Layout Keywords

Six keywords for controlling how a document looks when rendered — pagination, headers, footers, watermarks, document-wide style rules, and print page breaks.

page:

Category: Layout Arabic: صفحة:

Defines the page layout settings for print and PDF output.

Syntax

page: | size: value | orientation: value | margin: value

Properties

Property	Type	Description
size	string	A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 Letter Legal, or a custom <w> <h>
orientation	string	portrait (default) or landscape — landscape swaps width/height
margin	string	CSS margin value — e.g. 20mm, 1in, 2cm (also accepts margins:)

Examples

page: | size: A4 | orientation: portrait | margin: 20mm
page: | size: A3 | orientation: landscape | margin: 18mm
page: | size: A3 landscape | margin: 18mm
page: | size: 80mm auto | margin: 4mm

Notes

• Browser rendering inherits the system default — page: primarily affects PDF export and print
• Only one page: block per document is valid
• True physical size. The print/PDF @page { size: … } emits the real sheet size, so A3/A2/A1 reports and wide tables output at full scale. ISO portrait dimensions (w×h, mm): A5 148×210, A4 210×297, A3 297×420, A2 420×594, A1 594×841.
• Orientation can be a separate property (orientation: landscape) or baked into the size value as a shorthand (size: A3 landscape).
• Custom size <w> <h> (e.g. 80mm auto) makes a continuous roll with no pagination — useful for thermal receipts. Narrow pages (≤120mm) default to a tight 4mm margin when none is set.

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header:

Category: Layout Arabic: ترويسة:

Defines the running header for multi-page output.

Syntax

header: content | left: text | center: text | right: text | skip-first: true

Properties

Property	Type	Description
left	string	Text in the top-left zone
center	string	Text in the top-center zone
right	string	Text in the top-right zone
skip-first	string	true suppresses the header on the first (title) page

Examples

header: Acme Corporation Confidential
header: | left: Acme Corp | right: Confidential
header: | center: Service Agreement v1.0 | skip-first: true

Notes

• Header is hidden in web rendering — visible in print and PDF only (uses CSS @top-* margin boxes)
• The content-only form (header: ACME Corp) renders in the center zone
• skip-first: true is standard for formal documents — suppresses the header on the title page
• Content can include the print tokens {{page}} and {{pages}}

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footer:

Category: Layout Arabic: تذييل:

Defines the running footer for multi-page output, including page numbers.

Syntax

footer: content | left: text | center: text | right: text | skip-first: true

Properties

Property	Type	Description
left	string	Text in the bottom-left zone
center	string	Text in the bottom-center zone
right	string	Text in the bottom-right zone
skip-first	string	true suppresses the footer on the first (title) page

Examples

footer: Page {{page}} of {{pages}}
footer: | left: Confidential | right: Page {{page}} of {{pages}}
footer: | center: ACME — Confidential | skip-first: true

Template variables

The print tokens {{page}} and {{pages}} become live page numbers in print and in the editor (they compile to CSS counter(page) / counter(pages)). These are the only substituted tokens — any other text in a header/footer zone renders literally.

Variable	Output
{{page}}	Current page number
{{pages}}	Total page count

Notes

• Footer is hidden in web rendering — visible in print and PDF only
• The content-only form (footer: …) renders in the center zone
• skip-first: true suppresses the footer on the title/cover page

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watermark:

Category: Layout Arabic: علامة:

Watermark printed diagonally across every page.

Syntax

watermark: text | opacity: value | color: value | angle: degrees

Properties

Property	Type	Description
opacity	number	0.0–1.0, default 0.15
color	string	CSS color — default gray
angle	number	Rotation in degrees, default 45

Examples

watermark: DRAFT
watermark: CONFIDENTIAL | opacity: 0.2 | color: red
watermark: For Review Only | opacity: 0.1 | angle: 30

In a template, make the watermark a variable — pass empty data to skip it, or different values per version:

watermark: {{watermark_text}} | color: {{watermark_color}}

Notes

• Printed diagonally across every page in print/PDF output
• Visible in web rendering as a CSS background layer
• Opacity guide: 0.03–0.05 very subtle, 0.06–0.10 standard, 0.10–0.15 strong, above that it obscures content
• Remove by deleting the watermark: block — sealing the document with freeze: prevents removal

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break:

Category: Layout Arabic: فاصل:

Page break for print output. Invisible in web rendering — renders as display:none with aria-hidden="true". In print and PDF, forces a page break at the point where break: appears.

Syntax

break:

A bare break: forces a page break at that point. The block carries no content — it is invisible in web output and forces a new page in print/PDF.

Examples

section: Chapter One
Introduction material...

break:

section: Chapter Two
New chapter starts on a fresh page.

Advanced: scoped break rules

A break: block may also carry before: and keep: properties whose values name a CSS class the renderer emits page-break rules for (before: → page-break-before: always on .it-<value>; keep: → break-inside: avoid on .it-<value>). These are for advanced print tuning; most documents only ever need a bare break:.

break: vs x-layout: divider

	break:	x-layout: divider
Visible in	Print/PDF only	Both web and print
Effect	Forces page boundary	Visual horizontal rule
Print	New page	<hr> on the page
Web	Invisible (display:none)	Rendered thematic break

Use break: for structural pagination. Use x-layout: divider for visible section dividers.

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style:

Category: Layout Arabic: نمط:

Scoped document style rule — house styling for a block type, declared once, document-wide. Keeps presentation out of the content body: lines stay clean and queryable while the document carries its own look (e.g. per-tenant branding in a stored template).

Syntax

style: target | key: value | key: value

Properties

The target (the content before the first |) is a block type: title, summary, section, sub, text, quote, callout, info, table, table-header, metric, contact, divider. Unknown targets are ignored.

The values are the standard style properties — color, size, family, weight, bg, align, indent, opacity, italic, border, underline, strike — never arbitrary CSS.

Examples

style: section | color: #0a7 | weight: 600
style: title | family: Georgia | size: 26pt
style: metric | color: #333

Notes

• Rules apply after the theme (house style wins); per-line props and inline [text]{…} spans still override a rule (most-specific wins).
• style: lines never render as body content and round-trip byte-exact.
• The web editor shows each rule as a 🎨 chip and applies it live to the canvas — identical to print output.

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Extension keywords

Typography and decorative layout keywords are available in the x-layout: and x-doc: namespaces. These are rendered by the renderer but do not affect the core document model.

Extension	Purpose
x-layout: font	Typography settings — family, size, line-height
x-layout: divider	Visual horizontal rule, shown in both web and print
x-doc: signline	Physical signature line for printed/PDF contracts

See the extensions overview in Keywords → for full syntax.