Text Layout
The layout of the text section of a page is defined on the Page tab in the Page Style window.
From the Format menu, choose Styles and Formatting.
Click the Page Styles icon at the top of the Styles and Formatting window.
Right-click the page style you wish to modify and select Modify.
Click the Page tab.
Note that under the heading Margins, only the text section is defined, headers and footers are placed into the margin areas. From the Page tab, you can also select the page layout: Right and Left, Mirrored, Only Right, or Only Left. If your document is to be organized like a book, you should select Mirrored. Unless it is a prescribed requirement, it is considerably easier to stick with a single-page layout as a double-page layout calls for additional complexities.
Figure 6: Setting text layout using the Page tab. {#figure-6-setting-text-layout-using-the-page-tab}
Headers and Footers
Headers and footers are placed in the margin area of the page using the Header and Footer tabs in the Page Style window. The process is exactly the same whether you are setting a header or a footer. For an example, we will show you how to set the same footer that is used in this document.
To achieve this look, you need a bottom margin of 0.79 inches with a footer for indicating the page number and documents name. You'll need spacing of 0.20 inches between the text layout and the footer. For flexibility, we'll set the size of the footer to automatically adjust depending on the font size you use.
Specify a bottom margin of 0.79 inches (see the Text Layout section for more detailed instructions). This sets a spacing of 0.79 inches between the bottom of the page and the bottom of the footer box.
Click the Footer tab.
Check the Footer on box.
If you are using a Mirrored page layout, be sure to uncheck the Same content left/right box.
Enter 0.20 in the Spacing field. This sets the spacing between the bottom of the text layout and the top of the footer box.
Check AutoFit height in the Height field. The height of the footer box will change to exactly fit the font size you use in the footer.
Click OK.
igure 7: Inserting a footer.
Controlling Text Flow
The whole text flow of a document should be controlled through the Text body paragraph style or one of its successors.
From the Format menu, choose Styles and Formatting.
Click the Paragraph Styles icon at the top of the Styles and Formatting window.
Right-click the Text body style and select Modify.
Click the Text Flow tab.
Check the Automatic hyphenation box. This sets Writer to automatically hyphenate words rather than pushing a whole word to the next line.
Check the Orphan control box and select at least 2 lines from the drop-down menu. This prevents a single line of a paragraph from being placed at the start or end of a page. Setting orphan control to 2 lines ensures that at least 2 lines of a longer paragraph are placed at the bottom of a page. Otherwise, the paragraph starts at the next page.
Figure 8: Controlling text flow.