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Toolbox for WordPerfect

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 Page updated Aug 8, 2019

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Page numbering "outside" the margins: Simulating page numbering outside the document's normal top and bottom page margin guidelines


Related pages -

• For basic page numbering information and several related items on this site, see Page Numbering in WordPerfect.

• Headers, Footers, and Watermarks - how to start, stop, change, replace, delay, overlay, and remove them

 I. Overview
WordPerfect considers everything inside the four page margin guidelines to be part of a page.

¤  Current page margin settings are represented on screen with dotted guidelines around the main editing area. The guidelines are visible when View, Guidelines, Margins is enabled (except when you are using File, Print Preview mode).

Since you normally cannot type anything outside margin guidelines (with the exception of using a text box or graphic box positioned in those areas) you also cannot normally set up automatic page numbers there.
¤  A little clarification here might be in order:

To WordPerfect users, the common phrase "outside the margins" indicates the areas that were (and still are) referred to as "in the margin" when talking about the printed page -- i.e., the area adjacent to the outside edges of the page (the hatched border area /////// shown in this example).

But because we need to reference where content can normally appear in WordPerfect, we typically use the abbreviated phrase "inside the margins" to mean anything within the rectangular area defined by all four page margin guidelines. Everythingl else is "outside" the margins.

But you can easily simulate this "outside the margins" page numbering effect with a little extra formatting to relocate the page numbers to your exact specification.

¤  For some advantages of this method see Footnote 1 below.

II. Two examples

In the examples below -- one for page numbers inside Headers, the other for numbers inside Footers -- it is assumed you need to achieve the following page-numbering layouts and dimensions using a typical paper size of 8.5" x 11.0". These dimensions can, of course, be adjusted to suit your needs.

Tip: Bear in mind that WordPerfect has two "flavors" (A and B) of both headers and footers, which can overlap, so you can use (e.g.) one header for the page number (plus any desired text or graphics) and use the other header for other things.

Example A (Headers)  [See "how to" instructions below]

•  The page number is set 0.3" down from the top edge of the page (be sure your printer can print this close to the edge!).

•  The page number is set inward 0.5" from the right edge of the page.

•  All document body text is 1.5" down from the top edge of the page.

•  Header B is used for the page number (you can use either Header for the number; choosing Header B is merely the author's preference).

Result: Screen shot of a page using these dimensions (using a header with page numbering in the header area).

Note the page guidelines at 0.3" down from the top edge of the page and 0.5" from the right edge; this sets the page numbering as required in this example. Visually, they will appear to be outside the normal 1.0" margins.

Also, the body text is set at 1.5" from the top of each page. (Left and right page margins are indented in this sample screen shot to emphasize the new header dimensions. The bottom page margin is set at the default of 1.0".)

Example B (Footers)  [See "how to" instructions below]

•  The page number is set 0.3" up from the bottom edge of the page (be sure your printer can print this close to the edge!).

•  The page number is set inward 0.5" from the right edge of the page.

•  All document body text is 1.5" up from the bottom edge of the page.

•  Footer B is used for the page number (you can use either Footer for the number; choosing Footer B is merely the author's preference).

III. Here's how to do it

Tip: You can save the results of these steps -- i.e., the format codes produced -- as a QuickWord for a quick and easy setup in the future.

First things first:

•  Since we will be putting page numbers inside a header (or footer) you need to disable normal page numbering at the top of the document with Format, Page, Numbering. In the Position field, choose "No Page Numbering". If you don't do this you probably will get duplicate page numbers on every page as described here.

•  Open the Reveal Codes window with View, Reveal Codes.

•  Ensure that View, Toolbars, Property Bar is checked (i.e., enabled) so that property bars are visible.

•  Ensure that View, Guidelines, Margins -- and also Header/Footer -- are enabled.
(A) For Headers [for Footers see section (B)]
[1] Go to the very top of the document (or the top of the page where you wish to start such numbering).

(In Reveal Codes, if there is a [Top Mar] code already set you may want to place your cursor to the right of it so the new margin settings will supersede the existing ones.)

[2] Page margins:

Click Format, Margins and set the top page margin upward to the location where the top of the page number characters should appear; in our example, it is 0.3", but it can be any amount as long as the printer can print in that area. Click OK.
(Alternative: You can also drag the margin guideline upward if you have enabled View, Guidelines, "Drag to move guidelines" -- and also enabled the Margins setting in the Guidelines dialog.)

[3] Header margins:

Immediately after setting the top page margin -- i.e., after the new [Top Mar] margin code -- click Insert, Header/Footer; choose Header B, then click Create. Your cursor should now be inside Header B. [For more on headers and footers see here.]

You can now extend the Header's right margin to the desired amount. For this example set it to 0.5" from the right edge of the page with Format, Margins, Right, 0.5", OK. A new [Rgt Mar] code will appear in Reveal Codes, and the right header guideline will now extend past the right page margin by 0.5".

[4] Page numbering:

Next (while still in the header). click on Format, Line, Flush Right. Add any desired text, such as: "Page " (note the space after "Page").

Then click Format, Page, Insert Page Number.
Here, in the Insert Page Number dialog that pops up, you can choose to insert the page number, chapter number, and/or total pages, etc. (Each selection inserts a code in the document.)

