How Do I Set Headers and Footers?

What are headers and footers?  

“A header is the top margin of each page, and a footer is the bottom margin of each page. Headers and footers are useful for including material that you want to appear on every page of a document such as your name, the title of the document, or page numbers.”

If you need to add headers and footers to your document, here are some instructions from one of our expert prepress techs, Raven, on how to do so within our template!

The first thing you will want to do is check that your chapters end with not just a “page break”, but rather an “odd page break”. This will force your chapters to start on the right-hand side of your book.

 If there are only “page breaks” you will want to delete them and add an “odd page break”. To do this, delete the page break then go to the “Layout” tab (within the word document) > “Breaks” > “Odd Page”. Repeat for each chapter.

Once you have inserted all “odd page breaks” you will want to double click the bottom of your page. This will bring up the Header & Footer.

In the footer, you should have page numbers and they should continue. If you are missing page numbers, let’s add them in:

·Click in the footer, then in the “Header & Footer” tab > “Page Number” > “Page Number” > “Alignment” drop down, choose “Center” > “OK”.

·Then you will want to format your page numbers, “Page Number” > “Format Page Numbers” > “Continue from Previous section” > “OK”. Repeat until you reach the end of the document.

Now Let’s look at your headers!

First, click in the header. In the center of your header & footer tab, you will see three checkboxes; make sure all 3 are selected. (Different First Page/Different Odd & Even Pages / Show Document Text). You will want to keep the first page empty. You don’t want a header above your chapter title, so proceed to the next page. In that header, we begin adding our headers.

 You have two basic options:

1. Author Name & Book Title

a. Type in your Author Name

b. Type in your book title

2. Chapter Title & Book Title

a. Go to the insert tab (in the very top bar, not part of the document) “Insert” > “Field…”>  there are two dropdowns Categories= “Links and References” and “Field Names = StyleRef”, the in the lower-left corner hit “Options” > “Styles” > “Name = Chapter heads” (since all chapters have this style in our template) > Add to Field” > OK

b. Type in your book title

You should be all set!

If you need more help preparing your files, don’t hesitate to call us at 800-231-0521 to speak with a prepress technician.

Learn more about using our free book templates and other resources to help kick start your self-publishing journey!