Maybe everybody else figured this out years ago, but I’m passing it along in case other self-publishing writers are still stumped….
I write in Microsoft Word. Specifically, I use Word 2003, which is the last version of Word prior to the introduction of both the ponderous ribbon interface and the defaulting of all MS Office docs to the web-happy in-house .docx file format. (When Office 2007 debuted I decided I was done learning new productivity tools, particularly when the people making those tools were repeatedly and unrepentantly inclined to radical and proprietary changes that did not benefit my productivity. See also Windows 8.)
When you format a document for printing as a book, the first page of your document will become the page of your book that appears on the right-hand side when the cover is opened. Thereafter, all left-hand pages will be even-numbered, all right-hand pages odd-numbered. When previewing your book in Word, then, what you want to see is the first right-hand, odd-numbered page all alone on the right side of the screen, followed by pairs of left-and-right-hand pages showing the correct pagination and formatting (particular the gutter margin) as you scroll through the document.
In Word 2003 there are five different view modes available under the View menu — Normal, Web Layout, Print Layout, Reading Layout and Outline — and not one of those views will give you what you’re looking for. Normal view only shows one page at a time, inline. Web Layout shows the entire doc as an endless scroll. Print Layout will show two side-by-side pages, or more if you zoom out, but the first odd page will always be on the left when it should be on the right. Reading Layout, which does show two pages side-by-side, like a book, also incorrectly puts the first right-hand page on the left. And of course Outline view shows the entire document as a single-page outline.
Way back when I formatted my short story collection, the only way I could figure out how to force Word to display the first right-hand page on the right side of the screen was to add a dummy page at the beginning of the doc (effectively page zero). The problem with that hack was that Word would then display all of the correctly numbered and formatted right-and-left-hand pages on the wrong side of the screen. For example, page two, which should have a larger gutter margin on the right side of that page, would correctly display on the left of the screen, but because Word then counted that as page three of the doc the larger gutter appeared on the left — meaning the outside of the two-page display. Worse, headers and footers were also affected and had to be scrupulously ignored.
Although I repeatedly searched for a solution, I could not figure out how to get Word to display the first page of my doc as a single right-hand page, followed by the correct side-by-side view as if I was reading a book. Because I’m now monkeying around with another book I recently found myself confronting the same problem, and again I refused to believe that Word could not somehow be configured to give me the view I needed. So I did yet another series of searches, and this time I found the answer, which was apparently there all along:
It *does* work, at least in Word 2003 (and every previous version AFAR). I
have a four-page test document. If I select “Mirror margins” then switch to
Print Preview and choose 1×2 pages, I get page 1 on the right. Paging down,
I get pages 2 and 3, then 4. Same if I check “Different odd and even.”
Either of those settings has the desired result.
So there you go. In Word 2003 and earlier, and perhaps later, set Mirror Margins in the Page Setup dialogue, then select Print Preview under the File menu. (It doesn’t even matter what View mode you’re in at the moment.) The first page of your book-formatted doc will appear alone on the right side of the screen, followed by side-by-side-pages the rest of the way as you scroll.
If that works in later versions of Word, please drop a note in the comments. I don’t want any other writers wasting time trying to solve this completely contrarian problem.
— Mark Barrett
Thank, Mark, this is helpful to know. I’ve gone crazy trying visualize the book form when all I can see is Word’s backwards setup.
It also works in Word 2007. Just to clarify, the File menu is the Office Button in the far upper left of the screen. You go to Print, then Print Preview.
Very little is intuitive.
Hi Victoria,
Glad it helped. And I know what you mean about going crazy. 🙂
(Thanks also for the update about 2007.)
THANK YOU!!! I had no idea Mirror Margins would have that effect. I’m using Word 2007. Thanks again.
SteveO
You’re welcome. Probably the most obscure MSWord ‘tip’ I’ve ever run across.
Obviously built in early and nobody ever thought to fix it, or to include a critical tooltip that explains the possible impact on how a document displays.
i can’t seem to get this to work on word 2003.
I would imagine there are some settings that might conflict with the steps above, so perhaps the easiest way to rule out such problems would be to create a simple test document with multiple pages and generic text, then see if the recommended steps give you the expected result. It has worked for me each time I’ve tried it, so I can’t think what the problem would be.
Mark, I so so so appreciate your post! I too was going crazy not being able to view my book in MS Word the way it is REALLY supposed to be when printed! but thanks to your suggestion, “Print Preview” works great!
Hi Susan,
Glad to help. 🙂
FYI OpenOffice (and now Apache OpenOffice) has always offed this view in the working mode with a simple click of an icon next to the zoom slider.
Hi Mark,
Like many others I had given up ever getting Word 2003 to show me how my book would look. I mean I’ve been messing around for 15 years with books and it has always irritated me no end. I think I’ve solved it and then find something has tripped me up again.I must have had dozens of attempts and read so many people who said (very authoritatively) that it cannot be done.
I read your tip and then thought “Oh Yeeeh” it’s another tip that won’t work. But hey IT DOES WORK.
I could hardly believe it when my Front cover page came up by itself and then pages 2 and 3 together, then 4 and 5 etc. all the way to the end.
Thank you again. When I get over the excitement I will chase through the rest of your site – who knows what else may be lurking there?
cheers, Erik in OZ.
Thank you for explaining how I can view my book in Word! Extremely helpful. This view is especially important for picture books, of which I am writing many. 🙂
You’re welcome, Christa — I’m glad it helps. (There are enough complications in writing, without the tools getting in the way.)
I also have been trying to figure this out for years, but just found your page… but I can’t get it to work. First, is “Print Preview” the screen that comes up when I select Print? I do not have any option called “Print Preview,” but this does allow me to see one or two pages. But the margins are still not correct.
In both the print layout view (my regular Word work & read view), and also trying your “fix,” the gutter remains on the left. Page 1 looks just right, because the gutter (inside) is on the left. But the even-numbered pages also have the gutter on the left, which is incorrect.
It’s easy to see the incorrect margins, because the gutter (inside) margin is always straight, and the outside margin is always uneven, with lines ending at different places.
I’m using Word 7.
Hi Sara,
I don’t think the operating system version should matter, meaning anything from WinXP to Win 7, Win 8 and Win10 should work. (I just confirmed it on a 64-bit version of Win10, running the old 32-bit app.)
As for finding ‘Print Preview’, in my creaky old version of Word 2003 that’s under the ‘File’ menu, toward the bottom, just above the ‘Print’ option you mentioned.
Note, however, that starting in 2003, MS Office added menus which auto-shorten themselves depending on which features you use. Unfortunately, that also obscures options you never use, but if there are hidden options in any of your main menus you should see a round button at the bottom which fully expands that menu. (Float your mouse pointer over it and I think it will even say ‘Expand’ in a popup tooltip.)
If you have your document configured with mirror margins, then clicking on ‘Print Preview’ should display that document with a single right-side page at the top.
If you still can’t find a ‘Print Preview’ option for your version of MS Word/Office, I can only suggest an(other) internet search to see where Microsoft stashed it. It’s hard to imagine they got rid of it completely.
Just to say thank you very much. This is still useful in 2023 with the latest version of Word.