Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, USA |

How to Create a Word 2007 Template that has Different First Page Margins

April 29th, 2008 | by Loren |

Paul asked:

In Word 2007, is there a way to create a template that has a certain margin on the 1st page but then a different margin on all other pages? I need this to work so that when I finish typing on page 1 (even in mid-paragraph) the text will continue on page 2 but in a different margin set up. Thanks.

Here’s a way to do this, which involves headers and footers, but does not use margins or section breaks. It uses the header and footer space to define top and bottom margins. If the left and right margins need to be wider than the rest of the document, you’ll do that by adding borderless text boxes to the first page header that will define the left and/or right margins.

Set a Different First Page

  1. Start with a blank Word document.
  2. Change the Margins (Page Layout tab, Page Setup group, Margins) to what the second page and following pages should be.
  3. Choose Edit Header. (Insert tab, Header & Footer, Header, Edit Header)
  4. In Header & Footer Tools, Design tab, Options, check Different First Page.

Create the First Page Margins

You are not really setting margins, you’re manipulating other Word features to act like margins.

Top and Bottom Margins

  1. Go into the header or footer on the first page.
  2. Change the top or bottom margins.
    • The quick way is to push your Enter key as many times as you need to create the distance for the margin spacing – turn on the Ruler and watch the left side ruler to get the distance close to what you
      want. Remember that by default the header or footer starts one-half inch from the edge of the page, so if you need a 2 inch top margin, the header will be 1.5 inches tall.

    • The more precise way would be to change the Paragraph Spacing (Home tab, Paragraph group, Paragraph dialog box). Paragraph Spacing appears measured in points, but you can type in 1″ or 1.5″ and Word will convert it to points for you (36 points is one-half inch, 72 points is one inch, 144 points would be two inches). Set the After spacing to whatever distance you need. To increase the bottom margin, set the Before: paragraph spacing for the footer.

Left and Right Margins

If you need the left or right margins wider, insert a borderless, empty text box into the header of the first page. If you need both the left and right margins wider, you’ll add two text boxes, one for each side.

  1. In the header on the first page, in the Insert tab, Text group, Text Box, Draw Text Box.
  2. Click and drag to draw the text box from the header all the way down to the footer.
  3. Right-click on the text box, choose Format Text Box. In the Colors & Lines tab, set the Line Color to none, to get rid of the border on the text box.

  4. If you know you want the left margin to be two inches wide, go into the Size tab and set the Text Box Width to two inches. Position the text box at the very edge of the page and the text box will create the look of a two inch left margin.

  5. In the Text Box Tools, Format tab, Arrange group, Text Wrapping, set the wrapping to Square.
  6. If you need to change the right margin, could copy and paste the text box you just created, and move it to the right side of the page.
  7. Close out of the header or footer on the first page.

Extras

  • If you want a header or footer or page numbering on the second page and beyond, you can create a second page (insert a page break, Ctrl + Enter) and add the header, footer or page numbering. Delete the page break, and the header, footer or page numbering will show up when your text flows on to the second page.
  • Make any other changes now, like font style or size.
  • Save the file as a template (Office button, Save As, Word Template).

Your first page text will stay inside what you put into the header/footer, so it will look like the margins are different. As your text fills the first page and flows onto the second page, the document will go back to the real margins you set. If you added a page number or header or footer for the second page, that will show up, too.

The graphic below shows a zoomed out view of a document with 2″ “margins” on all sides, using text boxes on the left and right and a larger header and footer at the top and bottom.



Popularity: 11% [?]

