How to use breaks to format the reports?

Most of us know what Page Break is. It helps us to create next page (Shortcut: Ctrl + Enter). Like Page Breaks, Word has several other breaks to format our reports.  Let us look at each break and see how we can use them in our reports.

To explore the list of Breaks, on Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks (Alt + P + B). List of breaks are shown in Picture A

Picture A: Breaks

 

Page Breaks:

Word automatically inserts page break and bring us to the next page when we reach end of the page. We can also insert a manual page break, if required. Sample scenarios are given below and these scenarios lead us to insert page break manually.

A heading or a Sub heading or first line of the paragraph starts at the end of any page

A paragraph or a picture or a table should be started in a fresh page

A blank page between two pages to be inserted

Just press Ctrl + Enter, you can insert a manual page breaks in your reports.

Can we automatically control page breaks?

Yes, it is possible to control page breaks automatically. The list of situations and how to prevent page breaks in those situations are given below.

To prevent page breaks in the middle of a paragraph - Select the paragraph that you want to prevent from breaking onto two pages. On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box launcher, and then click Line and Page Breaks tab Select the Keep lines together check box.
To prevent page breaks between paragraphs - Select the paragraphs that you want to keep together on a single page On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher, and then click Line and Page Breaks tab. Select the Keep with next check box.
To Specify a page break before a paragraph - Click the paragraph that needs to be followed after the page break On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box Launcher, and then click Line and Page Breaks tab Select the Page break before check box.
To place at least two lines of a paragraph at the top or bottom of a page - A professional-looking document never ends a page with just one line of a paragraph or starts a paragraph with the first line in a page followed by other lines in the next page. The last line of a paragraph by itself at the top of a page is known as a widow. The first line of a paragraph by itself at the bottom of a page is known as an orphan. Select the paragraphs in which you want to prevent widows and orphans. On the Page Layout tab, click the Paragraph Dialog Box  Launcher, and then click Line and Page Breaks tab Select the Widow/Orphan control check box. Note: This option is turned on by default.

Column Breaks: Please refer post: Multi-column presentation

Section Breaks:

Section breaks helps us to create different header/footer for each section of our report. For example, if we want to apply a specific header and footer for shareholders’ information pages, we have to split it as a section and apply the header and footer. For other sections, we can keep different header and footer.

The same way, chapter wise, we can number the pages of the reports. For example, assume that, we are preparing an internal audit report with two sections, in first sections, we want to show all the audit observations and in the second part we point out references, citations, etc. using section breaks. We can start the page numbering for each section at 1 with prefix or suffix.

We can change the following items for each section.

• Margins (Normal, narrow, wide, etc.)
• Paper size or orientation (portrait or landscape)
• Paper source for a printer (A4, Legal, etc.)
• Page borders (with Border or without border)
• Vertical alignment of text on a page (some pages horizontal alignment)
• Headers and footers (different header and footer)
• Columns (single column/multi column)
• Page numbering (chapter specific page number, i.e. 1.1 to 1.25, 2.1 to 2.19, etc.)
• Line numbering
• Footnotes and endnotes

To insert a section break, On the Page Layout tab, in the Page Setup group, click Breaks, then select the type of section break you want.

Type of Section Breaks with example

The Next Page command inserts a section break and starts a new section on the next page. This type of section break is especially useful for starting new chapters in a document. You may have a doubt, why can’t we use page break instead of this type of section break. The difference is, if we modify the format or layout in the new page after insertion, it will not affect the entire document’s layout or format. Hence, we have to use Next Page Section break to have specific format for a page or section.
The Continuous command inserts a section break and starts a new section on the same page. A continuous section break is useful for creating a formatting change, such as a different number of columns, on a page. Refer post: Multi-Column presentation
The Even Page or Odd Page command inserts a section break and starts a new section on the next even-numbered or odd-numbered page. If you want document chapters always to begin on an odd page or on an even page, use the Odd page or Even page section break option.