Section Break Question--Word 2003

[Joe McGuire]

I have a problem with section breaks in a Word 2003 document. I want the
section break/next page to use different formatting for the next page, such
as page orientation, changing page numbering, etc. This seems to work fine
in one document, with all the pages showing up properly in the printer
preview and printing as expected. But in a second, very similar companion
document, the same section breaks seem to be giving me a blank page
following each. Not the biggest problem but an embarassment since I have to
forward this to clients quickly for their review. I suspected possible
corruption so I tried copying all but the last paragraph to a clean
document but this made no difference.

 

[Stefan Blom]

The fact that you are seeing blank pages suggests that you should change the
"Section start" setting for the affected section. Place the insertion point
in the section, and click File | Page Setup. On the Layout tab, make sure
that "New page" is chosen (you don't want "Odd page" or "Even page").

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks, Stefan. In each instance of such a section break/next page setting
the insertion point just ahead of the first characters on the (next) page
show it as New Page. I uinchecked Different first page, which is my typical
setting for any document, but it makes no difference. I get an extra blank
page both when I print and use Print Preview. I cannot discern any
difference between the two documents--the one with and the similar one
without the problem--even when using Reveal Formatting.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Are you, by any chance, restarting page numbers in the "problem" document?
Note that if Word encounters an odd page number, and you have enabled
"Different odd and even" and/or "Mirror margins," page 1 will always appear
on an odd (right-hand) page.

 

[Joe McGuire]

The section breaks are meant to add individual single pages to a main
document without having them show any page numbers. As far as I know I did
not restart the numbering. For each new section no page numbering appears
on the second page--the first is the rogue blank one and I have checked
Different first page. Different Odd and Even is not checked.

 

[DeanH]

Does the paragraph immediately following as ection break have the Paragraph
attribute "Page Break Before" applied? This can be found under Format,
Paragraph, Line & Page Breaks tab.
If so, uncheck this attritbute.

Hope this helps
DeanH

 

[DeanH]

Please ignore the previous posting, the Page Break Before will cause the
effect you are seeing.
Go to one of the offending section breaks, select one paragragh before and
continue to a paragraph beyond the break. So you have selected "around and
including" the break, go to Page Setup, Layout. What does the Section Start:
option say? Or is it blank? If it is balnk or does not say New Page, select
New Page, OK.
If it is New Page, maybe try changing to Odd Page, and then back to New Page.

Hope this helps
DeanH

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you want to, I could take a look at the document (or relevant parts of
it). Send it to (e-mail address removed).

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks. I sent a copy. Meanwhile, I decided to take a few steps back.
Working on the theory that the document was somehow corrupted I deleted all
the extra pages and sections and then copied all but the last few (empty)
paragraphs to a blank document. I then added the section breaks and extra
pages one at a time. After fixing up some styles disconnects and page
numbering, the Result: No blank pages! My guess: either (1) My initial try
at copying all but the last few paragraphs to a blank document might have
copied some type of corruption; or (2) Word was having a bad day.
Explanation 2 is hardly high tech but #1 is hardly much better! Problem
bypassed, if not exactly solved.

 

[Stefan Blom]

I'm glad you got it sorted.

The first time you tried copying to a new file, did you remember to delete
the section breaks? If you didn't, you may have copied the corruption as
well (contained in one or more of the section breaks).

 

[Joe McGuire]

No, I did not. That might explain how the possible corruption followed the
first time. The second time I copied the file I did not include the section
breaks and everything worked fine. Thanks for your help and patience.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Thank you for the follow-up.

Also, a quick look at the documents you sent me seems to confirm the
suspicions that this was a case of document corruption.