Changing individual page layouts in a document

[SimoB]

Hi everyone.

I am trying to figure out how to edit the page layout in Writer.

I have a document that is set to A4 side all good there. However at the end of the document I have some tables set as images that I would like to have as fold out A3 size. Is it possible to create a page break and make the last pages format differently?
E.g. the last pages would be A3 Landscape so they can be folded in half and fit “inside” the document book when printed.

I seem to be going in circles trying to figure out how to accomplish this. Of course I could make a separate document that is Landscape A3 to print but I would like this to be as a combined unit when I send the document file to other people.

If what im thinking is not possible does anyone have a suggestion as to the most convenient way to achieve this?
(I don’t know, perhaps 2 separate documents with one being A4 and the other being A3 is the best way to go?)

Thanks in advance.

[Hrbrgr]

Try Page styles.

https://books.libreoffice.org/en/WG248/WG24805-FormattingPagesBasics.html

https://books.libreoffice.org/en/WG248/WG24806-FormattingPagesAdvanced.html

[ajlittoz]

Disclaimer: suggested solution is valid only if your document is saved .odt.

A page layout is defined by a page style. The principle is the same as for paragraph styles which define the geometric and typographical properties of a paragraph. A page style sets the geometry of the page (margins, header, footer, columns, background, borders, …).

A page style is applied to a sequence of pages bounded by “special” page breaks (or the ends of the document). These special page breaks are created by Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break to pop up a dialog allowing you to choose which page style to apply after the break and, optionally, to reset page number.

Presently, your document is controlled entirely by Default Page Style. You can either create your own new page style or customise a built-in one. I’ll follow the latter method.

1. display the style side-pane if not already visible (Styles>Manage Styles or F11 except under MacOS – you didn’t mention your OS)
2. click on the fourth icon from left in the style toolbar (a tooltip displays Page Styles when hovering the mouse over the icon)
3. right-click on Landscape and Edit Style
4. in Page tab, set format to A3 and adjust margins
5. if needed, go to Header and Footer tabs to enable header and footer
6. OK

You can manually Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break before the table or force the change directly in the table properties.

1. Table>Insert Table to create it
   I recommend not using so-called table styles because they aren’t really styles and won’t allow you to format your cells to your liking. Prefer style None.
2. after table creation, right-click in it and Table Properties
3. go to Text Flow tab
   You can request a Break Before with a specific page style

If there is more “ordinary” text" after the table, insert a special page break to return to Default Page Style.

PS: when asking here, always mention OS name, LO version and save format. There are differences between platforms and most recipes are only valid for .odt.

[SimoB]

Thanks so much for the advice and I have since been trying to achieve this, hence the slow reply. however in my version which is 24.8.3.2. ( I have Now updated to 24.8.4.2) When I follow your directions even after the Manual page break has been entered. When I change the page after the break to A3 it still changes the entire document to A3

I am sorry for my initial message lacking details here they are here
As stated above the Libre office version is now 24.8.4.2
I am using a Pc with Windows 11 64bit
Also I am saving in word 2010-365 Document format

[ajlittoz]

@SimoB

I am saving in word 2010-365 Document format

No luck, Word has no notion of page styles. Consequently the formatting is lost when you save the document.
Depending on your edit history, your document may be made of individual pages (one single-use "style’ per page) or a single “style”, which seems to be your fate.

If you have no external reason for .doc(x), work in .odt to avoid conversions. And even if you must deliver a .doc(x), export in such a format only when you send. And never, reimport a modified document into your .odt because Word formatting will pollute and damage it. You can eventually paste as unformatted text and reapply strict Writer formatting.

[SimoB]

ok great, so if I understand correctly,

Save in .odt and then export in .doc(x) … and never reintroduce that format once it has been modified…

So, If it change the save format to .odt then that could rescue the situation for me as I’m editing. I’ll try this solution

Thanks for the fast response as well. Much appreciate

(EDIT): I just moved to save a .odt but the closest option is .odf, I will try this and update

[keme1]

@SimoB

I just moved to save a .odt but the closest option is .odf, I will try this and update

It is the same thing, more or less.

