Cell padding applied in Word 2000 tables disappears in Word 97

[Mary]

I'm using Word 2000 on Windows XP Home. Today I worked on a document with a
lot of text-heavy tables. To better accomodate the text I changed the cell
padding (internal table margins) from the default 0.08" to 0.02" left and
right. When this file was later opened and revised in Word 97, my padding
settings had disappeared -- when I received the file back the padding was
again at 0.08." I believe that the padding option didn't exist in Word 97.
Is there anyway to have my Word 2000 settings stick in Word 97 or should I
just redo all the tables using the default 0.08" padding?

What effect would it have to set Word 2000 to "disable features not
available in Word 97." I just changed to that setting, but find that I can
still go to Table Properties and change the cell margins. If this is a
feature unavailable in W97, why does it let me use it?

Thank you.

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Mary,

I'm using Word 2000 on Windows XP Home. Today I worked on a document with a
lot of text-heavy tables. To better accomodate the text I changed the cell
padding (internal table margins) from the default 0.08" to 0.02" left and
right. When this file was later opened and revised in Word 97, my padding
settings had disappeared -- when I received the file back the padding was
again at 0.08." I believe that the padding option didn't exist in Word 97.
Is there anyway to have my Word 2000 settings stick in Word 97 or should I
just redo all the tables using the default 0.08" padding?

Your surmise is correct, this feature was new in Word 2000. Word97 does have
"Space between columns", which has a similar effect, and might explain why
the option you mention doesn't affect whether you can use cell padding.

If you set the document up in Word97 and use "space between columns" does
that work as you'd hope in both versions?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Sep 30 2003)
http://www.mvps.org/word

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[Mary]

Cindy,
I'm using Word 2000 and don't have Word 97 on my computer to test the doc
with "space between columns." I have tried installing Word 97 but alongside
Word 2000 but had problems with it.

If this is a new feature in Word 2000, how come if I set options to "disable
features not supported by Word 97," Word still allows me to change the cell
padding?