Trouble with MS Word templates and 'sections'

Question

I'm trying to create a letterhead template that works like so:

• Front page containing one header image
• Continuation page containing alternate header image
• All additional pages automatically use continuation / alternate header

Here are the steps that I've taken so far:

1. Created the first page and added the header image
2. Clicked Layouts > Breaks > Next Page
3. Unchecked Link to Previous
4. Added alternate header image

So now I have a 2-page Word doc, with different headers on each. I can see in the status bar at the bottom that page 1 has 'section 1' and page 2 has 'section 2'.

However when I move my cursor to page 1, and type a load of text until it's full, the spillover doesn't go into page 2 as I'd hoped.

Instead it creates a new page, using the same header as page 1.

Am I doing something wrong? How do I set it so that the spillover goes into the second page that has already been created?

I've tried it without unchecking Link to Previous but then my alternate header overwrites the one on the first page

Answer 1

That's the expected behavior of a break in Word. Breaks are treated like character, and move with the text. You actually see the location of the break by pressing Ctrl + Shift + *.

What you are trying to do—having a different header for first page—is actually built into the header footer settings.

1. Double click in the header to edit it.
2. In the ribbon, in Header & Footer Tools, select Different First Page.

While the second page won't be visible in an empty document, the header/footer will be retained. So when you are creating your template, you can manually insert a page (not section) break with Ctrl + Enter, make your changes to the second page, and then delete the page break.

Answer 2

This tutorial is very usefull.. http://tutorialway.com/page-layout-in-microsoft-word/