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Create Sections and Columns

Learning Outcomes

· Customize the status bar

· Insert section breaks

· Format text in columns

Dividing a document into sections allows you to format each section of the document with different page layout settings. A  section  is a portion of a document that is separated from the rest of the document by section breaks.  Section breaks  are formatting marks that you insert in a document to show the end of a section. Once you have divided a document into sections, you can format each section with different column, margin, page orientation, header and footer, and other page layout settings. By default, a document is formatted as a single section, but you can divide a document into as many sections as you like.  You insert a section break to divide the document into two sections, and then format the text in the second section in two columns. First, you customize the status bar to display section information.

Steps

Quick Tip

Use the Customize Status Bar menu to turn on and off the display of information in the status bar.

1. 1

Right-click the status bar, click Section on the Customize Status Bar menu that opens (if it is not already checked), then click the document to close the menu

The status bar indicates the insertion point is located in section 1 of the document.

2. 2

Click the Home tab, then click the Show/Hide ¶ button  in the Paragraph group

Turning on formatting marks allows you to see the section breaks you insert in a document.

3. 3

Place the insertion point before the heading General Considerations, click the Layout tab, then click the Breaks button in the Page Setup group

The Breaks menu opens. You use this menu to insert different types of section breaks. See  Table 4-1 .

Table 4-1

Types of Section Breaks

section	function
Next page	Begins a new section and moves the text following the break to the top of the next page
Continuous	Begins a new section on the same page
Even page	Begins a new section and moves the text following the break to the top of the next even-numbered page
Odd page	Begins a new section and moves the text following the break to the top of the next odd-numbered page

Quick Tip

A section break stores the formatting information for the preceding section.

4. 4

Click Continuous

Word inserts a continuous section break, shown as a dotted double line, above the heading. When you insert a section break at the beginning of a paragraph, Word inserts the break at the end of the previous paragraph. The section break stores the formatting information for the previous section. The document now has two sections. Notice that the status bar indicates the insertion point is in section 2.

5. 5

Click the Columns button in the Page Setup group

The columns menu opens. You use this menu to format text using preset column formats or to create custom columns.

6. 6

Click More Columns to open the Columns dialog box

7. 7

Select Two in the Presets section, click the Spacing down arrow twice until 0.3" appears as shown in  Figure 4-3 , then click OK

Figure 4-3Columns Dialog Box

Section 2 is formatted in two columns of equal width with .3" of spacing between, as shown in  Figure 4-4 . Formatting text in columns is another way to increase the amount of text that fits on a page.

Figure 4-4Continuous Section Break and Columns

Quick Tip

When you delete a section break, you delete the section formatting of the text before the break. That text becomes part of the following section, and it assumes the formatting of that section.

8. 8

Click the View tab, click the Multiple Pages button in the Zoom group, scroll down to examine all four pages of the document, press [Ctrl][Home], then save the document

The text in section 2—all the text below the continuous section break—is formatted in two columns. Text in columns flows automatically from the bottom of one column to the top of the next column.

Changing Page Layout Settings for a Section

Dividing a document into sections allows you to vary the layout of a document. In addition to applying different column settings to sections, you can apply different margins, page orientation, paper size, vertical alignment, header and footer, page numbering, footnotes, endnotes, and other page layout settings. For example, if you are formatting a report that includes a table with many columns, you might want to change the table’s page orientation to landscape so that it is easier to read. To do this, you would insert a section break before and after the table to create a section that contains only the table, and then you would change the page orientation of the section that contains the table to landscape. If the table does not fill the page, you could also change the vertical alignment of the table so that it is centered vertically on the page. To do this, use the Vertical alignment list arrow on the Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

To check or change the page layout settings for an individual section, place the insertion point in the section, then open the Page Setup dialog box. Select any options you want to change, click the Apply to list arrow, click This section, then click OK. When you select This section in the Apply to list box, the settings are applied to the current section only. When you select This point forward, the settings are applied to the current section and all sections that follow it. If you select Whole document in the Apply to list box, the settings are applied to all the sections in the document. Use the Apply to list arrow in the Columns dialog box or the Footnote and Endnote dialog box to change those settings for a section.