Click on Insert for the item(s) you wish to insert, then click Close.
(Alternative: On the Header/Footer property bar there is a Page Numbering button which lets you directly insert the page number, etc.)

Your cursor should still be inside the Header, positioned after the new page numbering codes. The current page numbering should be visible (e.g., "Page 1").

[5] Extra document space:

While still inside the header, click on Format, Typesetting, Advance and in the "Vertical position" section of the Advance dialog that pops up, choose "From top of page," then check (enable) the box, "Text above position," then enter a Vertical distance of 1.5". Click OK.

(Alternative: You could use the other header (Header A) as a "spacer," with or without text (though it must contain at least a space character), by setting the bottom Header margin to 1.5".

Note that headers [and footers and watermarks] overlap, so if you use text in Header A, be sure to move down a bit so that the text does not impact the page numbers in Header B.)

The Header area should have expanded downward to add the required space between the page number and the body text so that the distance from the top edge of the page and the bottom of header area will be 1.5".

One last tweak: While still inside the Header B, click the button on the Header/Footer property bar, "Header/Footer Distance." This determines the amount of separation between the Header's text and the body text. Set the Distance to zero (the default is usually 0.167", so you should remove this default or your Header will extend downward this additional amount).

[Tip: If the bottom header guideline is not visible on screen -- as in the this screen shot -- try setting the Header/Footer Distance to a tiny amount such as 0.01" instead of 0.0".]

Click OK.

[6] Finally, you can add one or more lines of text following the page number codes or, as mentioned, use Header A for this purpose.
Click outside the Header to exit back to the document.

In Reveal Codes you should see (at least) these 3 codes -
[Top Mar][Header B][Header Sep].
Tip: These codes can be saved as a QuickWord for future use. Or you can use the resulting formatting to set up a custom template.
(B) For Footers [for Headers see section (A)]
[1] Go to the very top of the document (or the top of the page where you wish to start such numbering).

(In Reveal Codes, if there is a [Bot Mar] code already set, you may want to place your cursor to the right of it so the new settings will supersede the existing ones.)

[2] Page margins:

Click Format, Margins and set the bottom page margin downward to the location where the bottom of the page number characters should appear; in this example, it is 0.3", but it can be any amount as long as the printer can print in that area. Click OK.
(Alternative: You can also drag the margin guideline downward if you have enabled View, Guidelines, "Drag to move guidelines" -- and also enabled the Margins setting in the Guidelines dialog.)

[3] Footer margins:

Immediately after setting the bottom page margin -- i.e., after the new [Bot Mar] margin code -- click Insert, Header/Footer; choose Footer B, then click Create. Your cursor should now be inside Footer B. [For more on headers and footers see here.]
You can now extend the Footer's right margin to the desired amount; for this example set it to 0.5" from the right edge of the page with Format, Margins, Right, 0.5", OK.  A new [Rgt Mar] code will appear in Reveal Codes, and the right footer guideline will now extend past the right page margin by 0.5".

[4] Page numbering:

Next (while still in the footer), click on Format, Line, Flush Right. Add any desired text, such as "Page " (note the space after "Page").

Then click Format, Page, Insert Page Number.
Here, in the dialog that pops up, you can choose to insert the page number, chapter number, and/or total pages, etc. (Each selection inserts a code in the document.)

Click on Insert for the item(s) you wish to insert, then click Close.
(Alternative: On the Header/Footer property bar there is a Page Numbering button which lets you directly insert the page number, etc.)

Your cursor should still be inside the Footer, positioned after the new page numbering codes. The current page numbering should be visible (e.g., "Page 1").
[5] Extra document space:
While still inside the footer, click the button on the Header/Footer property bar, "Header/Footer Distance." This determines the amount of separation between the Footer's text and the body text (the default is usually 0.167").

However, unlike with headers, set the Distance to 1.2" to give a total vertical "spacer" dimension of 1.5" (in this example the bottom page margin was previously set to 0.3"). Click OK.

[6] Finally, you can add one or more lines of text following the page number codes or, as mentioned, use Footer A for this purpose.

Click outside the Footer to exit back to the document.

In Reveal Codes you should see (at least) these 3 codes -
[Bot Mar][Footer B][Footer Sep].

Tip: These codes can be saved as a QuickWord for future use. Or you can use the resulting formatting to set up a custom template.

Footnote 1

Advantages to the above methods
1. These methods allow placing the page number in a header or footer at a precise position outside both the top or bottom margin and the left or right margin.

These locations can then be seen as having been set relative to the edges of the physical page. (I developed this method when a user asked how to set page numbers 0.3" from the top edge and 0.5" from the right edge of the printed page.)

 Such precise location of page numbering "outside" the margins (e.g., relative to 2 page margins at the same time) cannot ordinarily be done with "normal" page numbering (Format, Page, Numbering) because the number of positions for the numbering is limited to 10 fixed positions (Bottom Center, Bottom Right, etc.) relative to the left/right margins.

 2. You can easily adjust the vertical distance between the page numbers and the body text area with a simple setting in the header (or footer) since it will "push" the body text down (or up) a specified amount -- effectively setting a new top (or bottom) "margin" for the body text. This give you control over both page numbering and body text margins.

 3. Obviously, other material can be included in the header (or footer) beside page numbers.