[Debbie G]

I'm using Word 97 on Windows XP (work requirements). I have a document that
I use that has a heading, then 4 colums of names and addresses, then the
letter starts. In normal view, the 4 colums are shown as a single column on
the left. In page layout view, they are spread across the page. I have made
sure there are continuous breaks before and after the colums.

Whenever I add a new first page to the document to start another letter, the
columns disappear and the text is shown vertically no matter what. I've
tried cut and paste, reinserting breaks and I can't fix it. Somehow I get it
to work but I don't even know how. What would cause this?

[Stefan Blom]

Note that Normal view never displays any column formatting; this is by
design. To see the newspaper columns, you must be in Page Layout view
(called Print Layout view in recent Word versions).

How are you inserting the page? Instead of using a page break, you might
just as well insert a "Next page" section break at the beginning of the
document (because newspaper columns apply to entire sections): On the Insert
menu, click Break. Click "Next page" and then click OK.

After you've inserted the section you can format it in newspaper columns
(via Format | Columns). Before clicking OK, make sure that "Apply to" is set
to "This section."

Alternatively, you can add column formatting to the selected text, in which
case Word automatically inserts continuous section breaks before and after
the selection.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"Debbie G" wrote in message
...
I'm using Word 97 on Windows XP (work requirements). I have a document
that
I use that has a heading, then 4 colums of names and addresses, then the
letter starts. In normal view, the 4 colums are shown as a single column
on
the left. In page layout view, they are spread across the page. I have
made
sure there are continuous breaks before and after the colums.

Whenever I add a new first page to the document to start another letter,
the
columns disappear and the text is shown vertically no matter what. I've
tried cut and paste, reinserting breaks and I can't fix it. Somehow I get
it
to work but I don't even know how. What would cause this?