Advice for preparing a long document

[Sandra Jensen]

OS: Mac OS X
Word Version: 2004

My experience of Word has been limited to opening a new document and
writing a letter or two, with occasional curses when things didn't
'work'.

However, I have taken on an enormous job that requires a professional
knowledge of the programme. I have been reading everything I can, but
would like some advice on how to approach this job:

I have a number of long word documents (1 - 200 pages long), prepared
on different systems and by different people that I have to 'make into
one' long document which looks like it has been created by one person
- i.e cohesive look and feel and language.

This "one" document will be shared and worked on by three different
people (including myself), on different platforms and with different
versions of Word. Ultimately a PDF will be created for emailing the
document to others. I will be the person responsible for the
formatting of the document, although it's possible the others will
have do some as well.

In order to avoid reformatting as we work on the document I presume I
should:

- Create a document specific template which I attach to the document
and send to each person working on it
- Request that the "Automatically update styles on open" box be
unchecked
- Use unique styles throughout, (except default Heading styles that
come with Word)
- Not basing any style on "Normal" style

Questions:

Am I on the right track?

If I use unique styles, and the document has to be emailed to other
people who won't want to deal with handling a .dot document as well,
will the document still retain as much of the formatting as possible?

We do not know what the ultimate printer driver is. What is the best
way to handle this?

Thank you very much in advance,

Sandra

 

[Jezebel]

My two bob's worth:

1. Create a Style Sheet that defines what styles are used for what purpose.
DO use the built-in styles. There's nothing to gain by creating your own
unique style names; it just makes more work. At this stage don't worry about
the actual format of those styles (that's very easy to change later). What's
important is that all the people working on it use the same style *names*
for the same purposes. Eg, every chapter starts with a 'Header 1', the TOC
will use Headings 1, 2, 3; style X is used for table heads, style Y for
captions, etc etc.

2. Leave the formatting till last. Don't try to get it right as you go. With
different people working on it, especially with different platforms and
different printers you will otherwise waste a lot of effort. Get all content
right, with the document correctly structured. In practice, composite
documents like this always need a final 'graphic edit' anyway.

3. Don't worry about what templates people use. Pull all their contributions
together, then apply a single template of your own making. Provided they've
used standard style names, the final formatting will be a relatively
straighforward task (or rather, it will make little difference what template
they used).

4. If the document has embedded graphics, make sure these are delivered as
separate files, of standard size and resolution. Even if you are embedding
the graphics, always keep a separate file copy.

 

[Sandra Jensen]

Thanks Jezebel - very helpful.
I do have a further question about using graphics....

Just to be clear on my situation:
I'm working on a mac with Word 2004; my file will be emailed to others
on PCs; I don't have control over final printing; it's a long document
(about 300 pages). It will be converted to a PDF as well as printed
from the Word Doc (and probably imported into a page layout programme
for final production...how, I believe, this document should have been
created in the first place...but that wasn't my decision)

There are a number of images and graphics to be used in this
document. I will definitely only insert these once I've finished all
the rest of the formatting. However:

- What is the best file format to use? ( I can do all
converting/resizing myself in Photoshop) - I realize there will be a
conflict between image quality and bloating the document itself...
would PNG be the way to go? I've always thought EPS or TIFF, but I
believe these may be too heavy and not usuable by some versions of
Word. I could create an EPS as well and have it available in case it
is needed.


- How best to place/format the images in the document? I believe using
styles and inline with text is best, however I have set up a deep left
hand
indent to my body text, and I would like to offset some images so they
fall half in the text and half in the wide left margin, and have the
text run around the image. I will also need to place a caption or an
photo credit underneath the image ( none of which need to be
referenced by a TOC or elsewhere).

