Page Layout

Page layout sets how a document sits on paper. It covers page size, margins, columns, headers and footers, page numbers, and page breaks. Word and PDF exports use the same settings. A document can have one layout throughout, or be split into sections with their own layout.

The Layout tab

Page setup is on the Layout tab of the ribbon. The tab is unavailable in documents you can only view.

Page size, orientation, and margins

1. Click Page Layout on the Layout tab.
2. Change the settings.
3. Click Apply. Cancel closes the dialog without changes.

The preview updates as you change the size, orientation, margins, and columns.

Paged vs. pageless

A document is shown either as separate pages or as one continuous page with no page breaks. Paged view is the default. To switch, open Page Layout, turn Pageless mode on or off, and click Apply.

Pageless mode hides headers, footers, page numbers, page borders, watermarks, line numbers, and columns, and page breaks have no effect. The settings are kept and come back in paged view. While pageless mode is on, the dialog disables the page number, line number, and page border controls.

Pageless mode applies to the whole document. PDF export always produces pages, using the page size and margins.

Paragraph spacing and indent size

Two spacing settings in the Page Layout dialog apply to the whole document:

Paragraphs with their own spacing, such as paragraphs imported from Word, keep it. Line spacing is set per paragraph on the Edit tab.

Default layout for new documents

Set as Default in the Page Layout dialog saves the current settings as the layout for your new documents. Pageless mode is included. The button reads Saved when the default is stored and Retry Save Default if saving failed. Existing documents don't change. The button requires an account and appears only when the dialog applies to the entire document.

Page breaks

A page break moves the text after the cursor to the top of the next page. To insert one, use any of these:

• Page Break on the Layout tab
• ⌘Enter (see paragraph shortcuts)
• Right-click, then Insert > Page Break

A break shows as a small double-line marker after the last word before it. The marker is not printed or exported. Breaks go in the document body only, not in a header, footer, or note.

Sections and section breaks

A section break splits the document into sections. Each section has its own page size, orientation, margins, columns, page numbering, page borders, and headers and footers. There are two kinds:

A new section starts with the layout of the section it was split from. To change one section:

1. Put the cursor in the section.
2. Click Page Layout. Apply to appears at the top when there is more than one section. It starts on the current section, for example Section 2 (current).
3. Change the settings and click Apply.

Choose Entire document in Apply to to give every section the same settings. Pageless mode and Set as Default appear only for the entire document. The Headers & Footers dialog has the same Apply to menu. For how Word section breaks import, see Word compatibility.

Columns

Text can flow in one, two, or three columns per section. Choose One column, Two columns, or Three columns under Columns in the Page Layout dialog. Columns are equal width, with a 0.5-inch gap.

To put columns on part of a page, such as a one-column title above a two-column body:

1. Put the cursor at the start of the text that goes in columns and click Continuous.
2. To return to one column after it, put the cursor where the columns end and click Continuous again.
3. Put the cursor in the middle section, open Page Layout, choose the number of columns, and click Apply.

Text fills a column to the bottom of the page before it continues in the next column. On a section's last page, the columns are balanced to equal length only when the section ends with a continuous break. At the end of the document or before a next-page break, the last column can be shorter. This matches Word. To balance the columns at the end of a document, end the section with a continuous break.

A Word document with more than three columns keeps its column count. The Columns menu shows it as, for example, 4 columns (imported).

Headers and footers

Every page has a header band in the top margin and a footer band in the bottom margin. Each band has three zones: left, center, and right.

Edit on the page

1. Double-click the top or bottom margin of a page. The zones appear as outlined boxes, and the cursor goes into the zone you clicked. A single click in the margin does nothing.
2. Type. Formatting from the Edit tab, such as fonts and bold, works in the zones. Press Tab to move to the next zone.
3. Click in the body text to stop editing the header or footer.

The Headers & Footers dialog

Click Headers & Footers on the Layout tab to edit both bands as text fields. Type {PAGE} for the page number and {PAGES} for the page count, for example Page {PAGE} of {PAGES}. Click Apply to save.

Different headers and footers for even pages come from Word documents or from the agent. They are shown and exported, but the dialog doesn't edit them, and saving the dialog leaves them unchanged. The agent can write headers, footers, and page numbers from a plain request, including even-page versions.

Page numbers

A page number is a live field in a header or footer. It shows the number of the page it is on. To add one, use any of these:

• Turn on the Page numbers switch in the Page Layout dialog. This adds a page number to the right zone of the header. Turning the switch off removes it. Other header text is not changed.
• While editing a header or footer zone, click Page # on the Insert tab. Use this for a number in another zone or in the footer.
• Type {PAGE} in the Headers & Footers dialog.

For Roman numerals on front matter and 1, 2, 3 after it, add a Section Break after the front matter. Set section 1 to i, ii, iii. Set section 2 to 1, 2, 3, turn on Restart page numbering, and set Start at to 1. Roman numerals cover pages 1 to 3999. Higher pages show as numbers.

The switch always uses the top right corner. For another position, insert the number with Page # in that zone, or ask the agent.

Page borders

Turn on Show page borders in the Page Layout dialog to draw a border on each page. It starts as a 1 pt black single line on all four sides, 24 pt from the page edge.

Borders are set per section. A Word page border in a style Revise can't draw, such as an art border, is kept for DOCX export. The dialog notes this and offers Remove.

Watermarks

A watermark is faint text behind every page, such as DRAFT. Click Watermark on the Layout tab to add or change it.

• Text: any text, or a preset: DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT COPY, or SAMPLE.
• Diagonal: on (the default), the text runs across the page diagonal. Off, it is horizontal.
• Opacity: 10% to 100%. The default is 30%.

A watermark applies to the whole document. To delete it, open the dialog and click Remove.

Line numbers and hyphenation

Line numbers in the Page Layout dialog numbers every line in the left margin, as on legal pleading paper. When it is on, a menu sets when the count starts over: Restart each page (the default), Restart each section, or Continuous.

Hyphenation splits words with a hyphen at line ends. It uses English hyphenation rules and is off by default.

Keep with next, keep lines together, and widow control

Three options control how a paragraph breaks across pages. Right-click the paragraph and open Paragraph. A check mark shows each option that is on. Click an option to turn it on or off.

The submenu appears when the cursor is in a body paragraph and you can edit. The options have no effect in pageless mode. Word documents keep these settings on import and export. Word's "page break before" option has no equivalent: on import it becomes a page break before the paragraph.

Layout presets and the agent

The AI agent can change every setting on this page, for the whole document or one section. It also has one preset, APA 7th edition. Ask for APA format to get:

• Letter paper, portrait, 1-inch margins on all sides
• 0.5-inch indent size and no block spacing
• Page numbers in the top right corner, starting at 1
• Paged view

The preset changes page layout only, not fonts or line spacing. The agent applies layout changes directly, not as suggestions. External agents connected through the MCP server have the same settings and preset.

Export to Word and PDF

When you export a document, page layout carries over as follows:

Opening a Word file brings its page setup into Revise. What is shown, kept, or changed is listed in Word compatibility.

Requirements and limits