9 Page design

This chapter shows you how to:

There are many similarities between the ways pages are set up and managed in RISC OS and Windows, but at the few points where they diverge separate instructions are given for each platform.

Paper size and printable area

One of the most important options which you need to define for every worksheet is the page size and printable area. This will ensure that you can print it correctly.

Setting up paper size

The end result of most documents which you create will be a printed document. In order to ensure that all your documents print out correctly first time on your printer, without text being lost off the edge of pages, you should read the following sections.

If the page and margin sizes that Fireworkz uses on-screen do not match those of your printer driver, you may have problems when you try to print your document.

The key thing to remember is that if you attempt to print a document at full size on a piece of paper smaller than that it has been designed for, or using a printer which can only print a smaller area, you will not get the full page on the piece of paper.

Setting paper size

To set the paper size for a worksheet or document, choose Paper from the Page menu. The Paper dialogue box will be displayed.

To choose the paper size, either click on one of the pre-defined paper size buttons, or the Read printer button in the dialogue box. On RISC OS this option is only available if a printer driver is loaded on the icon bar, but if it is you should use it as it will ensure that your document is laid out correctly for use with your printer, as described above.

The name of the paper chosen appears in the Paper name writable field. Its size details and the margins needed to define the printable area appear below.

Custom page sizes

Perhaps the size of paper or page you want to use is not included on a button. In this case you will need to create a custom paper size. You can create paper up to any size, but you will not be able to print a page larger than your printer can handle.

To create a custom paper size:

  1. Open the Paper dialogue box.
  2. Click the None button, then enter the height and width of the paper (in the specified units) in the appropriate writable fields. You can either type directly into the writable fields or click the up or down arrow buttons to increase or decrease the amount shown in each.
  3. Enter the top, bottom, left and right margins needed to ensure that you do not try to print on an area larger than your printer can cope with.
  4. Click the Apply button. Your document will appear laid out on the paper size you have defined.

Remember, you can use any of the paper sizes defined by your printer driver by selecting them and clicking on the Read printer button.

Paper orientation

You can prepare documents in either portrait (tall) or landscape (wide) orientation. As worksheets often have more columns than will fit on a portrait page, you may want to choose landscape orientation. Letters, on the other hand, are usually more suited to portrait orientation.

To set the orientation of the paper:

  1. Open the Paper dialogue box.
  2. Select either the Portrait or the Landscape option.
  3. Click Apply.

Paper margins

The margins set up in the Paper dialogue box define the area in which you could place text if you wanted to. They provide the limits of the printable area. On screen you will see that the area beyond the printable area is shown in light grey, and you will be unable to place text or pictures there.

Entries are shown for top, bottom, left and right margins. You can increase or decrease the margins using the arrows.

If your document is to be printed double-sided and/or bound up, you should consider setting an extra Binding margin to take account of the space used up by the binding. This will ensure that an adequate space is left for the binding and that your text will not disappear into the binding.

To set a Binding margin:

  1. Check the amount of space you need to use for the binding you are using. For example, an A4 ring binder will typically need a binding margin of 10mm.
  2. Go to the Binding area on the Paper dialogue box. Enter the binding margin you want in the Margin box, by typing it in or clicking on the arrow keys.
  3. If your worksheet has left and right pages, click the Alternate option button to swap the binding margin over so that it is on the bound side (the gutter) of both odd and even pages.

Printing the row and column borders

You may need to print the row and column headings on your page, for example if you have been working with the spreadsheet as an educational exercise and need to show what you have done.

To print these borders:

  1. Display the Paper dialogue box.
  2. Increase the size of the Column margin entry to about 8mm and the Row margin entry to around 10mm.
  3. Click Apply. The borders will then appear on the paper on screen and when you print the worksheet.

Forcing page breaks

To start a new page, do this:

  1. Place the caret in a cell in the row which you want to be the first on the new page.
  2. Choose Pages from the Page menu. Click the New button in the dialogue box which appears.
  3. Click Apply in the Page dialogue box which appears.
  4. A new page will be started.

Headers and footers

You can add headers and footers to the pages of your worksheet document easily. In fact, if you turn on Full display using the View control dialogue box, you will see that there is space for a header and footer automatically provided on each page.

