# Vertical centering of section layouts

**URL:** <https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/vertical-centering-of-section-layouts/133394>\
**Category:** Wish List\
**Created:** [March 26, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/vertical-centering-of-section-layouts/133394 "2023-03-26T14:25:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chupacabrando](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@chupacabrando](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chupacabrando)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/vertical-centering-of-section-layouts/133394/1 "2023-03-26T14:25:47Z")

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Hi Keith, thanks for all you do on here. I’ve poked around via search and seen that people who request vertical centering are usually referred to pagepadding within the section layouts menu, but I would like to provide my own example that makes this hard-return method impossible – I’m writing a book with poem epigraphs for every chapter, meaning that a chapter title and the following poem will make up a sort of “title page” for each chapter. Obviously, all the poems are of different lengths, so I can’t use a single section layout to keep all their formatting organized. Futzing around with my frontmatter in the past has proven a bit tedious for this same reason: hard-returns are great, but when the vertical length of a section layout is in flux, it causes complications.

Is a vertical centering option anywhere on the roadmap for future features? It seems there’s a lot of inquiry about it. Once again, thanks for your hard work!

Josh

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**Author:** ![Vector\_Victor](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vector_victor/32/27159_2.png) [@Vector\_Victor](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vector_Victor)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/vertical-centering-of-section-layouts/133394/3 "2023-03-26T17:02:36Z")

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I don’t think you’ll find an easy way to do this within Scrivener, as I haven’t found a way to create vertical alignment.

The workaround I would suggest is to put your epigraph in a table with one column and one row. Unfortunately the table formatting in Scrivener is basically non-existent.

However, if you output to Word, this will output your table. From there, you can select the table, select **Table Properties** , then on the **Row** tab, select **Centered** as the vertical alignment.

Word has a nice macro recorder that you can use to automate this task. To enable macros in Word (they’re hidden by default):

1. Click **File** at the far left of the menu bar, then click **Options** at the bottom left of the screen.
2. On the **Options** dialog box, select **Customize Ribbon**.
3. In the right pane of the chooser, you’ll see check boxes for all of the available top level menu buttons. Check to select Developer, then click OK.

To record a macro (a series of commands that you can assign to a button for playback):

1. In your document, click the **Developer** menu.
2. On the ribbon, click **Record Macro**. You’ll see a little icon like a cassette tape. Word will now record all your keystrokes.
3. On your keyboard, press **Ctrl-H** to open the **Find/Replace** dialog box.
4. Click the **Go To** tab.
5. In the **Go To What** list, scroll down and select **Table**.
6. Click the **Next** button, then click **Close**.
7. Mouse over the top left corner of the table until a box with a + appears.
8. Right click on that box and select **Table Properties** from the shortcut menu.
9. On the **Table Properties** dialog box, click the **Cell** tab, then under **Vertical alignment** , click **Center** , then click **OK**.
10. You have now completed the macro. Click to open the **Developer** ribbon, then click **Stop Recording**.  
To run your macro:
11. Click **Visual Basic** on the far left of the **Developer** ribbon. This opens a new window with the source code of your newly created macro.
12. Notice that there are playback controls just below the menu bar in this window. Click **Play** to execute your macro. Repeat until all your tables are formatted.

**Note** :  
Take care with this macro if you have other tables within your document whose formatting you do not want to affect. In that case, you’ll need to “undo” the formatting on those, then move the cursor out of the table before clicking the Play button again.

When you’re done, save the document. You can then drag the .DOCX file into Calibre, then convert it to your preferred ebook format.

This barely scratches the surface of Word’s macro capabilities. If you’re inclined to dig deeper into simple programming, you can add logic to your macro to repeat the commands until it reaches the end of the file.

You can also copy your macro to Word’s document template “Normal.dotm” so it’s available in all documents associated with that template.

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**Author:** ![chupacabrando](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/b782af/32.png) [@chupacabrando](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chupacabrando)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/vertical-centering-of-section-layouts/133394/4 "2023-03-27T12:34:07Z")

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This is a really clever workaround, thanks!