Inserting Landscape Page(s) Within Portrait Pages in a Microsoft Word Document

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Introduction

There are times when you need to use tables, pictures, charts or graphs in a Microsoft Word document. Some of these document elements can be created within Word, or you may have a completed table or graph which can be copy/pasted, or inserted as a file from a different source, such as Excel.  These elements may need their own pages and may also need to use the Landscape page orientation for the best display of their information.  Microsoft Word allows for this type of mixed page orientation within a document, by using Section Breaks.

After you have your Landscape oriented page(s) inserted into your document, the next step is to adjust the page numbers so that each still appears on the "bottom" of the pages.  If this is not done, then the page numbers on the Landscape pages will be on the "side" of the document and the direction of the page number will be incorrect.  This is accomplished using the Header and Footer and Text Direction features of Word.

This may seem like a lot of steps to take, but I think it's worth it to have a document that has the added elements you need and properly numbered pages.  Once you get the hang of the process, you'll find it's straightforward and flexible to the flow of your document.

Document Views in Word

Before we start, it is important for this tutorial that you become familiar with three ways a document can be seen in Word.  Knowing how to use these views will help you keep track of the progress of your work.

On the Standard Tool Bar, click on View to access the first two ways of looking at your document.  They are: Normal and Print Layout.

1. Normal:  This view will show text formatting and is convenient for most editing and formatting tasks.  You will use Normal view to insert section breaks, as they are not visible in Print Layout view.  You will also use Normal view to correct the orientation of the page numbers after creating the Landscape page. However, page numbers are not visible unless you view the Headers and Footers.

2. Print Layout:  This view will display the document as it will look when you print it. The page numbers are visible, in a grayed-out view.  You will use this view to correct the page number on the Portrait page which follows any Landscape pages you create.

The third view that I find very useful is Print Preview (File...Print Preview).

3. Print Preview will display multiple pages of the document (up to six pages per screen).  Word inserts automatic page breaks for you and also shows page numbers. Use this view to monitor your progress and to check that your section breaks and numbering are correct.  This will also show any empty pages that may have been generated by the section breaks.  If this happens, just go into Normal view and delete the unwanted page/section break.

Please Note: For this tutorial it is assumed that the pages before and after the newly created Landscape page(s) are Portrait orientation and that you are numbering the pages in your document.  The steps for adjusting the page orientation are the same whether you insert a table, graph, picture, etc., into the document.  In this demonstration I am using a table.

Tip: Jot down the page number(s) where you insert tables, etc.  This will make it easier for you to keep track of what pages you are working on as you switch between the various page views. This is especially helpful for large documents and/or inserting mutiple tables, etc.

Tutorial

Inserting the Table

Place the cursor at the point in the document where you want the table to be inserted.

1. To insert the table you can use either the Edit...Copy/Paste or Insert...File commands found on the Standard Tool Bar.

2. You now have your table in your document, but you may notice that it doesn't all fit on the Portrait oriented page.  Assuming it already fits on the Landscape orientation, this will be corrected in the next step.

Rotating the Page

In this step we will rotate the page to Landscape orientation, set margins and create page breaks so the table is on its own page.

1. Place the cursor before the table you want to be on the Landscape page.

2. On the Standard Tool Bar, go to Insert...Break...Section break types...next page.  click for image  Click OK.

3. Place the cursor after the table you want to be on the Landscape page.

4. On the Standard Tool Bar, go to Insert...Break...Section break types...next page.  Click OK.

5. Place the cursor anwhere on the page you want Landscape and choose File...Page Setup and change to orientation to Landscape.  While you are in the dialog box, change the page margins to the following:

  TOP = 1.5"
     BOTTOM = 1"
LEFT = 1"
  RIGHT = 1"

Note: These margins are necessary for formatting the page numbers so they line up within the entire document.

You now have your table on a Landscape page, but the page number orientation is incorrect.  In the next section we will take care of this.

Correcting Landscape Page Number Position

Your document, when viewed in Print Layout, will show the page number on what appears to be the "bottom" of the page.  However, after printing and inserting into the completed document, the number will appear on the side of the Landscape page.

1. Make sure you are in the Normal view and place your cursor on the Landscape page you just created.

2. Go to: View...Header and Footer  This will place your cursor in the Header and bring up a dialog box. (If you are not familiar with this dialog box, let your cursor rest on the different icons to see their various functions).

3. Click on the Same as Previous icon on the dialog box to turn off the Same as Previous on the Header.  Note: "Same as Previous" means that the current page is using the same formatting as the page(s) before it.  We are disabling that and inserting new formatting.

4. Delete the page number in the Header, if there is one.  To do this, place your cursor on the number and left click.  You will see a hatched-outline around the number.  Move your cursor slightly, until it changes to a cross-hair.  Then right click for the menu that will contain the Cut option.  Click for image

5. Switch to the Footer and click on the Same as Previous icon to turn of Same as Previous in the Footer

6. Delete the page number in the Footer, if there is one.  Don 't exit the Footer.

7. While still in the Footer, go to the dialog box and click on the Insert page Number icon.  Do not close the dialog box.  Next, go to the Standard Tool Bar and click on Insert...Insert Page Numbers.  You will see that the Alignment section is blank. Using the pull down arrow, select Center and click OK.   click for image   Remain in the Footer for the next step.

8. Place your cursor on the number in the Footer, right click on your mouse and a hatched outline will appear.  Move your cursor slightly until it changes to a crosshair. Right click on your mouse and the hatched outline will change to that of tiny boxes and you will see a menu.  Select Format Frame.

9. In the Frame dialog box set your page number's position to the following values.   click for image

a. Horizontal Position: 10.5" (This can be typed in, by highlighting what is in the box and pressing backspace to remove it.)  Relative to: Page
b. Vertical Position: Center    Relative to: Margin.
c. Click OK.

10. While the new page number is still highlighted, on the Standard Tool Bar, click on Format...Text Direction.  click for image

11. Choose the option that will orient the number in the correct direction.  Click OK.

Correcting Page Number on Next Portrait Page

According to other instructions I have seen regarding this step, all you should have to do is turn off the "Same as Previous" formatting statement in the next Portrait page's Header and Footer and then insert the page number in the center position.  I can't seem to get this to consistently work in the various situations I've tested.  Instead, I recommend using the following steps to remove the Landscape oriented number formatting from the Portrait page and reinsert its page number.

1. Insert your cursor on the Portrait page immediately following the Landscape page(or pages if you've inserted several tables, graphs, pictures, etc.) you just created.  Go to: Print Layout view.

2. Go to File...Page Setup and change the orientation to Landscape.

3. Go to View...Header and Footer and remove "Same as Previous" formatting statements from both the Header and Footer.

4. You will see the page number on the side of the page.  Delete this page number.

5. Go to File...Page Setup and return the page to Portrait orientation.

6. Go to View...Header and Footer In the dialog box click on the Page Number icon and insert the page number.  While the dialog box is still open, go to Insert...Page Numbers and choose Center from the Alignment drop down menu.  Click OK.

Note: I would appreciate any feedback from you, if you find these steps don't work right.  You can e-mail me from: castlejb.com

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