footer. Each becomes a Word field that keeps working when the document is opened elsewhere.

For example, Page {page} of {pages} prints “Page 3 of 11” on the third page of an eleven-page document. The total is counted after the whole document has been laid out, so it is always right in Writer’s print and export. On screen, the total is an estimate.

Put a page number in the footer

1. On the Insert tab, in the Header & footer group, click Put a page number in the footer.

The footer becomes Page {page} of {pages}, centred.

Remove a header or footer

1. Open the Header or Footer dialog as above.
2. Click Remove. The button appears only when there is text.

Saving the dialog with no text also removes the header or footer.

Headers and footers from Word documents

• A header or footer you don’t edit is saved exactly as it was, including its formatting, pictures and fields.
• If a document from Word has a different header on its first page, or different headers on odd and even pages, Writer keeps them and uses them when it prints and exports. The Header and Footer dialogs edit the main header and footer.
• The dialog shows fields that have a token as that token. Other fields show the value they last had.

Page breaks

To start the next paragraph on a new page, see Page breaks.

Background, watermarks and borders

Page colour, watermarks and a border round the page are on the Design tab. See Themes, page colour and watermarks.