You might also want to look at:

`

  1. 12 Responses to “How to Create a Word 2007 Template that has Different First Page Margins”

  2. By Elise on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    Edit: “What happen? I can get to page 2…”
    to
    “What happen? I can’t get to page 2…”

  3. By Elise on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    Loren. Yep a text box or even a table (no borders) for the body would fix this tab thing. Here’s the problem, you and I could find a whole bunch of different ways to make it work but….. Unfortunately the common user we make these templates for are very easily confused (and they often hate using my best friend the “show/hide paragraph and formatting marks” I call it the squiggly). Putting a text box on the first page will result in a “What happen? I can get to page 2…” I’ve tried putting a different margin within the Header of page 2 and select this point forward, then different first page again (because I already have a real different first page) Wow that worked great but inserted a section page break, darn. So, when I delete all that, just to have page 1 as a template = big mess and different margin gone because it needs that section break etc. So back to your initial suggestion with the text box (which was my initial best solution as well) and tried various ways of wrapping and absolute position of the text box to paragraph, margin etc.. Nope that doesn’t work. BTW your text box absolute position should be to the page and not to move with text or else when “they” (the user) change the margins to (let’s say the template has margins to .75″) 1″ it will move the text box as well. Ayayaye, the best solution, unless a miracle happens, is to keep the text box margin solution and have the users deal with the imperfect visual of tabs. Now let’s all cross our fingers for a miracle.

  4. By Loren on Aug 12, 2009 | Reply

    Hi Elise – I tried it with tabs set on the first page and had exactly the same problem you did. It seems to be happening because of using the text boxes for the margins.
    A couple options come to mind. You could lay out the body text in a big text box or in a table. Just tried it with a full-page text box and was able to set tabs within it that worked. Depending on the layout, you could maybe bypass using a text box for the margin, and use it to position the content.
    Hope this helps – please post with the solution you find, Elise, it will be interesting to hear what works for you1

  5. By Elise on Aug 11, 2009 | Reply

    Hello Loren, I landed here because I need exactly that (a different left margin on first page “Letter head with side bar”). I already had exactly what you described except my blank text box was on my first page instead of my first page header. I moved it to the Header but it made no difference to the problem below.
    Here is the reason I was searching for a different way. Take your template described above and add some tabs to your first page. Notice how they are not really aligned from the ruler to where they actually are. That is my problem as the users (except me) are having a hard time with the fact that they can’t visually align tabs and indents.
    Any thoughts?
    Thanks.

  6. By Maria on Jul 20, 2009 | Reply

    Thanks. This worked wonderfully for me! What a great trick!!!

  7. By colby on Sep 29, 2008 | Reply

    thanks for this, i have been searching for some time now. finally, success!

  8. By Loren on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

    Hi Dina – I just tried what you are describing, and got what are probably the same results. Once you turn off mirror margins in the section after the mirror margins section, the mirror margins quit working correctly. So, is it possible for you to leave mirror margins on in the “normal” margins sections. If your “normal” margins are the same on all 4 sides, it looks like it could solve the problem.
    Let me know if that helps, Dina.

  9. By Loren on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

    Breona – Sorry to hear it didn’t work. If it’s possible for you to send a copy of your Word doc, I could take a look at it and possibly have a solution.

  10. By Breona on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

    Did anyone have the second page return to normal margins using this method? It didn’t work for me. The large header and footer spaces showed up on the second page even with “different first page” selected. Suggestions appreciated. Thanks! Breona

  11. By Dina on Sep 19, 2008 | Reply

    Hi, I kinda got how to change margin size for different pages. What I need to do is to use “normal” margins for some sections and “mirror” margins for others.
    In “Page Setup” menu it looks like to can apply different formating but in fact, the Word is changing margin set up for the whole document even though I choose “this section”. Any advice please.

    Dina

  12. By Loren on Aug 15, 2008 | Reply

    Hi Michael – One point equals 1/72 of an inch. One inch would be 72 points, .75″ would be 54 points, .5″ would be 36 points.
    Hope that helps, and good luck with your manuscript project.

  13. By Michael on Aug 15, 2008 | Reply

    I’m using Word. I need to set the margins as follows: text is to have a margin of .75″ inside and .5″ outside (My manuscript is to end up being 4″x6″ when printed). What are these measurements converted to points? Thank you, Michael

Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.

`