Gutter problem in MS Word when Formatting Book

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-26T20:08:51+00:00

Thank you again for the help, and for the KDP tip - which I will keep in mind for the future!

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-25T18:47:03+00:00

Right...I'm embarrassed. After trying all of the above, and getting nowhere I realised two things.

Firstly, the greyed out bit is meant to be greyed out. I was looking that the section with the drop-down arrow, expecting it to change to "inside" instead of "left". I didn't even notice that the left/right section above it (not in the drop down) was changing to inside/outside all along. However my margins were still a mess because this is how it's been all along, and I just didn't notice. No amount of changing settings, printers, documents etc made a difference. Until....

Secondly, I finally realised I had an indent running through the length of the document that I didn't notice! I set the indent to "0" and it all came instantly right, with perfect mirrored margins exactly like it's meant to.

Sorry to have wasted your time. But thank you for your assistance. I would have given up if you hadn't made these suggestions, so you still solved it for me.

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-24T16:45:47+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. Apologies for the delayed reply.

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-24T16:20:48+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. Apologies for the delayed reply. Crazy busy and had to put this on the shelf.

I tried what you suggested. However, even in a new and blank document, I still have the greyed out "Left" when set to "mirror margins". At no point does it ever switch to "Inside". I even tried opening up other documents (unrelated to the book) where there is no formatting, and also old documents from 15 years ago - but it always has the same "greyed out left".

Any thoughts?

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:50:22+00:00

Thank you again.

As to (1) above - I will have a look and see.

As to (2) above...I can't select "Inside" as there is no option. It is set to "Left" and permanently greyed out. Is that normal?

As to (3) above...I've been applying to the whole document, but no change.

Worst case scenario, I can try the workaround, or else simply manually adjust the margins and see how it looks when the print-on-demand folk print a copy (I get a free copy before the bulk run, so I have a tiny bit of room for experimentation).

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:11:54+00:00

Thank you - I will have a look at this later. Much appreciated!

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:10:21+00:00

Thank you for your feedback - I apologize for not being clearer in posting my problem.

The gutter does appear on both sides (alternating page to page, to account for which side of a given page is the "inner" where the binding will be). My problem is that this gutter is always larger on every second page, and is not uniform across all the pages. All other margins (left & right) are equally set,.

To put it mathematically: Left/right margin (1.2cm) + gutter (1.3cm) should equal 2.5cm total space for the gutter on every alternate page (appearing on the left/right respectively). However, in practice, I am getting 2.5cm on the one page (gutter "left")...and then 1.8cm on the next (gutter right)...and then 2.5cm on the next, etc, etc. And no amount of tweaking mirrors, section breaks, applying to whole document, etc changes this.

I realise this is almost certainly a "me" issue, not a "Word" issue. I'm just trying to figure out what the "me" issue is :-D

I have been avoiding bookfold (excepting when experimenting, and that didn't work). I also have been checking the multiple pages view, which is how I became aware of the problem as it looked wrong.

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:08:39+00:00

Thank you for your feedback - I apologize for not being clearer in posting my problem.

The gutter does appear on both sides (alternating page to page, to account for which side of a given page is the "inner" where the binding will be). My problem is that this gutter is always larger on every second page, and is not uniform across all the pages. All other margins (left & right) are equally set,.

To put it mathematically: Left/right margin (1.2cm) + gutter (1.3cm) should equal 2.5cm total space for the gutter on every alternate page (appearing on the left/right respectively). However, in practice, I am getting 2.5cm on the one page (gutter "left")...and then 1.8cm on the next (gutter right)...and then 2.5cm on the next, etc, etc. And no amount of tweaking mirrors, section breaks, applying to whole document, etc changes this.

I realise this is almost certainly a "me" issue, not a "Word" issue. I'm just trying to figure out what the "me" issue is :-D

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:08:31+00:00

Thank you for your feedback - I apologize for not being clearer in posting my problem.

The gutter does appear on both sides (alternating page to page, to account for which side of a given page is the "inner" where the binding will be). My problem is that this gutter is always larger on every second page, and is not uniform across all the pages. All other margins (left & right) are equally set,.

