I recently updated from Scrivener v 2.6 to v 2.7, and now the header information in my custom compile formats has slipped down the page. Try as I might, I can’t find out how to move it back up again.
The picture on the left is from the old version of scrivener, and the picture on the right is from the new version - the page numbers, author name and title are now squashed up to the first line of text.
Virtual cookies and wine for anyone who can show me how to move the header back up the page!
I know I can increase the top margin space, but this means I get 1 less line on each page and therefore more pages in the book. This isn’t feasible when I recompile old books because the cover files won’t fit any more, plus it increases print costs.
In the Paper Size menu of Scrivener’s File -> Page Setup pane, choose the option to Manage Custom Sizes. The result on the right is what you might see if the non-printable area of the page were unusually large.
The margin defines the separation of the text block from the edges of the page. The header (and footer, if you have one) fits in the space between the margin and the edge of the non-printable area.
If you’re working with a printer, they should have a style sheet that tells you how much non-printable area to allow for their particular equipment.
In page setup, it was the bottom margin that was wrong - top, left and right were set to 6.35mm, and bottom was at 14.11mm. When I changed it to 6.35mm like the others, the header line moved back up to where it should be
Just a small pedantic clarification: the margin and the non-printable area are not the same. In physical printing, the non-printable area is defined by the limits of the equipment: if you put text there, it won’t print. The margin, in contrast, is just an aesthetic decision: you can do whatever you want, as long as you stay inside the printable area.
One reason why it’s important to keep the distinction in mind is that so many of us write for both print and electronic media. You can put whatever you want in a PDF file, regardless of whether it’s achievable in a tangible “dead tree” document. A good number of support queries happen when people have PDF files that look great, but then a physical printer like CreateSpace comes back to them with an error message.
