Cannot resize page in Word 2008... ?

[Jeff Chapman]

Hello all,

I'm having troubles resizing an A3-sized page to an A4 size.
I started out in Notebook Layout mode, typing some memos
and meeting minutes, and then I switched to Print Layout.
The page size was a whopping A3 (for some reason, the printer
default or perhaps Word's default is at this massive A3 size),
so I tried bringing it down to A4 using the File - Page Setup
command.

In the Page Setup dialog, there is a dropdown selection for
the page size. I changed it to A4, and clicked OK... but no dice,
no deal. Page still remains at A3 dimensions, even though the
dialog clearly shows it to be at A4.

I tried showing all hidden characters and optional breaks,
but there are no optional breaks visible at all.
Only one page, A3 dimensions... and yet Word is telling me
that it is an A4 document.

In fact, when I hit Command+N to create a new document,
I get an A3-sized Notebook Layout document, but
File - Page Setup still tells me that I am working with
an A3 size.

Now here's where it gets even worse: from the Format -
Document menu, I clicked Page Setup, and it told me
that I was working with an A3. I changed it to A4,
clicked OK, it asked me if I wanted to Fix or Ignore the
margins and I clicked Fix, and still... the document
physically remains at A3 size (evidenced by the horizontal
rulers), whereas the page setup dialog now reads A4.

What am I doing wrong... ??? Tried a Google search,
but no help. The online help also provided no clues.
Arrrrrgggggh...

Jeff

 

[CyberTaz]

Since you don't provide the specs the first things to confirm are that
Office is fully updated, OS X is fully updated, that your printer driver is
fully updated (check the mfr's site, don't wait for Apple to pass it along),
that you've repaired disk permissions & that you've restarted your Mac.

If the problem persists once all that is verified -- especially the printer
driver update -- you may have a damaged/corrupt Normal.dotm or Preferences
file. See the info here for testing/replacing them:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DamagedPrefs.html

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jeff Chapman]

Hello Bob,

Since you don't provide the specs the first things to confirm are that
Office is fully updated, OS X is fully updated, that your printer driver is
fully updated (check the mfr's site, don't wait for Apple to pass it along),
that you've repaired disk permissions & that you've restarted your Mac.

If the problem persists once all that is verified -- especially the printer
driver update -- you may have a damaged/corrupt Normal.dotm or Preferences
file. See the info here for testing/replacing them:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/MacWordNormal.html

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/DamagedPrefs.html

I've been in and out of this forum for some time now,
and end up chiming in more than I ask questions, but this
time I've been really vexed by this issue and didn't know
what to make of it.
Your answer was about what I should have expected - all the
obvious stuff first, which makes sense.
But it really does start with the obvious areas, doesn't it.

The OS is fully updated (however, still on Leopard), and I always
make sure to keep Office fully updated.
I'll check on the printer driver when I return to the office to
look at it on Monday.
As for Normal.dotm, I feel like I am trashing and rebuilding these
preferences so often, I almost spend more time maintaining them than
I spend in doing any productive work ;-p
That little bit of complaining aside, I'll check on all of these
issues again when I get back to the... well, office. ;-)

Thanks for your time thus far.

Jeff

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jeff;

Just a few other 'perceptions' inserted below...

Hello Bob,



I've been in and out of this forum for some time now,
and end up chiming in more than I ask questions, but this
time I've been really vexed by this issue and didn't know
what to make of it.
Your answer was about what I should have expected - all the
obvious stuff first, which makes sense.
But it really does start with the obvious areas, doesn't it.

The OS is fully updated (however, still on Leopard), and I always
make sure to keep Office fully updated.
I'll check on the printer driver when I return to the office to
look at it on Monday.

If this is a network installation I believe it's possible that a conflict
could exist between the driver installed on the server end & what's
installed locally. Depending on configuration the updating needs to be
maintained on both ends.

As for Normal.dotm, I feel like I am trashing and rebuilding these
preferences so often, I almost spend more time maintaining them than
I spend in doing any productive work ;-p

If you're really encountering frequent corruption of the main template
and/or prefs it could be symptomatic of an outside influence. Some antivirus
software, underlying file system degradation, utilities/haxies, etc. have
been known to cause persistent or recurring issues. It may be a good idea to
do some deeper level troubleshooting.

That little bit of complaining aside, I'll check on all of these
issues again when I get back to the... well, office. ;-)

Thanks for your time thus far.

Jeff

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jeff Chapman]

Hello Bob,

If this is a network installation I believe it's possible that a conflict
could exist between the driver installed on the server end & what's
installed locally. Depending on configuration the updating needs to be
maintained on both ends.

It's a standalone installation, but the Mac is running on an office
network and printing to a network printer. I wonder if there are any
issues there. The printer driver is the latest version downloaded from
the Canon site.

If you're really encountering frequent corruption of the main template
and/or prefs it could be symptomatic of an outside influence. Some antivirus
software, underlying file system degradation, utilities/haxies, etc. have
been known to cause persistent or recurring issues. It may be a good idea to
do some deeper level troubleshooting.

This has actually been the most persistent issue to date with Word 2008
for me. Word was always opening a new document in A3 paper, Notebook Layout
mode. What I want to see when I open Word is a blank A4 page in
Notebook Layout or Print Layout mode.

