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I have uploaded a simple ODT file: https://ufile.io/26f07

We are trying to achieve this in LibreOffice Writer:

  • First page: No page number should be visible in the footer
  • Second page: A page number needed as footer, so "1"
  • Third page: No page number should be visible in the footer
  • Fourth page: A page number needed as footer, so "3"
  • Fifth page: ... A page number needed as footer, so "4" ...

We just don't know how to do this... Already tried on another forum, no luck: https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/89058/how-exactly-can-i-set-different-footers-in-libreoffice-4282/

Can someone describe how to do this? Or is it impossible, cannot be done?

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2 Answers 2

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Use "Styles and Formatting" in LibreOffice Writer.

That allows users to customize different things per page. This includes how to set different page numbers in footers per page. Users are required to be familiar with two important features in LibreOffice Writer: Page Styles and Page break (or Manual break for more control).

The following screenshot shows that it is possible to set different page numbers in footers per page.

LibreOffice Writer result overview

Note that above screenshot has increased font size, reduced page size and reduced zoom scale to show the result, which is otherwise too small for overview.

Follow five steps

Open LibreOffice with a new text document (or run LibreOffice Writer). In the menubar, select View and followed by Styles and Formatting (or press F11). There are five steps to follow:

  1. Select Page Styles and create a new style with new name i.e. "Added Footer"
  2. Modify the new style and enable Footer.
  3. Insert Manual Break, select a style i.e. "Added Footer" and change page number (if enabled, default is 1 to restart page number).
  4. Show Footer (click on footer area).
  5. Insert Field, select Page Number (result is 1 according to step 3).

At this point, you will have two pages of blank document: The first page has no footer; The second page has footer with page number.

To proceed, follow step 3 but this time select Default Style from the dropdown list. This will create third page without the footer/page number. Then repeat step 3 exactly as first time i.e. the new style to create fourth page with the footer/page number and so forth.

Additional notes

If you didn't get similar result, then you might have done something different:

  • Using Page Break (wrong) instead of Manual Break (correct). Doing the wrong will not show the dialog to change the style.

  • Placing the cursor inside the footer (wrong) instead of cursor within page content area (correct) to insert Manual Break. Doing the wrong will disable the last option "Page Break" in the dialog.

For more sophisticated formatting, repeat step 1 until step 3 to create additional page style. In step 2, users could define the page style more than what have been explained above.

For automated style selection, repeat step 2 to modify the page style. Then select Organizer tab and change "Next Style" to something else as desired. If this is done properly, then only use the shortcut key Ctrl+Enter to insert a Page Break (correct) instead of Manual Break (optional).

Disclaimer: This answer is intended to be a generic guide for using "Styles and Formatting" in LibreOffice Writer, which means details have been omitted on purpose. That being said, this answer should suffice to understand the basic idea before proceeding to further customize the end result of text document.

References

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You can solve this issue by using different page styles. The only problem is that you'll have to insert a manual page break after the first page. So, you can't let the content flow between the first and second (physical) page.

If adding a manual break after the first page is ok, just do the following:

  1. Define four page styles (my1stpagestyle to my4rthpagestyle);
  2. Modify my2ndpagestyle and my4rthpagestyle to have a footer;
  3. Modify my2ndpagestyle to have my3rdpagestyle as as Next Style (on the organizer tab); modify my3rdpagestyle to have my4rthpagestyle as as Next Style in the same way;
  4. Assign my1stpagestyle to the first page;
  5. At the end of the first page, enter a manual page break (Menu Insert -> Manual Break); from the Style combobox, select my2ndpagestyle, enable "change page number" to start from 1.

Interim result:

  • first page has no footer;
  • second and fourth (and all fourth + n pages) will have a footer;
  • third page will have no footer.

Now, for the final touch: In the footer of the second and of the fourth page, enter a page number field. That's all.

This will have the following effect:

  • first page has its own page style with no page number;
  • pagination will start from the second page, with no page number on the third page;
  • text body content can flow starting from the second page, because the solution doesn't require manual breaks from the second page onwards.

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