Why are some posters turned sideways? Why does a newspaper squeeze its stories into narrow strips instead of running each line right across the page? Someone chose that layout on purpose. Today you learn how to set up a page yourself.
In this post:
- Page size and orientation
- Margins
- Columns
- Page breaks and section breaks
- Page borders
- Two activities and a quiz
In Word 2016 and Microsoft 365, most of these tools are on the Layout tab. In Word 2007, 2010 and 2013 the same tab is called Page Layout. In Google Docs, look in File → Page setup and Format → Columns.
Page size
This is the size of the paper. Letter (8½ × 11 inches) is common in Trinidad and Tobago, the rest of the Caribbean and North America. A4 (21 × 29.7 cm, a little narrower and taller) is used in most other countries. Legal (8½ × 14 inches) is longer. Choose the size that matches the paper in your printer: Layout → Size.
Orientation
- Portrait: the page is tall, like a door. Use it for letters, reports and most documents.
- Landscape: the page is wide, like a TV. Use it for posters, certificates, wide tables and pictures.
Change it with Layout → Orientation.
Margins
Margins are the blank space between the edge of the paper and your text. They stop words being cut off by the printer and make the page look tidy. Layout → Margins gives ready-made choices: Normal (2.54 cm, or 1 inch, all round), Narrow (1.27 cm) to fit more on the page, and Wide for a spacious look. Custom Margins lets you type your own.
Image source: File:Margin vs Gutter.svg (Wikimedia Commons)
Columns
Columns split the page into narrow strips of text, like a newspaper or newsletter. Text runs down the first column and then continues at the top of the next. Use Layout → Columns → Two (or Three). To jump to the next column early, use Layout → Breaks → Column.
Image source: File:Newspaper Column.jpg (Wikimedia Commons)
Page breaks and section breaks
- A page break starts a new page straight away, wherever you are. Press Ctrl + Enter, or use Insert → Page Break. Never press Enter lots of times to get to a new page: the layout goes wrong as soon as you add text.
- A section break splits your document into parts that can have different layouts. For example, a title across the full width with two columns underneath, or one landscape page in the middle of a portrait report. Use Layout → Breaks, then Next Page (the new section starts on a new page) or Continuous (it starts on the same page).
Page borders
A page border is a frame around the whole page, great for certificates, covers and posters. In Word 2013 and later go to Design → Page Borders; in Word 2007 and 2010 it is Page Layout → Page Borders. Choose a style, colour and width, or a fun Art border.
Watch: page layout
This short video shows orientation, page size and margins in Microsoft Word. Which button would you use to turn the page sideways?
Video: Word: Page Layout – LearnFree – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNpoksYOLE
Activity: page set-up lab
Try it: set up the page
Read each challenge and use the controls to set up the mini page. Watch the preview change! Then click “Check my page”.
Size: Orientation: Margins: Columns:
Activity: which layout feature?
Try it: match the job to the feature
Choose the page layout feature you would use for each job.
| Your table is too wide, so you want the page to be wider than it is tall | |
| Your teacher wants 2.54 cm of blank space all round the edge | |
| You want your class newsletter to look like a newspaper | |
| You want the next chapter to start at the top of a new page | |
| You want one landscape page in the middle of a portrait report | |
| You want a decorative frame around your certificate | |
| Your printer has A4 paper, not Letter |
Class activity: a two-column newsletter page
Make a one-page class newsletter. Type a title and three short news items (sports, a club, and a class achievement). Set the margins to Narrow. Put a Continuous section break after the title, then make the news items into two columns. Add a page border, check the print preview, and save it as Class Newsletter – your name.
Self-check quiz
Click the best answer. You get feedback straight away; only your first click counts towards your score.
1. Which orientation is best for a wide poster?
2. What are margins?
3. How do you start a new page properly?
4. What lets one part of a document have two columns while the rest has one?
5. What do columns do?
6. Which page size is common in Trinidad and Tobago?
Related posts on islandclass.org
- Formatting a letter – Text, Tables, Layout – Tutorial – video tutorial
- Text And Graphics, Page breaks and Columns – Document Layout – video tutorial
- Video: Word processing revision.
- Multiple Sections with Different Headers and Footers -Word Processing (Wed 5/5/2021 ) – more on sections
For later, in Forms 4–5 (CSEC IT): these go deeper and are for when you reach CSEC Information Technology.
Next: Inserting Tables, Pictures, Headers and Footers
Syllabus link: Forms 1–3 ICT curriculum, Module 3, Objective 3.3 – practise page layout features in a word processing document.
Attributions to media used in this post:
- Margin vs Gutter.svg – Sherbyte – CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Newspaper Column.jpg – Noble’Believer – CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Video: Word: Page Layout – LearnFree (YouTube)
Updates
2026/10/21
- Fixed the activity code so its buttons keep working.
© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.