I believe floating graphics are difficult to control, as are text
boxes, which seem to be the solution to what I want to do. Is there
any other way?

thanks in advance,
Sandra

 

[Barb Reinhardt]

I have an add-on question. We have a long document with images (pictures
of Excel graphs) within the document. If we convert the pictures to
metafiles, we believe that they can't be changed within the document. Is
this a correct assumption?

 

[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Sandra

On file formats - nothing beats experimentation, but Word can make use of
EPS files. You'll find the screen display is poor (it uses the TIFF preview
stored in the EPS) but the EPS does get used when output to a PS printer
driver (which is what Distiller is). Since your final production is not via
Word, presumably you'll keep the graphics external to the file and linked,
so I don't think there's any reason not to use EPS for vector graphics if
that's likely to work best with the page layout program.

Figure placement - Frames (the old type, not Web frames) are often a good
alternative. Unlike a text box they are 'inline', but can be positioned
freely. You can add a frame to a style, and if you base your caption style
on the framed graphic style you will find the two will live together in the
same frame. The only problem you may have is that there can be some odd
effects where text alongside a frame is 'attracted' to it, rather than using
its proper indent. Again it's well worth experimenting here - including what
happens when you export to your page layout program (in InDesign, IIRC,
framed text will appear at the position it is anchored, while text boxes all
appear at the end.)

Or you could use negative indents (outdents) to place the figures and
captions.

If neither of these do what you want and you have to use floating pictures
or text boxes, the way to control them is to get on top of anchor
behaviour - I find it's usually best to lock the anchor to a paragraph that
will be on the same page as the floater, whether or not you position the
floater wrt the paragraph or the page.

Hope this is some help.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

[cross-posting to the MacWord group--there are cross-platform issues about
image formats, I believe]

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Sandra:


EPS probably won't work in Mac Word. It certainly won't display. That's a
design bug, but we're stuck with it.

If you are doing all the images yourself, you CAN choose to link the
graphics without embedding them. If you do that, you can use any file
format you wish since the content of the image never gets stored in the
document.

Linking but not embedding is described in the Word Help. It's an advanced
technique used by documentation professionals. In the hands of unskilled
users you will have constant problems with the document being moved
somewhere without its pictures. The real problem there is that if the
document is opened when its pictures are missing Word will resize the
missing graphics to a one-inch square, which means you have to reset all
your images and repaginate to fix it.

If you are linking, it pays to:

1) Create a separate folder for the document

2) Place all of the picture files with the document in that folder

3) Toggle field codes and search/replace the path out of the picture file
names.

Word writes an explicit file path for each image when it inserts linked
graphics. Word will not do "relative" path names (except in HTML).
However, if the pictures are in the same folder as the document, if you
remove the path names Word will not put them back. You can then move the
document and its pictures around the network freely. Provided you move the
whole folder, the pictures will remain linked.

If your authors want to see the pictures, you will have to put them in the
document. There is no vector format that will successfully cross between PC
and Mac. EPS won't work. WMF works "sort of". EMF is better. Both will
be converted to PICT by the Mac, which will alter some line styles.

I tend to use PNG: it's the smallest and least lossy of the compressed
formats. But you have the option of using TIFF because file size is not
such a concern to you. TIFF is totally non-lossy, which is good for
publishing.

So do I. That's the only method I use.

Use Caption style for your captions. Make a Graphics style to position the
pictures. Set Keep With Next ON in your Graphics style to hold the caption
together on the same page as the picture.

There's an old feature known as a "Frame" which enables you to have pictures
in the text layer and still have text running around them. Look them up in
the help and try them. They're not as easy to use as Text Boxes, but they
will do the job.
One more: Insert>Object>Microsoft Word Picture... This creates an embedded
document within the document that holds everything together very nicely.
You can wrap text around it. You can keep it inline with text. It's the
way I do all pictures that are constructed of Word Drawing Objects. Look it
up in the Help and get back to me if you cannot understand how to use it. I
use it all the time because it's totally stable once you get used to it.