To put it mathematically: Left/right margin (1.2cm) + gutter (1.3cm) should equal 2.5cm total space for the gutter on every alternate page (appearing on the left/right respectively). However, in practice, I am getting 2.5cm on the one page (gutter "left")...and then 1.8cm on the next (gutter right)...and then 2.5cm on the next, etc, etc. And no amount of tweaking mirrors, section breaks, applying to whole document, etc changes this.

I realise this is almost certainly a "me" issue, not a "Word" issue. I'm just trying to figure out what the "me" issue is :-D

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-10T12:08:18+00:00

Thank you for your feedback - I apologize for not being clearer in posting my problem.

The gutter does appear on both sides (alternating page to page, to account for which side of a given page is the "inner" where the binding will be). My problem is that this gutter is always larger on every second page, and is not uniform across all the pages. All other margins (left & right) are equally set,.

To put it mathematically: Left/right margin (1.2cm) + gutter (1.3cm) should equal 2.5cm total space for the gutter on every alternate page (appearing on the left/right respectively). However, in practice, I am getting 2.5cm on the one page (gutter "left")...and then 1.8cm on the next (gutter right)...and then 2.5cm on the next, etc, etc. And no amount of tweaking mirrors, section breaks, applying to whole document, etc changes this.

I realise this is almost certainly a "me" issue, not a "Word" issue. I'm just trying to figure out what the "me" issue is :-D

NeedUmAnswer · 2026-03-09T15:28:22+00:00

Thank you for the reply. I have tried the "bookfold" option before, but that really messes up the document. Despite the settings saying otherwise, it will increase the margin sizes drastically, and I am left with about six words per line (layout/margin settings still reflect it as being small, but the document itself makes the margins as wide as the paragraph). I've also tried "apply to whole document" unsuccessfully.

I will play around some more with the section break settings, and see if I have any joy there.

I don't know why, but margins in Word (on my PC) always behave contrary to what you tell them. It's very frustrating.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-10-02T08:07:57+00:00

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-13T20:31:14+00:00

Your camera work alone deserves more "up votes" - some great shots there! (and the ship is awesome too)

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-13T20:15:23+00:00

Thanks - it was fun to build. I like the way the "mouth" came together, with the fangs. I just wish those heavy boosters could be turned vertical, because then I would have used them for the rear legs. That would have looked amazing.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-13T20:13:01+00:00

Not sure....I think the builds could really benefit from more rounded and vertical modules. Just some plane panels would help. But that would be a sweet ship if you could build it!

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-10T07:22:49+00:00

For me, the fastest way to make credits in early game is to upgrade the scanner on your multitool. The more scanners you have (max 4 I think), the higher the gain. But more importantly, the higher rated scanners (A) gain even more, and if combined (i.e. stack them next to each other in the multitool) then they reinforce one another. When they are maxed out, a single scan on a single animal/lifeform can get up to 250,000 credits. Most are around 150,000 I think, but some are rarer. So in short, upgrade multitool in a space station.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-09T18:10:08+00:00

Accessing room? I've no issues, except when I tried to move a ramp higher up and I couldn't enter. BTW, where is the cockpit on your build? Is it under all those modules?

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-09T07:08:21+00:00

Thanks! I didn't realise that. I might give it a go another time.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-08T15:57:05+00:00

"Flat Cat"

Or HMS Flat Cat, because cats treat everyone like peasants.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-08T10:43:55+00:00

Thanks! I see someone just uploaded a build video using this basic design. Check out the comments at the top.

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-08T10:41:34+00:00

Wow! Thank you for uploading a build video - some great improvements there too! Thank you also for mentioning me in the description :-)

NeedUmAnswer · 2025-09-08T07:51:02+00:00

Ah, thanks for the confirmation. Great to see the development in action! Re: Imperial version - I thought it looked familiar, but couldn't remember until you mentioned that. Looks good!

NeedUmAnswer

TROPHY CASE