In this article, we explain how you can preview printouts of documents before publishing them, for example, to see where page breaks occur in relation to the document’s header.
💬 - "Why can't I see where page breaks occur while editing a text document?"
This is a question we often receive. The reason for this limitation is that AM System currently cannot dynamically manage headers and footers. This means that a header's size may vary depending on factors such as the individual reading the document and the category under which the document is published.
This dynamic makes it impossible to accurately predict where page breaks will occur before a document is published. As a result, the system cannot display the location of page breaks while the document is being edited.
Previewing Page Breaks in the AM System
However, there is a method to preview how a document will look when printed without having to publish it first. The Print Preview feature is available for all types of documents. To access it, simply navigate to the document you wish to preview (ensure that you are not in editing mode, you should see the publish button) and then:
- Open the publishing dialog by clicking on the Publish icon.
- Make sure you select a category under which the document will be published. This is important because the category determines which header will be used, and different headers can occupy varying amounts of space.
- Click on the Print Preview option to see where page breaks are likely to occur.
- The Print Preview feature can only reflect the information and metadata present in the document at the time it is accessed. It illustrates how the document will appear when printed based on the header and footer settings of the selected category.
- This means that if you have selected metadata in your header that has not yet been applied to the document, such as What has changed in this version? (which is added when the document is published), the preview will not accurately represent how the document will look once it is actually published.
- If you utilize the User's Workspace setting in the category configuration for Corporate Information, different users may see varying types of corporate information in the header. This variability can lead to discrepancies between the Print Preview and the actual printed appearance of the document.
Using Layout Documents
If your primary goal is to create documents for printing, you may want to consider using the Layout Document type in the AM System. This document type is designed for creating documents with fixed page sizes (such as A4) and provides greater control over how content is positioned on the page. It is especially useful when you need precise page breaks and complete control over headers and footers.
However, keep in mind that Layout Documents do not offer an automatic table of contents, and headers and footers must be managed manually. Additionally, they are not recommended for handling large volumes of text.
Related Content:
- Where to create Header/Footer in a text document
- How to Create a Header in Text and Layout Documents
- How to manage users via Workspaces
Last updated: 11 February, 2025