17.1 Page setup: size, orientation, margins and gutter
Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 17: Document production · Paper 2
17.2 Columns and breaks
Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 17: Document production · Paper 2
14.2 Create, modify and apply styles
Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 14: Styles
Say each word, then read what it means. Every one is in the glossary too.
Read it here, or open the study page below to go one step at a time with things to try.
The examiner never sees your screen. Only your saved files and your evidence are marked.
Do not 'improve' the specification. A font, size or margin that is not the one asked for loses the mark.
Mark your work with the mark scheme. Write each lost mark in a log.
| Lost mark | Why it happened | Fix next time |
|---|---|---|
| Header not aligned to the right margin | Did not check after changing the margins | Check headers and footers after every page-setup change |
| One subheading in the wrong style | Formatted it by hand, not with the style | Apply styles only, then check each heading |
| A typing error in the title | Did not proofread | Read the typed text against the paper, word by word |
Read your log before the next practical. Most lost marks repeat.
Paper 2 usually begins: "Open the file J2611news.rtf. Save it in your work area as a document with the file name NEWS." Then come the page setup instructions.
A typical set: "Set the page size to A4. Set the page orientation to landscape. Set all margins to 2 cm."
Do the page setup first. Everything else, such as columns and image sizes, depends on it.
Changing margins later moves all the text, so tables, images and page breaks you placed earlier end up in the wrong place.
Save in the application's own format, as the task asks, not as .rtf again. Use the exact file name given, with the same capitals.
Page size is the paper size. In Spain and the UK the standard is A4 (21 cm × 29.7 cm). Letter size (21.6 cm × 27.9 cm) is used in the USA.
Orientation is the way the page is turned. Portrait is taller than it is wide. Landscape is wider than it is tall.
Use landscape for wide content, such as a table with many columns or a poster.
Source files from Cambridge are sometimes set to Letter. If the task says A4, change it. The examiner can see the difference in the printout's margins.
Margins are the blank borders between the edge of the paper and the text. You set four: top, bottom, left and right.
A gutter is extra margin added to the edge that will be bound, such as stapled or ring-bound. It stops text disappearing into the binding.
A typical task: "Set the top and bottom margins to 2.5 cm, the left and right margins to 2 cm, and a gutter of 1 cm on the left."
Knowing the text width helps you check later tasks. An image that should fill the width must be 16 cm here, not 21 cm.
After changing margins, check the header and footer. Right-aligned items must still sit on the new right margin. Moving the right tab stop is often needed.
Columns split the text into vertical strips, like a newspaper. Text fills one column, then flows into the next.
Column spacing (the gap or gutter between columns) is set in cm. A typical task: "Format the body text into three columns with 1 cm spacing between them."
Columns make short lines, which are quicker to read in newsletters and leaflets.
Set columns to equal width unless told otherwise. Check that the spacing value is exactly what the task says, not the default.
A section break divides a document into sections. Each section can have its own columns, orientation or margins.
Tasks often say: "The title and subtitle are in one column. All the text from the heading Introduction is in two columns."
Insert a continuous section break before Introduction. Then set two columns for the new section only. A continuous break starts the new section on the same page.
Without a section break, columns apply to the whole document, so the title is squeezed into a narrow column too.
Choosing a "next page" section break instead of continuous pushes the body text onto a new page and leaves a half-empty first page.
A page break forces the text after it onto a new page. Use it when a task says "start the heading Prices on a new page".
A column break forces the text after it into the next column. Use it to make columns balance or to start a heading at the top of a column.
Never press Enter many times to push text down. If you edit anything above, the gap changes.
| Break | What it does | Example task |
|---|---|---|
| Page break | Next text starts on a new page | Start the table on a new page |
| Section break (continuous) | New section on the same page, with its own layout | Title in 1 column, body in 2 |
| Section break (next page) | New section on a new page | Make page 3 landscape only |
| Column break | Next text starts at the top of the next column | Start Opening Times at the top of the second column |
A page break at the very end of the document creates a blank last page. Blank pages lose the layout mark. Turn on formatting marks to find stray breaks.
In most word processors, open the styles list and choose new style. Type the exact name.
Base it on the default text style, then set the font, size, colour, alignment, enhancement and spacing from the task.
If the task says "based on" another style, choose that one. If it says the next paragraph should use Body, set that too.
Many candidates format the text directly and forget to save it as a style. The text looks right, but there is no style to show in a screenshot, so the style marks are lost.
To modify a style, open its settings and change them. Every paragraph using that style updates automatically.
A typical task: "Modify the Heading style so that it is right aligned and italic."
Do not select every heading and change it by hand. That changes the text but not the style.
Modifying the style is what makes a change consistent across a 30-page report. You change one place, not 30.
If one heading does not update, it had direct formatting on top of the style. Clear the direct formatting, then reapply the style.
Click in a paragraph and choose the style. The whole paragraph takes the style.
Tasks say which text gets which style: "Apply the Title style to the first line. Apply the Subhead style to all subheadings. Apply the Body style to all other text."
"All other text" includes text in lists and text you imported. Check nothing is left in the default style.
The most common error: one paragraph is missed, often the last one or an imported one. It stays in the default font and the consistency mark is lost. Scroll through the whole document after applying.
A bulleted list puts a symbol, such as a dot or a square, before each item. A style can include the bullet, its shape and its indent.
A task may say: "Create a style called List with a square bullet, indented 1 cm, 0 pt spacing after."
Apply it to every list item. All items must have the same bullet and indent.
A last list item with extra space after it, or a different bullet, shows inconsistent formatting.
Tasks often ask for a screenshot of a style's settings. Open the modify style dialogue so the name, font, size, alignment and spacing are all visible, then take the screenshot.
Paste the screenshot into your evidence document under your name and candidate details.
Before printing, scroll through: every heading the same, every body paragraph the same, every list the same.
How candidates lose marks: style name typed differently from the task; settings applied directly, not saved in the style; one paragraph missed; spacing created with blank lines instead of spacing after; screenshot cropped so a setting is hidden.
Open the study page and go one step at a time.
Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 18Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 19Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 11Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 13Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 14Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 15Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
ICT topic 16Step by step, with exam questions and a quiz.
Topic 16 · Year 8A web page is text written in HTML (what's on the page), styled with CSS (how it looks), sometimes with JavaScript (what it does). Your browser fetches it using a URL.
One question at a time. The reason shows after each answer.