Heading Height Varies

[Cordura]

I'm using Word 2000 and Windows 2000.

My headings at the tops of my pages are not always at the same heigh
(vertical position). At the top of one page, a Heading3 is at
proper-looking height, but at the top of the next page the Heading3 i
as much as 12 points lower.

These headings are preceded by page breaks on the previous pages. Th
page headers have identical content. The document is 100 pages long.

I've experimented by copying a couple of pages and pasting them in
new document. I can then correct the too-low heading by deleting th
page break before it. Yet, the other heading3, already at the correc
height, is also preceded by a page break.

I can also correct the too-low header by increasing the "space above
setting from 12 point to 24 point.

What's the real cause of this apparent inconsistency?

Thank you

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In some cases, varying top margins are caused by having vertical alignment
set to "Center" instead of "Top" (Layout tab of Page Setup). In your case,
however, the cause seems to be Space Before your headings. Space Before is
suppressed at the top of a page *except* after a page, column, or section
break. Unfortunately, this is true even if you use the "Page break before"
property in the paragraph style. Some workarounds:

1. If a given heading level will always start a new page, format the style
as "Page break before" and omit the manual page break. Then remove the Space
Before: since the heading will always be at the top of a page, you don't
need it.

2. If a given heading level sometimes starts a page and sometimes falls in
the middle of a page, leave the Space Before and avoid manual page breaks by
using "Keep with next" and "Keep lines together" to force blocks of text to
move together.

3. If you *must* use a manual page break before a heading, remove the Space
Before from the specific paragraph but not from the style.

4. There is also, in some versions of Word, a Compatibility option (Tools |
Options | Compatibility) to "Suppress Space Before after a hard page or
column break."

I would also strongly advise that you display nonprinting characters
(Ctrl+*). The variation you describe seems likely to be the result of an
intervening empty paragraph. You do not need to insert empty paragraphs to
get "blank lines" between paragraphs. This function should be accomplished
using Space Before/After applied to the appropriate style.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Sara]

In addition to all the good information Suzanne gave you,
you might want to check whether different Styles have
been applied to the page breaks themselves; I've seen
this in documents received from other users. If a page
break has a style with a lot of space before or after, it
can cause problems.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

A page break always has the same style and formatting as the paragraph it
precedes (including shading, as some have learned to their sorrow).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.