A header repeats above the text on every page and a footer repeats below it. They hold repeating details such as a title, a date or a page number. A brief might say: club name left in the header, date right in the header, page number centred in the footer.
How do they work?
Headers and footers live inside the upper and lower margins. The header distance is how far the header sits from the paper edge. The margin must be larger than that distance plus the text height of the header, or the body text is pushed down.
A page number must be inserted as an automatic field, not typed. A field updates itself on every page. Many programs can also insert the total, giving “Page 3 of 7”.
Step by step
- Open the header area and place the text in the position the brief states, using alignment or a tab stop.
- Do not use spaces to push text to the right.
- Open the footer and insert the automatic page number field.
- Add the words around it if asked, such as “Page” before the field.
- Close the header and footer and scroll through the document to confirm every page matches.
Worked example
Invented brief: top margin 25 mm, header distance 12.5 mm, A4 portrait. Header: “Taman Harapan Reading Club” on the left and “Dec newsletter” on the right. Footer: “Page” and the page number, centred.
Step 1. Space for the header between the paper edge and the body: 25 − 12.5 = 12.5 mm. A single line of 11 pt text is about 5 mm tall, so it fits.
Step 2. Type the club name at the left. Use a right-aligned tab stop for the second item at the right margin, which is 170 mm across.
Step 3. In the footer, centre the paragraph, type “Page ” and insert the page number field.
Step 4. On a 3-page document, the footers read Page 1, Page 2 and Page 3.
A common mistake
A student types “1” into the footer of page one, copies it, and pastes it on each page.
Wrong result: every page reads “Page 1”. Or the student types 1, 2, 3 by hand, and a page added later breaks the sequence.
The correction is to insert the page number field once. The program then counts for you.
Check yourself
1. The bottom margin is 25 mm and the footer distance is 10 mm. How much space is there for the footer?
Show answer
25 − 10 = 15 mm.
2. A 7-page report has its footer set to “Page X of Y”. What does page 3 show?
Show answer
Page 3 of 7.
3. Page numbering is set to start at 5, and the document has 3 pages. What numbers appear?
Show answer
5, 6 and 7.
Where this leads next
Finish with verifying print preview for overflow, where the header and footer are checked on each page. Before that, revisit columns and sections if your header spans a changed layout. The ICT practical task and evidence checker lists header and footer checks.
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