Hi Alisande,

In your first attempt, the page break (which is really just a character) is
in the same paragraph with the text you're trying to format. There can only
be one paragraph shading per paragraph. Your workaround works because the
page break is no longer in the same paragraph with the text.

A better method is to select the paragraph with the text, go to Format
Paragraph Line & Page breaks, and check the box for "Page break before".
Click OK. Now delete the page break above the title, which is no longer
needed.

The best method is to define a paragraph style specifically for your titles.
That style can include the font, the shading, extra space before and after
(instead of the blank lines), and the "Page break before" setting. Just
apply that style to any paragraph, and it instantly is formatted just like
all the other headings. Also, if you change your mind about something --
say, to change the color of the shading -- you only need to change the
setting in the style, and all the headings will change together. For more
information, see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...les/index.html
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/conc...phs/index.html
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styl...sOnStyles.html

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

Alisande wrote:
I have several places in a document I'm creating where I have used 3
paragraphs - the top & bottom lines blank, the middle one containing
white text - which I have formatted to be shaded (using format,
borders & shading, paragraph), to serve as "title" headings for
various sections of the document.

I am having problems when I try to insert a page break just prior to
the shaded text. What happens is that the "page break" line on the
page above the shaded text also appears as a shaded bar. When I
highlight only that line and try to remove the paragraph shading, the
shading is also deleted from the three paragraphs on the next page
that I do want to appear shaded.

I am sure that it is due to something really simple that I can
change, but have not been able to figure out what it is. I did
devise a "workaround" by inserting a line just above the paragraphs I
want shaded and reducing the font size to very small, and then
removing the shading from that paragraph (which I can do - it's only
the page break that affects those below it) but it seems like there
should be an easier/better way to do it.

Can you help me fix this problem - or tell me if there is an
alternate way to format my title sections to avoid the issue
altogether?

Thanks!