Different courts have different requirements, or preferences, for document margins. Frequently, they do not want all the pages treated the same way. For example, they usually want a larger top margin on the first page to allow space to stamp the document without obscuring the printed text.

You can accommodate these preferences by setting your margins every time you create a document. An easier way is to automate this task by creating a macro (a set of keystrokes and instructions recorded and saved for later use), so that your computer sets the margins quickly, correctly, and consistently, for every document. Investing a few minutes now to automate this task will pay off quickly. Later, you can call up your margin-setting macro with a few keystrokes, and your Microsoft Word document will look exactly the way the court wants it. This process is so easy and saves so much time that you may want to create a macro for each court you appear in.

Creating your own macro for margins

The following instructions create a macro that inserts one set of margins for the front page of a document and a second set of margins for the remainder of the document. This example macro will create a front page with a 3-inch top margin and 1-inch margins on the bottom, left, and right. All subsequent pages in the same document will have a 1-inch margin on all four sides. You can substitute different measurements as necessary.

To start the macro recorder

1. Start Word.
2. Open a new document.
3. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Record New Macro.
4. In the Macro name box, type a one-word name for the macro you are going to create (for example, Court_01). The default setting for storing the macro will enable you to use this macro every time you work in Word. If you want, you can type a description of the macro (for example, "Macro for filing in Rain County District Court") in the Description box.
5. Click OK to begin recording the macro.

The icon for the macro recorder will appear on your screen to tell you that the macro recorder is working. For now, ignore the icon.

To create the margins for the first page

1. On the Edit menu, click Go To.
2. In the Enter page number box, type 1.
3. Press ENTER, and then click Close.
4. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Margins tab.
5. In the Top margin box, type 3.
6. In the Bottom margin box, type 1.
7. In the Left margin box, type 1.
8. In the Right margin box, type 1.
9. Click OK.

To create the margins for the remaining pages

1. On the Edit menu, click Go To.
2. In the Enter page number box, type 2.
3. Press ENTER, and then click Close.
4. On the Insert menu, click Break, click Continuous, and then click OK.
5. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Margins tab.
6. In the Top margin box, type 1. The settings for Bottom, Left, and Right should all be 1 and do not need to be changed.
7. Click OK.

To stop the macro recorder

On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Stop Recording. This will end the macro recording session.

To use this macro in a document

 Note   To use this or any other macro, you may need to adjust your macro security level settings. For information about macros, potential viruses, and security level settings, please see Macro security levels.

1. Open the document in Word.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
3. In the Macro name box, click the name of the macro you want to run (for example, Court_01).
4. Click Run.

For more information about the macro recorder, please see About macros.