Hello,
I am creation journals in MS Word 2010,
My MS Word pages are in two columns,

On the last page of each journal if the page is not entirely filled out then i have to inset a column break to divide the page text evenly in two halfs (left column side and right column side).



The problem is the last line in the left column side wont be justified in this case as the rest of the journal, and i need to force justification of it be cause the right column side is a continuation to it.

I need a way to force justification of the last line in the left side column with the condition that the right side column starts with a new paragraph. Because i have to alter the line spacing of one side without affecting the other side when the line numbers are odd (not even).

Instead of inserting column breaks, insert an empty paragraph at the end of your document, select the last paragraph break in your document and format the layout there for a single-column page. Word will insert a continuous section break there, balancing the columns. You can then hide the last paragraph's font and/or reduce the last paragraph's before/after spacing to 0, its point size to 1 and its line spacing to a 0.1 multiple.

That should avoid any spill-over to a new page if your last 'real' page fills up.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

I have tried your solution, with no avail.

I have attached the .docx document.

Attached Images

Justify_the_last.png (158.1 KB, 18 views)

Attached Files

BOAL AA FR 60ème - Copy.docx (96.1 KB, 5 views)

Works for me. See attached.

Attached Files

Document.docx (95.6 KB, 5 views)

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

But the problem of balancing the left and right columns of odd number of lines persists in your solution.

in the original document that i have attached (the number of lines in the left side are 15 and the number of lines in the right side are 14), so I have balanced the two sides by adjusting the line spacing of the right side to 11,8 pt and kept the line spacing of the left side to 11.

I needed a paragraph separator between the two sides so I can adjust the line spacing of one side without affecting the line spacing of the other side.

I also need the middle line separator to stay exactly the length of the two sides.

is there a solution for this?

You do not need a paragraph break.

Evidently, someone has changed a Word setting.

It's not clear what Office version you're using. Your profile says Office 2007, but your screenshot shows a different version.

In Office 2007, Click on the Pizza symbol, then choose Word Options|Advanced|Compatability Options>Layout Options, then uncheck "Don't balance columns at the start of Continuous sections".

In Office 2010, Click on File|Options|Advanced|Compatability Options>Layout Options, then uncheck "Don't balance columns at the start of Continuous sections".

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hello,

if you look the settings in the file that I have attached you will see that the option in question is already unchecked.

As for the Work MS Word version, I was using MS Word 2007 but I upgraded to MS Word 2010 and forgot to update my profile, and I did it now.

As for the screenshot I uploaded, I used the Home MS Word 2021.

the solution I came up with is illustrated in the new attached screenshot.
But the only problem left is that extra portion of the columns line separator.

Attached Images

Journal.png (178.7 KB, 12 views)

You apparently haven't tried doing what I suggested in my last post...

You can get essentially the same result you now have using a column break without the shift-enter (via Ctrl-Shift-J), but you really should do as advised.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]