Hope this helps

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Elliott Roper]

Hi Sandra:



EPS probably won't work in Mac Word. It certainly won't display. That's a
design bug, but we're stuck with it.

In my experience it almost always works ok. It mishandles the eps on
print to PDF. The preview is printed in error. You can work around that
with print->output options->print to file choose postscript, not PDF.
Then, in Preview, open the ps file. It will automatically make it into
a PDF which you can save.

If your authors want to see the pictures, you will have to put them in the
document. There is no vector format that will successfully cross between PC
and Mac. EPS won't work. WMF works "sort of". EMF is better. Both will
be converted to PICT by the Mac, which will alter some line styles.

I have not had much problem pushing embedded eps files at PCs from my
Mac. There are subtle differences between epsf files made with various
tools, especially getting previews that Word will understand.

I included some eps drawings from OmniGraffle yesterday. They printed
OK, but there was no preview. I fixed that with GraphicConverter. The
previews look horrible on my Mac, but looked OK on the recipient's PC.

 

[Sandra Jensen]

Thank you so much everyone for the sterling help.

Of course I've now been told by my 'manager' that I should NOT worry
about the images in the Word document, however I do need to produce a
reasonable looking PDF (with images...). The Word document will be
dissemenated without images, just a note where they would be. For
final publishing, the whole thing will be taken out of my hands - Word
doc and non-linked/ non embedded images will be sent off for 'proper'
page layout etcetera. Sheesh.

I'm sure I'll have further questions once I get to the PDF stage.
Thanks again.

Sandra

 

[Fishy]

A word of caution --
DO DO DO keep a file of grapihcs separate from the graphics you
insert in word. Once you've inserted them, it is harder than pulling
hens' teeth to get them out again for editing or whatever. Word just
kind of takes control, sinks its claw into them, and won't let go.
Not friendly that way.


<*((((><{
(e-mail address removed)



In the last exciting episode on 10 Nov 2004 01:11:17 -0800,
(e-mail address removed) (Sandra Jensen) wrote:

|Thank you so much everyone for the sterling help.
|
|Of course I've now been told by my 'manager' that I should NOT worry
|about the images in the Word document, however I do need to produce a
|reasonable looking PDF (with images...). The Word document will be
|dissemenated without images, just a note where they would be. For
|final publishing, the whole thing will be taken out of my hands - Word
|doc and non-linked/ non embedded images will be sent off for 'proper'
|page layout etcetera. Sheesh.
|
|I'm sure I'll have further questions once I get to the PDF stage.
|Thanks again.
|
|Sandra

 

[Beth Rosengard]

I believe John McGhie has already addressed these questions on the MacWord
group in another thread. "Sandra Jensen" and "SandJ" are the same person.
Sandra, if there are still unanswered issues, post back.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

[cross-posting to the MacWord group--there are cross-platform issues about
image formats, I believe]

Thanks Jezebel - very helpful.
I do have a further question about using graphics....

Just to be clear on my situation:
I'm working on a mac with Word 2004; my file will be emailed to others
on PCs; I don't have control over final printing; it's a long document
(about 300 pages). It will be converted to a PDF as well as printed
from the Word Doc (and probably imported into a page layout programme
for final production...how, I believe, this document should have been
created in the first place...but that wasn't my decision)

There are a number of images and graphics to be used in this
document. I will definitely only insert these once I've finished all
the rest of the formatting. However:

- What is the best file format to use? ( I can do all
converting/resizing myself in Photoshop) - I realize there will be a
conflict between image quality and bloating the document itself...
would PNG be the way to go? I've always thought EPS or TIFF, but I
believe these may be too heavy and not usuable by some versions of
Word. I could create an EPS as well and have it available in case it
is needed.


- How best to place/format the images in the document? I believe using
styles and inline with text is best, however I have set up a deep left
hand
indent to my body text, and I would like to offset some images so they
fall half in the text and half in the wide left margin, and have the
text run around the image. I will also need to place a caption or an
photo credit underneath the image ( none of which need to be
referenced by a TOC or elsewhere).

