DTP: Numbering Pages, Part 14
The previous installments in this series introduced the issue of page number position and graphics in books and booklets.
The page number area may include other graphic elements, such as a thin line across the top of the page, either above, below, or both above and below the page number. That line must maintain a consistent thickness, weight, and color throughout the book.
The graphic elements may be contained either in the header, which is the information across the top of the page, the footer, which is the information on the bottom, or in both.
Select several books and study their layout. You will find that page headers or footers are not necessarily identical. Nonetheless, they do maintain a certain internal consistency.
The top center of one page might include the chapter name and number, or other specific information. It is likely to run through every page in that chapter, after which it will change to indicate the subsequent chapter name and number. That added element is called a running head. It means that the heading runs through the entire section, chapter, or volume.
The top center of the facing page may include, the title of the entire volume or series. That will remain the same except for the page number. Similarly, the footer may have other information that runs through the entire volume.
Most modern desktop publishing and word processing programs allow for modifiable running headers and/or footers that can be changed for each section or chapter.
You may be able to give instructions for starting each chapteron a certain page number. Check the program's Help feature under "paging" or "pagination" for guidelines about changing the starting page number.
Some business reports are printed with desktop publishing equipment. The running head for each chapter may also include a note indicating the total number of pages in that section. That indication of "Page 32 of 51" becomes very useful when the pile of unstapled documents accidentally falls out of your hands.
The next installment in this series will deal with chapter and document length and page numbers.
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