ODF is the general definition “format family” ; Open Document Format.
The odt file type - Open Document Text - uses the “text document relevant” subset of the ODF specification.

Read more e.g. here.

[ajlittoz]

@SimoB

So, If it change the save format to .odt then that could rescue the situation for me as I’m editing. I’ll try this solution

This is not the best way because the “pollution” will still be there in the form of approximations and lots of direct formatting.

The safest and most reliable procedure is to create a blank document and paste as unformatted text the complete contents of your present .doc(x). You then reapply your formatting, preferentially as styles.

Unformatted text does not include footnotes if any nor images, drawings, etc. These must be pasted separately (as unformatted in cas of notes to avoid future problems).

[SimoB]

I thought it might be something like that.

Ok so its saved as a .odt
I added the page break as you mentioned in your first response
I edited the landscape style as you mentioned

I am still having issues

Page break is added between page 13 and 14 of 16 pages ( there are 3 pages I want to be A3 at the end of the document).

I click on page 14 (first page after the break was added) and change the page style in the “Page” tab to A3, again the entire document changes to A3

I must be doing something wrong.
General styles is still set to default page style (if I change this the entire document changes to A3)

[ajlittoz]

Attach your document to your last post. If you think it is confidential or private, mail it me by clicking on the icon left of my name, then on the Message button.

[SimoB]

Unfortunately this document is confidential and I am unable to share it due to privacy. I don’t want to sound rude in not sharing it.

I very much appreciate the time you have given me here and I will just have to keep working through it and figure it out. Perhaps I can get a colleague who is also working on the project to shed some light on what I may be doing incorrectly.

Thanks again however.

[robleyd]

@ajlittoz

Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break

@Simob From your description, it seems possible that you have merely inserted a basic manual page break rather than the special page break that can be created via the steps ajlittoz mentioned.

Assuming you have created or modified a page style to your needs, you would then go to the point in the document where you want the page style to change, and select Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break.

This will open a dialog box wherein you can select the type of break required.

Here you select Page break, and define the page style to be used after the page break, which would be the style you have previously modified or created.

[SimoB]

AHHHHHHH! wonderful there is it…

that was the issue thanks very much. I will work on the formatting now.

THanks so much again

[keme1]

It may help to work on this if you understand the background for a few areas where Writer differs from MS Word, and hence, why the advice you will find most of, out there on the “general internets”, will be wrong. (… assuming that most of the advice given - at least the advice search engines deem as “most relevant” - will be based on MS Word.)

• When you do page formatting by the menu option Format - Page style … dialog, the changes are not applied directly to the current page. They are applied to the page style which is presently activated on the current page. This is why you see your whole document change when you try to adjust that single page.
  • The solution is to use (perhaps first create, if a suitable option is not there already) a separate, named page style for the pages which need a different layout.

• A page break is a paragraph property, specifically a property of the initial paragraph of the new page. Thus, there are two equivalent paths to adding a page break:
  • As is explained above, Insert - More breaks - Manual break
  • Menu selection Format - Paragraph …
    Select tab Text flow…
    Set the break options in that dialog.

This styling strategy is a fundamental difference between Word and Writer ways (or rather between OOXML and ODF ways) and the reason why - structurally - the document file types are not compatible/translatable in this respect. It is possible to convert one to the other in a way which is - visually - identical (or at least very similar), but the structural differences are likely to cause erratic behavior once you edit your document.

If your current document was once a Word/doc(x) file, it is likely to carry some page breaks and other settings which can disturb your workflow, as @ajlittoz also previously indicated. They are not magically removed just by saving to the native Writer file format. Some cleanup may be needed.

If you see deviant behavior, pay close attention to which page styles are active at any given position. I find that editing the page breaks configuration is easier by way of Format - Paragraph, as explained above, but that may be a matter of habit.