Automatically add missing page after "even/odd page"?

[New Daddy]

Odd/even page section breaks are very useful, but I've found one critical shortcoming with them.

They sometimes skip a page to match the next odd/even number.

For example, when a section ends in an odd number - page 5 - before an "odd page" section break, the even-number page in between - page 6 - is skipped altogether.

This creates a number of issues.

• It wreaks havoc with duplex printing for the obious reason. In a book-style printing, you want the odd-number pages to fall on the right side and even-number pages on the left. But skipped page will prevent this from happening.
• A page border applied to the first page of a section doesn't work, if the previous page is skipped. In the example above, you can't apply a page border to "first page of section"- i.e. page 7 -, if page 6 is skipped. The border will only appear if you add page 6. This is obviously a bug.

Is there a third-party tool or macro that will force pages to be inserted before odd/even page section breaks if necessary?

[Charles Kenyon]

They are supposed to skip a page. That is the idea.

Publishing standard is to have a blank, unnumbered page. If you do not want that, you need to add a manual page break before the section break that is skipping a page. Page borders are section properties, as are page numbering, and headers and footers. While there will be a blank for page 6, page 7 will be numbered properly. The addition of the manual page break is best done in the final run after all other editing. It would be possible to create a conditional field (IF field) to insert the page break, I suppose.

My guess is that the page border does appear on page 8 when page 6 is skipped. Different-first-page setting in your headers.

See Sections, Headers and Footers http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/sections2007.htm

[Charles Kenyon]

It would help if you tell us your version of Word and operating system.

[New Daddy]

It would help if you tell us your version of Word and operating system.

Word 2016 on OSX and Windows. They behave the same.

If the publishing standard is to have a blank, unnumbered page, Word doesn't comply with that standard either.
It just skips a page, rather than automatically insert a blank, unnumbered page.
As a matter of fact, I wouldn't have issues if Word inserted a blank, unnumbered page, because it would make my problems go away.

Just so we are on the same page, does your Word insert a blank, unnumbered page between page 5 and page 7, if your section 1 ends on page 5 and you have a "odd page" section break that follows? Mine doesn't.

[Charles Kenyon]

Office 2016 on OSX and Windows are not the same AFAIK. They are very similar, but not the same.

I am not qualified to answer any questions specifically about Word on the Mac. My use of Word on the Mac dates back to before Windows 97.

[Charles Kenyon]

Any chance you could put an example of the problem as an attachment? Or put it on OneDrive or DropBox so I could take a look at it? Post a link here.

There are things that can be done with a document in the Windows version that can be seen and work on OSX that cannot be done directly in OSX. In addition, there are some features in the Windows version that straight-out do not work on the Mac unless it is in a Windows virtual machine. (This information is gathered from other forums and problems people with Mac versions have had.)

I do not know that what you are seeing is peculiar to the Mac version, but I've told you how it is supposed to work.

[Charles Kenyon]

Here is a sample of a pdf from a Word document (and the document) set with an Odd-Page section break in page 3, leaving a blank page 4 and a new page 5.

Again, if you post an example, please post the Word document.

[Charles Kenyon]

More about borders: The page border in Word 2016 can be set to the whole document, to a particular section, or to the first page of a section, to even or odd pages only. It cannot be displayed on a blank page produced by the odd-page section break, though. That page will be blank. If a page number shows up, the border will show up, not otherwise.

[New Daddy]

Here is a sample of a pdf from a Word document (and the document) set with an Odd-Page section break in page 3, leaving a blank page 4 and a new page 5.

Again, if you post an example, please post the Word document.

From your example, I realized that you need to print - either in paper or in PDF - in order to have Word insert a blank, unnumbered page in between.

Problem solved!

Thanks.

[HansV]

That is the whole idea of using odd/even section breaks. Keep in mind that Word was designed when printing was the primary means of sharing/distributing a document.

[Jay Freedman]

From your example, I realized that you need to print - either in paper or in PDF - in order to have Word insert a blank, unnumbered page in between.

Problem solved!

Thanks.

Right, Word never shows the blank page in Print Layout or other editing views. That bit of confusion is something I consider a "bug by design". The only way to see that page on the screen without printing is in the preview on the Print screen, if you set the zoom to show two pages at a time.

[New Daddy]

From your example, I realized that you need to print - either in paper or in PDF - in order to have Word insert a blank, unnumbered page in between.

Problem solved!

Thanks.

Right, Word never shows the blank page in Print Layout or other editing views. That bit of confusion is something I consider a "bug by design". The only way to see that page on the screen without printing is in the preview on the Print screen, if you set the zoom to show two pages at a time.

It may be a bug by design, but it really bugged me.

I had worked on the second symptom of this "bug by design" -- page border not appearing on the first page of a section if the previous page is skipped -- for quite long before giving up.
Yes, the border will appear if the document is actually printed and the skipped page is automatically inserted by Word.
But how would a user unfamiliar with this mechanism know just from watching the monitor?

I've been using Word for over two decades, and there are things that I still didn't know.

[Charles Kenyon]

First, on my system, the page border appears after the skipped page in both the printed document and on the print view screen.

Also, on my system, starting with Word 2010, I added the legacy print preview button to my QAT.

This gives you a tab and lets you view the document as it will come out on a printer. You cannot edit in this view, though. It is similar to the view you can get by going to backstage > Print, except it can be larger.

I would not call it a bug. It is how Word has always been.
I believe Word was the first WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) word processing program, but it has always required a separate screen to see some things.

Yes, this can be frustrating. Generally, when answering questions about a problem like this, I ask what a pdf looks like, but I neglected to do that here.

[macropod]

When 'printing' to PDF, blank pages generated via Odd/Even Section breaks are often skipped. A field coded as:
{IF{=MOD({PAGE},2)}= 1 {QUOTE 12}}
or
{IF{=MOD({PAGE},2)}= 1 "{QUOTE 12}¶
This page intentionally left blank¶
"}
respectively, will automatically insert a blank page if the page on which they occur is an odd-numbered one. You can omit the 'This page intentionally left blank' text. Instead of the ¶ use a real paragraph break.

To get the same effect for an even-numbered page, change the '1' to '0'.
Such a field would be used with ordinary 'Next Page' Section breaks to separate chapters and placed after the final '.' in each chapter (ie immediately before the 'Next Page' Section break).

[Charles Kenyon]

So this field is used with a Next-Page section break instead of even-page or odd-page break?
Is this in one of your tutorials?

Note: Braces { } cannot be typed but must be inserted in pairs using Ctrl+F9. See introductory material at http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showth ... s-Tutorial for more on fields.

[macropod]

So this field is used with a Next-Page section break instead of even-page or odd-page break?

Yes.

Is this in one of your tutorials?

No, though I've posted the same solution on various forums.

[New Daddy]

First, on my system, the page border appears after the skipped page in both the printed document and on the print view screen.

Also, on my system, starting with Word 2010, I added the legacy print preview button to my QAT.

I think have a print preview button to the QAT is a good idea.
However, Word for Mac doesn't seem to have print preview function at all.

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