I believe floating graphics are difficult to control, as are text
boxes, which seem to be the solution to what I want to do. Is there
any other way?

thanks in advance,
Sandra

 

[Tim Murray]

In my experience it almost always works ok. It mishandles the eps on
print to PDF. The preview is printed in error. You can work around that
with print->output options->print to file choose postscript, not PDF.

In my experience, EPS works great in Mac Word, other than its fuzzy preview,
and as long as any font that's called for in the EPS is available to the
operating system. Great PDFs too (but see next entry).

Then, in Preview, open the ps file. It will automatically make it into
a PDF which you can save.

Elliot, I think that the Preview method uses the Mac's own PDF/Quartz engine
versus the Adobe, resulting in different ... type? ... of PDF. You don't get
embedded fonts, compression is less, etc. Descriptions and a comparison can
be found at http://www.prepressure.com/pdf/info/MacOSX.htm and elsewhere.

For documents destined for distribution and that contain EPS graphics, I run
the PostScript file through Distiller. For basic stuff, I use Apple

 

[Elliott Roper]

In my experience, EPS works great in Mac Word, other than its fuzzy preview,
and as long as any font that's called for in the EPS is available to the
operating system. Great PDFs too (but see next entry).


Elliot, I think that the Preview method uses the Mac's own PDF/Quartz engine
versus the Adobe, resulting in different ... type? ... of PDF. You don't get
embedded fonts, compression is less, etc. Descriptions and a comparison can
be found at http://www.prepressure.com/pdf/info/MacOSX.htm and elsewhere.

For documents destined for distribution and that contain EPS graphics, I run
the PostScript file through Distiller. For basic stuff, I use Apple

That's a pretty good summary of the situation as I see it too. The url
is an excellent 1 page comparison.

It is dead right about transparency. That bit me last week. I really
should shell out for full Acrobat. I keep hoping that Quartz will catch
up. Preview was a huge improvement with Panther. Maybe the stripy one
will close the gap further.

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

That's a pretty good summary of the situation as I see it too. The url
is an excellent 1 page comparison.

It is dead right about transparency. That bit me last week. I really
should shell out for full Acrobat. I keep hoping that Quartz will catch
up. Preview was a huge improvement with Panther. Maybe the stripy one
will close the gap further.

Elliot, if your going to shell out for Acrobat. please get the
ProVersion and don't waste you money on the Standard version.

Also you need to wait until after Xmas if you buying for the first time.
They are going from version 6 which was Adobe's First Full attempt at a
OSX only application (the Mac version). Acrobat 7 is suppose to have
tons of bug fixes and system tweaks over version 6.

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[Elliott Roper]

Elliot, if your going to shell out for Acrobat. please get the
ProVersion and don't waste you money on the Standard version.

Also you need to wait until after Xmas if you buying for the first time.
They are going from version 6 which was Adobe's First Full attempt at a
OSX only application (the Mac version). Acrobat 7 is suppose to have
tons of bug fixes and system tweaks over version 6.

Heh!
Thanks for that Phillip,
I am wrestling with an uncontrollable desire to lash out for the full
CS suite to get myself fully up-to-date and legal too. Maybe waiting to
get the version with Acro 7 will give me a bit more will power.

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Heh!
Thanks for that Phillip,
I am wrestling with an uncontrollable desire to lash out for the full
CS suite to get myself fully up-to-date and legal too. Maybe waiting to
get the version with Acro 7 will give me a bit more will power.

No problem. If you go to adobe's website they are taking "pre-orders"
that won't be charged to your card until the day they ship the order.

--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |MEMBER:VPEA (LIFE) ETA-I, NESDA,ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112-1809 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://home.kimbanet.com/~pjones/birthday/index.htm>
<http://vpea.exis.net>