I'll check it out more tomorrow and see what kind of solution I can
come up with. Thanks again for your help.

Jeff

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Hello Bob,



It's a standalone installation, but the Mac is running on an office
network and printing to a network printer. I wonder if there are any
issues there. The printer driver is the latest version downloaded from
the Canon site.


This has actually been the most persistent issue to date with Word 2008
for me. Word was always opening a new document in A3 paper, Notebook Layout
mode. What I want to see when I open Word is a blank A4 page in
Notebook Layout or Print Layout mode.

I'll check it out more tomorrow and see what kind of solution I can
come up with. Thanks again for your help.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

The default template is Normal.dotx and is probably located in your user
templates folder. You can find this by using File > Project Gallery >
Settings tab and clicking on the link that takes you to your user
templates.

I would create a new, blank Word document that has the desired format,
view, Page Setup (paper size and orientation) etc and use File Save As
and choose Template, and replace Normal.dotx. Any new Word documents
should use these settings.

You can always restore the original factory Normal.dotx by renaming or
deleting your current Normal.dotx and then opening Word. Word will make
a new Normal.dotx file with the factory defaults.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry Jim, but this just won't work. Never has... When you open a new blank
document based on Normal.dotm (or Normal in earlier versions) the template
is effectively 'open'. Therefore you cannot overwrite it with another file
of the same name. if you want to create a customized Normal template you
must Open the current Normal then make & save your changes to it.

<snip>

I would create a new, blank Word document that has the desired format,
view, Page Setup (paper size and orientation) etc and use File Save As
and choose Template, and replace Normal.dotx. Any new Word documents
should use these settings

<snip>

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Jim Gordon Mac MVP]

Sorry Jim, but this just won't work. Never has... When you open a new blank
document based on Normal.dotm (or Normal in earlier versions) the template
is effectively 'open'. Therefore you cannot overwrite it with another file
of the same name. if you want to create a customized Normal template you
must Open the current Normal then make& save your changes to it.

<snip>

<snip>

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Good point. You can't save over the same file that's already open. File
saving 101.

-Jim

 

[Jeff Chapman]

Hello Bob and Jim,

According to your advice, I found the Normal.dotm
(you said .dotx, but I think you meant .dotm) template
location in File - Project Gallery - Settings.
I then opened the Normal.dotm file, set the
document size and margins using Format - Document -
Page Setup, made sure that the template styles were set
up the way I wanted them, and then saved the Normal.dotm
file. It seems to be working now as expected - new
files open up in A4 size as I had desired.
Thanks for the pointers.

Are the keyboard shortcuts also stored in this
Normal.dotm file?

I also observed that the styles used in Notebook
Layout view (which I use constantly) are NOT the
same styles as used in Print Layout view.
The Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 styles in
Print Layout view do not seem to correspond
to the Note Level 1, Note Level 2, and Note Level 3
styles.

Further, I've noted that you cannot use the TAB
key to change the outline levels in Print Layout view.
I assume that this is by design.
The odd thing is that once you switch to Print
Layout from Notebook Layout, and then switch BACK
to Notebook Layout, you cannot use the TAB key
any more to edit previously inputted text in the outline -
the TAB works as a normal TAB character.
The TAB key will work in Notebook Layout view to
change the outline levels of any succeeding text
inputted, but not previous text. This has been a
source of frustration. The styles haven't changed -
all I did was switch modes, from NB to PL and then
back to NB views.
Has anyone else noticed this?

Jeff

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Jeff:

Are the keyboard shortcuts also stored in this
Normal.dotm file?

Customised ones, Yes.

I also observed that the styles used in Notebook
Layout view (which I use constantly) are NOT the
same styles as used in Print Layout view.

Correct: When you create a Notebook Layout View, Word creates a set of Note
Level styles in the document, with properties determined by hard-coded
settings you can't change.

The Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 styles in
Print Layout view do not seem to correspond
to the Note Level 1, Note Level 2, and Note Level 3
styles.

They shouldn't: they are different styles. Notebook Layout View blows up if
you changes the styles, so don't

Further, I've noted that you cannot use the TAB
key to change the outline levels in Print Layout view.
I assume that this is by design.

I can, you can't: it's a Preference Search for "Tab and backspace..." in
the Word preferences.

The odd thing is that once you switch to Print
Layout from Notebook Layout, and then switch BACK
to Notebook Layout, you cannot use the TAB key
any more to edit previously inputted text in the outline -
the TAB works as a normal TAB character.

DON'T switch back and forth: the document will break.

The TAB key will work in Notebook Layout view to
change the outline levels of any succeeding text
inputted, but not previous text. This has been a
source of frustration. The styles haven't changed -
all I did was switch modes, from NB to PL and then
back to NB views.
Has anyone else noticed this?

No, I don't risk using Notebook Layout View for anything Outline View
is more convenient, more powerful, and enables me to work on real documents,
switching back and forth as necessary.

If you format documents properly with styles, using the built-in Heading
styles for your headings (customised as you wish...) then the Navigation
Pane is a useful adjunct to Outline View.

Try them: Notebook Layout is really not safe for valuable documents

Cheers

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