Just moving over from Word to LibreOffice. I am writing a document which is mainly portrait in layout but occasionally requires one or more pages in landscape. I thought I had created a page style for the landscape pages, but it seems to keep changing to a portrait layout. Is there a definitive guide to page breaks and layout styles that would help me? I am very proficient in using Word where these actions seemed more straightforward ( having used it for 20 years!) - just want to find out what i’m missing here. Thanks in advance.
Understanding the differences
On first look, MS Word and LO Writer seem to have similar approaches to page formatting, but as @ajlittoz says they have radically different ways to implement and delimit page level formatting. The differences also reflect in terminology. These differences are important, and often not sufficiently explained. This may be due to the superficial similarity, or perhaps our focus on one of the approaches as “the right way”, thus dismissing the other.
MS Word
A page inherits formatting from previous page. To have a page with a new set of formatting properties, you need to insert a section break, then disconnect the two sections from each other. Formatting before and after the break will then be independent.
When you insert a section in Word, you insert a divider, making the document contain two sections instead of one. Changes to page formatting will apply to pages in the current section.
LO Writer
A page inherits formatting from a named page style. This style also decides what style next page should use. Most often, next page will use same style as the current. To override this sequencing of styles you need to insert a page break, and select the new, named page style to use. Changes to page formatting will affect all pages using the same page style as the current page (pages which may be spread out across your document, not necessarily consecutive).
The page break, and the page style to use after the break, are properties of the paragraph starting the new page. (This also means that a manual page break implies a paragraph break.)
If you made a mistake in this when you insert a page break, you can alter the page style by selecting the first paragraph after the break, click menu item Format - Paragraph and then click the Text flow tab.
This page break setting can also be part of a named paragraph style.
Sections inserted in a Writer document are named document parts, which can also have content and/or formatting which differs from the general content flow.
Transitioning
It is important to realize that Word does not support the concept of named page styles. Page formatting is only inherited from page to page, until inheritance is broken by section break. Writer enforces the use of named page styles. A page inherits the style from the previous page’s “next style” setting. All formatting is received from the named style.
Documents with any change in page formatting from one page to the next, is impossible to transfer perfectly from Word context to Writer context. This is a frequent cause of erratic behavior on page format level.
Possible causes
The little things …
- Have you used a Word document as the template for your Writer document?
- Did you save it to Word format?
- Did you copy anything from a Word document?
The Word approach to page formatting and inheritance is more straightforward. Writer’s added abstraction of page style makes it more powerful. When the page formatting tools are still available much like in Word, you are not forced into “style awareness”. This can make the situation confusing when you start to create a more complex document structure.
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Thanks for all the information, yes I did originally start the document in Word so that may be the issue. I will work through the info and try to get it sorted.
Next time I will start from scratch in LO.
Thanks for all the help.
How do I insert a landscape formatted page in a document where other pages are portrait formatted?
and
Sorry, only in German - on YouTube
Thanks, I understand how to do this but my page style (i created to make this process easier) seems to keep changing from landscape to portrait when I apply it.
Right-click the Landscape page template and choose Modify.
In the dialog in the Organise tab, it should say “Follow template”: Landscape.
(Landscape is the name of the template, use the name you gave it.)
Is this the case for you?
Creating and Applying Page Styles
Changing Page Orientation (Landscape or Portrait)
Apache OpenOffice
English documentation
Alternatively, if you like, you can upload a sample file with the specified problem here.
This is how you can upload:
Click on the three dots or the pencil, or the edit icon under your initial question.
What’s available.
In the edit mode of the question, select the upload icon.
Select your file and click the Upload button.
Thank you very much.
OK thanks for that- I will have a more detailed look tomorrow. I did find this (out dated?) page which gave me some help.https://elearn.ellak.gr/mod/page/view.php?id=2733
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What you must understand is the LO Writer approach to page formatting is radically different from M$ Word. A page style applies between two explicit boundaries (one or both can be start and end of document). If you don’t insert these boundaries, the style will apply to the full sequence of pages (usually the whole document) and you’ll change all your portrait pages to landscape or vice versa.
The “boundaries” are a special case of page break: one created with Insert>More Breaks>Manual Break, not just the ordinary Ctrl+Enter. A dialog pops up and you’re prompted for the new page style after the break.
These special page breaks allow to split your document into sequences of contiguous pages which can be independently formatted (= assigned a page style).