Once you set up Microsoft Word for typesetting and figure out your design—the steps covered in part 1 of this series—it’s time to set up your pages based on that design. For most books, you’ll need three different layouts:

·      the first page of a chapter

·      a left (verso) page

·      a right (recto) page

 

Dedicated typesetting programs set these up with “master pages.” Word lacks such a feature, so to set up different kinds of pages you should:

 

1. Click File --> Page Setup. On a Macintosh, click the Margins button.

 

2. Click the Layout tab. Notice that the preview shows only one page.

 

3. Under “Section start,” select “Odd page” if you want every chapter to start on the traditional odd page, or “Next page” if you’re willing to let a chapter open on a left-hand page when the preceding chapter ends on a right.

 

4. Under “Headers and footers,” put a check in the box labeled “Different odd and even” and a check in the box labeled “Different first page.” The preview now shows two pages. Hey, this is starting to look like a page layout!

 

5. Go back to the Margins tab.

 

6. Notice that you can set margin size for top and bottom and left and right. In Word 2002 or later, under “Pages,” select “Mirror margins” from the dropdown list. In Word 97, 98, 2000, or 2001, put a check in the box labeled “Mirror margins.” Now you’ll see that “Left” and “Right” have become “Inside” and “Outside.”

 

7. Set the margins. Let’s say body text is 10/12—that’s 10-point type with 12-point leading, which means 2 points of space between lines (which you set via Formatting --> Paragraph --> Indents and Spacing --> Line spacing: Exactly).

 

Let’s also say a standard page has 35 lines. That means you should calculate top and bottom margins to create a text block of 420 points (12 х 35).

 

If you’re using paper that’s 8.5"х 11" (the U.S. standard), multiply the number of vertical inches (11) by the number of points in an inch (72). From the figure you get—792 points in this case—subtract the figure for your text block (420 points) and then divide the result (372 points) by 2 (because you need both a top and a bottom margin). Set the top margin to 186 points and the bottom margin to 186 points to center the block on the page. (If you prefer a larger margin on the bottom, subtract points from the top and add them to the bottom until you get the look you want.)

 

If you’re mathematically inclined, this calculation equates to [(11 х 72)– (35 х 12)] ÷ 2. So here’s the formula, which you should be able to apply in any situation:

 

 

<[(Paper length in units х Points per unit) – (Lines х Leading point size)]

<÷ 2

 

8. After setting margins, click the OK button to put your decisions into effect.

When you set margins and line spacing in this way, page bottoms and lines of type will align, giving pages a professional look.

 

Adding Other Specs

“But what about headings?” you ask. “And block quotations? Won’t they throw things off?”

 

Yes, they will. One way to solve the problem is to make sure headings, block quotations, and other elements have the same leading as body text—or multiples of that leading. As Robert Bringhurst explains in his book The Elements of Typographic Style (p. 38):

 

If the main text runs 11/13, intrusions to the text should equal some multiple of 13 points: 26, 39, 52, . . . and so on. . . . If you happen to be setting a text 11/13, subhead possibilities include the following:

 

·               subheads in 11/13 small caps, with 13 pt above the head and 13 pt below;

·               subheads in 11/13 bold u&lc [upper and lower case], with 8 pt above the head and 5 pt below, since 8 + 5 = 13;

·               one-line subheads in 14/13 italic u&lc, with 16 pt above the head and 10 pt below.

 

Those who don’t want to deal with math can choose another option. If you were setting metal type, you could insert thin strips of lead (hence the term leading for line spacing) between lines to align page bottoms thrown off by subheadings and block quotations.

 

You can do the same thing in Word by inserting carriage returns, formatted with a point size of 1, as many times as needed to force the type to the bottom of the page. Put them before and after block quotations and even between paragraphs if you have to, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible.

 

Creating Headers and Footers

Your pages aren’t finished until you’ve set up headers and footers to help readers keep track of where they are. To set them up:

 

1. Click View --> Header and Footer. You’ll find your cursor in the Header pane, with a toolbar that lets you do various things. To see what a button does, point at it with your mouse and let the pointer sit a few seconds until the explanatory ToolTip appears.

 

2. Omit a header on your first page (labeled “First Page Header”), which will be the opening page of your chapter and thus doesn’t need a running head. To do this, click the button to Switch between Header and Footer.

 

3. You’re now in the footer (labeled “First Page Footer”) of your chapter’s opening page. Insert a page number by clicking the Insert Page Number button (for pages in front matter, you can also click the Format Page Number button and set your numbering to use Roman numerals.)

 

4. Decide whether you want the page number on the left, center, or right of your page and make it so using Format --> Paragraph --> Alignment.

 

5. Move to the next page by clicking the Show Next button. This will take you to the next page’s footer (labeled “Even Page Footer”). Since you previously set up your document to have different first, left, and right pages, you’ll need to insert another page number here; numbering won’t just continue from the first page. Again, format the number as left, center, or right. Since this is an even (and therefore left, or verso) page, you may want to put the page number on the left.

 

6. Repeat step 5 for the footer on the next page, which will be a right-hand (recto) page. You may want to put the page number on the right.

 

7. Move to the previous page’s header (verso; labeled “Even Page Header”) by clicking the Show Previous button and then the button to Switch between Header and Footer. Type the text of your header into the Header pane. In book publishing, items that are more inclusive go on the left; items that are less inclusive go on the right. A few options:

 

Left                             Right

Author name               Chapter title

Book title                    Part title

Part title                     Chapter title

 

8. Again, the easiest way to put the running head on the left, center, or right of the page is to click Format --> Paragraph --> Alignment. Since this is an even page, you may want to put the running head on the left.

 

9. Move to the next page’s header (recto) by clicking the Show Next button. Type the text of your header into the Header pane. Since this is an odd page, you may want to put the running head on the right.

 

10. Set the font and point size for your running heads and page numbers by modifying their styles under Format --> Style. You want them to match the rest of your text, right? While you’re in there, make sure they’re not set up with an automatic first-line paragraph indent.

 

11. Adjust the space between headers, text blocks, and footers by clicking the Page Setup button and the Margins tab. Then set the distance “From edge” (of the paper) of the header and footer. Getting this right may take some experimentation, but when you’re finished, your pages should look pretty good.

 

12. Click the Close button to get back to your document text.

 

To see your handiwork, click View --> Print Layout and set View --> Zoom to Whole Page. Wow! Note that your folios (page numbers) and running heads are automatically repeated on successive pages.

 

You’ll need to repeat this whole procedure for each chapter, and if all your chapters are in one document, you’ll need to separate them with section breaks (Insert --> Break --> Next Page).

 

After inserting a section break, always turn off “Link to previous” for both header and footer (View --> Header and footer --> Link to previous [fourth icon from the left]). To move from header to footer, click the “Switch between header and footer” button (third icon from the left). Again, turn off “Link to previous.” That means you’ll need to insert folios and running heads separately for each section. It’s a pain, but it’s the only way to make sure Word does exactly what you want it to.

 

Next time: Setting type.

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