Standard procedure for first page letterhead format?

[Craig Turner]

Hello,

I suspect that this is somehow covered in the manual that comes with V.2, but I truly can't figure it out from the TOC or through indexing searching.

My office letterhead requires that the first page of a 2+ page letter have a top margin of a little over 2".

How do I set this? Page Setup? Sections? Should I manually set header sizes as a way to control the top margins?

I'm a little turned around now and confused as to the simplest procedure; it was only after fiddling with it that I realized "First page special" only refers to numbering, not to the size of the header on the first page.

Much thanks,
Craig Turner

[cchapin]

Hello, Craig. I have not been able to create differently sized headers on first and following pages either. I don't think Nisus Writer Express has that ability at this point. I had written this down in a list of feature requests that I planned to put out one by one. I guess this is an appropriate moment to do that. Here's what I wrote:

"I wish that I could resize the first-page header independently of headers on other pages. Design-wise, this flexibility would not be good for odd/even headers, but it can serve an important purpose for first-page headers versus headers on subsequent pages."

The same might be said of footers.

Here's an inelegant workaround that I just now tried. It seemed to work.

1. Create a new blank document.
2. Size the header for the first page.
3. In the Sections palette, under "Header and Footer," check "Different First Page."
4. Type your header (or leave it empty if you'll be printing on letterhead).
5. In the body of the document, type the first paragraph (perhaps a date).
6. Click the Insert menu > Section Break > Same Page. (Depending on the styles you are using, this might make things a little odd.)
7. Continue typing until you reach the next page. (Or short-circuit the process by inserting a page break.)
8. On the next page, adjust the header size and type the header as you want it to appear.

Of course, if you just want to leave extra blank space at the top of the first page in order to print on pre-printed letterhead, it would be simpler just to add a few extra lines with the return key.

--(another) Craig

[charles]

Another workaround would be to set First Page Different and then insert extra returns in the header on the first page until you get the space you want. Even though you cannot have different header/footer sizes on the first page (it is on our list) of a section, if you have more text in a header/footer area than will fit in the height you set, we will expand the height for that page only.

-Charles

[cchapin]

Charles's solution sounds much simpler. Thank you, Charles. I'm glad that this is on the list.

--Craig

[Craig Turner]

Gentlemen,

Thank you very much. Yes, Charles' reply sounds best for the time being.

Best,
Craig Turner

[Dcnblues]

...Even though you cannot have different header/footer sizes on the first page (it is on our list) of a section, if you have more text in a header/footer area than will fit in the height you set, we will expand the height for that page only.

-Charles

Thank you, I'm looking forward to this as well.