How do I add text to the left margin in Word 2010?

July 25, 2011 11:06 AM

How do I add text to the left margin in Word 2010?

I would like to add vertical text to the left margin of Word 2010. It would likely be three small lines of text, centered along the vertical length/axis within the left margin.

This is common in legal documents, yet I cannot figure out how to do it after having conducted a diligent search on MeFi and Google.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

posted by Mr_Crazyhorse to computers & internet (7 answers total)

Draw a text box in the left margin, edit the box and tell it to rotate your text.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:18 AM on July 25, 2011

I haven't used Word 2010, but probably what you actually want to do is divide the page into two columns. Make the first column, on the left, just an inch wide. The second column would be the rest of the page. You'll also want to set your margin to zero on the left side.

On preview, DarlingBri's method should work, also. And is probably simpler.
posted by MexicanYenta at 11:21 AM on July 25, 2011

You could also probably do it as a table with the left margin at 0 and the left column an inch wide, then the right column I guess 6.5" wide (to leave a 1" right margin). Make only 1 row and make the borders invisible and voila.
posted by brainmouse at 11:31 AM on July 25, 2011

Edit: So that it appears on all pages.

Thanks again! I will try some of these options out later today.
posted by Mr_Crazyhorse at 11:39 AM on July 25, 2011

The nice thing about DarlingBri's textbox is that you can anchor it in the header. This way the textbox will be repeated on every page and you can even display the correct page number or section numbers by using field codes.
If you use several columns you will get problems when you go from one to several pages.
If you use tables, you will have no problems when using several pages but you will get the usual table problems, e.g. try looking for the context menu item that lets you format a graphic when it is located in a table cell.
posted by mmkhd at 11:40 AM on July 25, 2011

For legal documents, like pleading paper, the margins of the header are set differently than they are in the body or footer. Then a text box is used for the text (in my case, line numbers). Message me privately, and I'll see about sending you a sample that you can edit to suit your needs.
posted by Hylas at 11:41 AM on July 25, 2011

Ooops. In case it wasn't clear, the margin text is all part of the header, even though it doesn't look that way when printed.
posted by Hylas at 11:41 AM on July 25, 2011