Automatically chaning pt. to lines

[Sabrina Becker]

I am trying to find a way to keep Word from changing my before and after
paragraph spacing in a table from point to line. For example, when I type in
just the number 3 in the before and just the number 3 in the after under
Format/Paragraph/Line Spacing it automatically changes it to 0.6 lines. Is
there a way to make it not make this change automatically? I realize that if
I type 3pt instead, it will use points, but would like to not have to each
time.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?U2FicmluYSBCZWNrZXI=?=,

I am trying to find a way to keep Word from changing my before and after
paragraph spacing in a table from point to line. For example, when I type in
just the number 3 in the before and just the number 3 in the after under
Format/Paragraph/Line Spacing it automatically changes it to 0.6 lines. Is
there a way to make it not make this change automatically? I realize that if
I type 3pt instead, it will use points, but would like to not have to each
time.

No, there's no way to change this. You have to explicitly type the measurement
unit if you don't want the default.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

But where do you change the default for this? Mine defaults to points, and I
don't see any way to change it to lines.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Suzanne,

But where do you change the default for this? Mine defaults to points, and I
don't see any way to change it to lines.

I just answered the OP that you cannot change the default...

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or
reply in the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[Jean-Guy Marcil]

Cindy M -WordMVP- was telling us:
Cindy M -WordMVP- nous racontait que :

Hi Suzanne,

I just answered the OP that you cannot change the default...

I think Suzanne (and I!) wanted to know why some users have pts and other
Lines.... Where/How was this changed?

I occasionally get documents that are like that (they use lines). What
causes some documents to behave that way when the default is clearly set to
points? I does not happen all that often, so I always put it down to "yet
another funny thing Word does"... There aren't that many anyway ;-) Is this
a compatibility issue?
I think next time I get one like that I will save it and try to find the
difference between that one strange document and all other "regular"
documents... There is something going on there!

--
Salut!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It's also possible that we're talking about different things. There are some
measurements in the Format Paragraph dialog that do show lines. I thought we
were discussing Space Before/After (points), but I could have lost track. In
the Line Spacing section, Exactly uses points, but Multiple uses lines.

 

[Jean-Guy Marcil]

Suzanne S. Barnhill was telling us:
Suzanne S. Barnhill nous racontait que :

It's also possible that we're talking about different things. There
are some measurements in the Format Paragraph dialog that do show
lines. I thought we were discussing Space Before/After (points), but

Yes, that it was I thought as well!

--
Salut!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Jean-Guy,

Yes, that it was I thought as well!

OK, I just went back and read the original question again. The OP starts
by saying paragraph spacing, but then later specifies
Format/Paragraph/Line Spacing. So things seem to be consistent to me?

Cindy Meister

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, as pointed out, some of the Line Spacing settings are in lines and
some in points (by their nature).

 

[Stefan Blom]

But note that it *is* possible to specify lines even for Space
Before/Space After, which I discovered by accident in Word 2000. For
example, if you type "2 line" (yes, it shouldn't be plural) in the
"Space Before" box, you'll get 2 lines (or 24 pt) of paragraph spacing
above.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In most boxes of this type you can enter a measurement in any unit providing
you include the unit (and Word is much more forgiving than FP on that, I've
found). I believe "li" is the basic abbreviation for "lines." You can also
enter pt (or pts, I think) and either in or " for inches. Word will then
convert to whatever unit is the default for that box. This is especially
handy for table row height and Space Before/After, where (as you've
discovered) you can enter lines and Word will convert to points.

 

[Stefan Blom]

I'm aware of the ability to use different units. For example, in
Word 97, I find it very convenient to type (say) "3 cm" when
specifying a fixed height for a table row in the Cell Height and Width
dialog box, rather than to accept the default unit of measurement,
which is points.

Any typed number + unit in the Cell Height and Width dialog box will
be converted to the default unit by Word. Similarly, if I type "2 li"
for Space Before, Word converts it to 24 pt.

However, if I type "2 line" that unit will stick the next time I
open the dialog box. There's the observation I made.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Ah, now that *is* an interesting discovery. What do you have to do to change
it back to points?

 

[Stefan Blom]

You need to type a value, specifying "pt" for the unit, instead.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I was just leery of this, since obviously using "li" doesn't
(semi)permanently change the unit to lines, but "line" evidently does.

 

[Stefan Blom]

OK. It *is* strange, and undocumented. Also, the use of "line" seems to be
new in Word 2000; it doesn't work in Word 97.

Stefan Blom

 

[Stefan Blom]

OK, it *is* a bit odd. For what it's worth, this undocumented feature is not
available in Word 97; it was introduced in Word 2000.

Stefan Blom

 

[Stefan Blom]

OK, it *is* a bit odd. For what it's worth, this undocumented feature is not
available in Word 97; it was introduced in Word 2000.

Stefan Blom