These ten questions cover page layout, columns, tables, headers, footers and print preview. They are original, use invented names, and are ordered easy to harder.
Write your answer and the setting you would apply before opening the working. Calculations use millimetres.
Questions
1. State the width and height of an A4 page in portrait orientation.
Show answer
Width 210 mm, height 297 mm.
2. An A4 portrait page has 20 mm margins on all four sides. Find the text width and text height.
Show answer
Width = 210 − 20 − 20 = 170 mm. Height = 297 − 20 − 20 = 257 mm.
3. A brief gives left and right margins of 2 cm and top and bottom margins of 2.5 cm on A4 portrait. Find the text area in cm.
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Width = 21 − 2 − 2 = 17 cm. Height = 29.7 − 2.5 − 2.5 = 24.7 cm.
4. The text width is 170 mm. A newsletter uses two columns with an 8 mm gap. Find the column width.
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(170 − 8) ÷ 2 = 162 ÷ 2 = 81 mm.
5. The text width is 170 mm. A leaflet uses three columns with 5 mm gaps. Find the column width.
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Two gaps: 10 mm. (170 − 10) ÷ 3 = 160 ÷ 3 = 53.3 mm to 1 decimal place.
6. A school notice has a title that must span the full page, with body text in two columns. Name the layout feature you need and say why.
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A continuous section break after the title. The title stays in a one-column section and the body gets two columns. Without it, the title is squeezed into one column.
7. A table has columns of 50 mm, 45 mm, 40 mm and 30 mm. The text width is 170 mm. Does it fit? State the space left or the overflow.
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50 + 45 + 40 + 30 = 165 mm. It fits, with 5 mm to spare.
8. A table has five columns of 40 mm each on a portrait page with a 170 mm text width. Find the overflow, then state one fix and check it fits.
Show answer
5 × 40 = 200 mm. Overflow = 200 − 170 = 30 mm. One fix is landscape orientation with 20 mm side margins: 297 − 40 = 257 mm, and 200 ≤ 257, so it fits. Another is narrowing each column to 34 mm (5 × 34 = 170).
9. A 9-page report has the footer “Page X of Y”. The student sees “Page 1 of 9” on every page. Explain the cause and the fix.
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The page number was typed by hand or copied, not inserted as an automatic field. Delete it and insert the page number field in the footer once. Page 4 will then show “Page 4 of 9”.
10. The text height is 247 mm and each line is 5 mm. A document has 120 lines. How many lines fit on each page, and how many pages are needed?
Show answer
247 ÷ 5 = 49.4, so 49 lines per page. Pages 1 and 2 hold 98 lines. 120 − 98 = 22 lines on page 3, so three pages are needed (49 × 3 = 147 ≥ 120). If the brief asks for two pages, shorten the text or reduce spacing, but keep the font size the brief gives.
If you got these wrong
- Questions 1 to 3 (size, margins, units): revisit setting page layout.
- Questions 4 to 6 (columns and breaks): see sections and columns.
- Questions 7 and 8 (table widths): see tables with consistent headings.
- Question 9 (page numbers): see header, footer and page number.
- Question 10 (page count and overflow): see print preview.
Log each error with the mistake log and retest queue, and use the ICT practical task and evidence checker for a fresh brief. Return to the Document production module for the full route.
For practical tasks where you want live feedback, see online one-to-one ICT tuition.