If your document has left and right pages, your headers and footers can be set up to take this into account, so that, for example, page numbers always appear on the outside corner of pages. You can also specify that the header or footer is different on the first page of the document.

Creating headers and footers

To add a header to a document:

  1. For the first header or footer in the worksheet, use the one which appears by default and edit it as necessary. For subsequent ones, create a page break and specify new header/footer. All headers and footers are attached to a home page, which you must choose from the Pages dialogue box in order to edit them.
  2. Put the caret in the header or footer, and type in the text you want.
  3. Each worksheet has a style called BaseHeadFoot already defined. This is automatically applied to all headers and footers. If you wish you can use the Style editor to make changes to the text style and justification.

The process for adding footers is identical; the margin is the gap between the bottom of the main text and the bottom of the printable area, and the footer offset is the gap between the bottom of the footer and the bottom of the printable area.

Adding opposing headers and footers to your document

If your worksheet has left and right pages you may want your headers and footers to reflect this, so that text and page numbers appear in the outer corners of the bound pages.

To set up alternating headers:

  1. Create the header and/or footer on the first page; this will usually be a right-hand page.
  2. Choose Pages from the Page menu.
  3. Select the Page 1 entry and click Change in the Pages dialogue box which appears.
  4. Click the option button for Even header or Even footer, as required. You can alter the margin and offset settings; they will first appear identical to the original header and footer.
  5. Go to an even numbered page in your document and type in the text for the new header or footer.
  6. Create a new header or footer style based on the BaseHeadFoot style, adding the tabs and other style features you want to use. Call it something like Left Header.

The two headers will automatically appear on opposing pages throughout the document.

Using multiple headers and footers within a document

You can set up as many different headers and footers as you need to use in your document; the limit is the number of pages. All headers and footers are associated with a page, where the caret was in the document when they were created. Usually they will also be associated with a page break, either at the start of a document or the start of new chapters.

To add a different header or footer to a page:

  1. Create a new header or footer there using the Pages dialogue box.
  2. Click the New button in the Pages dialogue box.
  3. Enter the header or footer margin details in the Page dialogue which then appears.
  4. Type in your new header or footer text on the page where the new header or footer appears.

If you have more than one header or footer set up you can choose which you use on each page using the Pages dialogue box. This presents a list of options; each header or footer is listed by the number of the page it was first set up on.

  1. Go to the page you want to choose a header or footer for.
  2. Display the list of page entries by choosing Pages from the Page menu.
  3. Click on the one you want to use in the list which appears.
  4. Click OK.
  5. The chosen header will appear on the page.

Using different headers or footers on the first page

You may want to have a different header or footer on the first page of your document, or any other header home page, perhaps because it is the title page of the document or chapter. To use a different header on the first page:

  1. Choose Pages from the Page menu.
  2. Choose the home page you want from the menu and click the Change button.
  3. Turn on First header or First footer, and enter the required margin and offset values.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Now go to the page and add the text you want for your first header or footer.

This works on both the first page of the document and any page which is the home page for headers or footers.

Repositioning headers and footers

You can reposition your headers and footers on the page using the Pages dialogue box:

  1. Choose Pages from the Page menu.
  2. Select the header or footer you want to change from the list in the Pages dialogue box. Click the Change button.
  3. The Page dialogue box will be displayed and you can change the values entered for the margin and offset, and whether or not the headers and footers alternate.

Editing header and footer text

You can edit header and footer text on any page on which it appears.

To edit the text:

  1. Place the caret at the place where you want to start editing.
  2. Replace the text or add new text in the usual way.

This process will change the header or footer on all the pages where it appears.

Numbering pages

One of the most usual uses for headers and footers is to add page numbers to documents.

Automatic page numbers

To add a page number to text:

  1. Place the caret where you want the page number to appear on your page, for example in the footer.
  2. Display the Inserts sub-menu from the Extra menu.
  3. Choose Page #. The Insert page number dialogue box will appear.
  4. Select the page number format you want from the list and click Insert.
  5. The page number will appear in your document in the format you chose.

x- and y-Pages

Pages are usually numbered down the y-axis, i.e. down the document.

Spreadsheets are often wider than they are long. You may find that your worksheet documents have pages which go across as well as down. These are referred to as x-pages.