This is the easiest way but it only applies if using title pages. There are other occasions that this method may not apply, like having several sections each with its own page count. For something like that the page style method is the way.
Thank you Inking, your method worked fine for me. However, if I add also the page count (to obtain Page 1 of 156 for example), I have a problem: the page count tells me 6 though there are 5 pages including the index (which is page 0). is there a way to correct the page count as well?
Eoghancb wrote: “I assume from what I’ve read thus far, that there is no way to set the first page to no number, a set of roman numerals for a preface (approximately I -X) and then have the main body begin numbering at 1 beyond that point. If anyone can offer advice as to whether this is possible, and if so, how, that would be wonderful! I’ve tried but with no luck. Many thanks.”
@ Eoghancb, i know it’s late, but also for anyone searching for a way to set it up, this is how you do it:
lets say you have a document with 15 pages, first you must add the page numbers:
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create the Header OR Footer, depending where you want the page numbers to be. in this example we will place them in the Footer: click Insert-> Header&Footer → Footer → Default Style
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add page numbers: click with the mouse in the empty space in the Footer of the first page, and click Insert → Field → Page Number
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in the Footer, click with your mouse on the space just before the shown page number, and adjust its location to the middle, or to the right of page, just like you would do with text, by clicking the “Center Horizontally” or “Align Right” buttons you can select above the text on top of the page where are various icons.
next you want to set the first page as “no number”:
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make sure you click somewhere in the first page so that the cursor is on the first page, and then click Format → Title Page = a window named “Title Page” opens.
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there you have a few options - on the “Place title pages at” section you make a mark on “Page”, and set the number as 1.
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make a mark on the “Reset page numbering after title pages”, and leave page number as 1.
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make a mark on the “Set page number for first title page”, and set the page number as 0.
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click OK.
then you want to change the numbers from arabic to roman symbols:
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in the Footer, click with your mouse on the space just before the shown number, and then “double click” that same space = a window named “Edit Fields” opens.
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in the Format section choose the appropriate roman style.
(optional: in the Offset section there is a 0 = this means that the first page after the title page will begin with a 1. if the offset is 1, the first page after the title page will begin with a 2. if the offset is -1, the first page after the title page will begin with a 0, you get the drift.)
- click OK.
by now you should have a “first” Title page with no number, and 14 pages with roman numbers.
now you want to change the roman numbers back to arabic, somewhere in the middle of the text.
to do that you must create a new page style, and then insert a page break using the new style you created:
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scroll to the page that you wish to end with roman numbers, and AFTER which you want the arabic numbers to start. lets say that page is 10.
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scroll to page 10 and click in the text at the start of that page.
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on the far right of the screen there are few icons, hover above them, one of them is named “Styles and Formatting” - click on that icon (alternatively click on Styles → Styles and Formatting).
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there you click on the “Page Styles” icon.
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right click on the empty space (below the “Landscape” style) and choose “New” = a window named “Page Style:Untitled1” opens.
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there you go to “Organizer”, and name the style the way you want, but lets leave it as it is for this example. then you go to “Page” and in the “Margins” section set 0.79" in all four fields (this is necessary so that the text in the pages on the new style looks the same as the pages before it, that are numbered with roman numbers)
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click “Apply” and “OK”.
now the newly created style is shown in the “Page Styles” section.
now you must insert the page break:
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make sure the cursor is on page 10, and click on Insert → Manual Break = a new window named “Insert Break” opens.
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in the “Style” dropdown menu choose the newly crated style “Untitled1”
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make a mark on the “Change page number”, and leave the number as 1, and click ok = this makes the first page after the break to start as 1.
now you notice that the pages after the break don’t have any page numbers, so the only thing left to do is to add them back:
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click in the empty Footer section of the first page that begins after the break, and if you can’t place the cursor there, then click on the “+” sign on the blue footer flag named “Footer (Untitled1)” that appears at the bottom right of the page, and then click in the empty space of the Footer, placing the cursor there.
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click Insert → Field → Page Number
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click with your mouse on the space just before the shown page number, and adjust its location to the middle, or to the right of page, just like you would do with text, by clicking the “Center Horizontally” or “Align Right” buttons you can select above the text on top of the page.
now you have created a new page numbering, that belongs only on the “Untitled1” page style. so now you should have a “first” Title page with no number, 10 pages with roman numbers, and 5 pages with arabic numbers. every new page that is created in the “Untitled1” page style, after page 5, will be in arabic numbers.