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Page numbering in Word 2003

Anonymous
2010-11-16T12:54:05+00:00

I work the Help Desk at a university.  A graduate student is working on a dissertation in Word 2003.  He must following very specific rules regarding the layout of the page.  In fact, the following are rules that I have copied and pasted directly from a document called "Physical Standards for Theses and Dissertations:"

Line Spacing

Theses and dissertations must be typewritten and double spaced on one side of 8.5 x 11"paper.

Print and Type Size

Print should be black and the characters consistently clear and dense. Lower case letters must have "true descenders", e.g., y's and p's etc. must extend below the printed line.

Margins

Left margin must be 1.5 inches; top, right and bottom margins are to be 1 inch. Pages are trimmed before binding so adhering to these requirements are crucial.

Footnotes

Footnotes may be placed at the bottom of each page or at the end of the document.

Page Numbering

Each page must be numbered consecutively in the upper right corner of each page without going beyond the margins. Page numbers must be 1 inch from the top of page. Pages preceding text such as copyright page, abstract, dedication, etc. may be numbered using Roman Numerals.

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The issue the student is having is with the page numbering and the margins.  The left margin must be 1.5" whereas the top, right, and bottom margins are 1".  The page numbering "rules" clearly state that:

"Each page must be numbered consecutively in the upper right corner of each page without going beyond the margins. Page numbers must be 1 inch from the top of page."

Both the user and I are unsure of how to number the pages without the page numbers ending up on, say, the first line of text.  For example, the concern is that the top of a page may look like this:

and that is where medicine becomes an issue for a parent. 25

'Course '25' is the page number.  The bottom line question here is this:

Can the pages be numbered in such a way that they are within the margins required yet not on the same line as the first line of text?

I would greatly appreciate ANY help that can be offered.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2010-11-16T18:37:17+00:00

    Ah yes, probably the ones where you had to choose "high quality" instead of "draft" or

    "standard" to get multiple passes per line. Thankfully, that memory has faded a bit.


    Jay Freedman

    MS Word MVP  FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-11-16T14:31:35+00:00

    The instructions have been updated slightly from the typewriter age: "Lower

    case letters must have "true descenders", e.g., y's and p's etc. must extend

    below the printed line" suggests a very early dot matrix printer.


    Suzanne S. Barnhill

    Microsoft MVP (Word)

    Words into Type

    Fairhope, Alabama USA

    http://word.mvps.org

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  3. Jay Freedman 207.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2010-11-16T13:26:40+00:00

    Those rules were obviously written in the age of the typewriter (cf. "Theses and dissertations must be typewritten") and would have been clear to a typist: You type the page number at the top margin

    (1" from the top of the paper), double-space by hitting the return handle (which would have already been set to double-spacing), and start the first line of the text. Assuming the usual typewriter

    font size of 6 lines per inch, that puts the first line of text 1.33" from the top of the paper.

    In Word, the "top margin" indicates where the first line of text goes, and that's different from the 1" top margin envisioned by your antiquated instructions. For your paper, in the Page Setup dialog

    set the top margin to 1.33", then go to the Layout tab and set the header to 1". Set the Normal style to use a 10 pt font size and Double line spacing.


    Jay Freedman

    MS Word MVP  FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-16T13:22:44+00:00

    Place the page number in the Header, not in the body of the document, so will not be affected by the body content.

    For some useful tips on what can be done with Header (& Footers) see

    http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/HeaderFooter.htm

    Also see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/NumberingFrontMatter.htm for details on how to have different Headers and Footers, etc. in one document. This will allow for the different numbering of the front matter. As per the option in the instructions.

    DeanH

    All the best

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  5. HansV 462.6K Reputation points
    2010-11-16T13:20:40+00:00

    Select File | Page Setup...

    Activate the Layout tab.

    In the Headers and footers section, set the Header distance from the edge to 1".

    The body text will automatically be pushed down so that it won't collide with the header.

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