Copying into my primary document text from a document with adifferent template

[Edward M. Baum]

I am trying to copy into a large templated Word X text (a dissertation) a 20
page body of Word X text done on another computer with a different template.

When I have tried changing the template in the 20 page document to the
dissertation template the body of the text disappears. Is there a more
direct way to copy and paste differently formatted text into a formatted
document and have the copied text follow the dissertation template?

Thanks in advance

Ed in Dallas

 

[Clive Huggan]

I am trying to copy into a large templated Word X text (a dissertation) a 20
page body of Word X text done on another computer with a different template.

When I have tried changing the template in the 20 page document to the
dissertation template the body of the text disappears. Is there a more
direct way to copy and paste differently formatted text into a formatted
document and have the copied text follow the dissertation template?

Thanks in advance

Ed in Dallas

Hello Ed,

I¹m not quite sure what you mean by ³templated² text; maybe a document
that¹s attached to a template? And sorry, I don¹t understand the 2nd
sentence. Maybe it¹s too early in the morning here in Australia!

Even so, my first suggested solution doesn¹t depend on knowing the answer to
these 2 questions. In long documents, unless there are many tables in the
text, I always prefer to paste in text from another document in plain text
(copy from the donor document, then Edit menu -> Paste Special ->
Unformatted text). Then I quickly allocate the styles I want rather than the
styles the donor has used. It stops me from having unwanted styles in my
document.

Depending on the nature of you problem, which as I said I don¹t understand
properly, the information under the heading ³Stopping other people¹s styles
over-riding yours when they receive your document² in ³Bend Word to Your
Will², available as a free download from the MVPs' website at
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm , may be useful. (This
document also explains many aspects of using styles in long documents.)

If you need a better answer, I suggest you expand as mentioned in my 1st
paragraph; someone else will be along to help! (I¹m off line now, and my
time difference keeps me from responding when you¹re awake in wonderful
Dallas.)

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[Daiya Mitchell]

Yeah, take Clive's advice.

When I have tried changing the template in the 20 page document to the
dissertation template the body of the text disappears.

By this do you mean you attach the template under Tools | Templates and
Add-ins? How do you mean, body of the text disappears?

Is there a more
direct way to copy and paste differently formatted text into a formatted
document and have the copied text follow the dissertation template?

If all the formatting is applied via styles, and the style names are the
same, then the formatting will change to match the style definitions in the
template. That's the most direct way, but it requires a properly set up doc
on the other end. If the formatting in the short doc was applied directly
rather than as part of the style definition, it will hold the direct
formatting.

Me, I would create a new doc based on the dissertation template. Then use
Insert | File to get the 20 pages into it. Then dig the ResetPara command
out of Tools | Customize to clear all direct paragraph formatting (this
should not clear character formatting, e.g. italicized individual words; and
cmd-opt-q might be the default shortcut; select all first). Then check it
against the 20pp doc to see what just vanished (very likely formatting for
long quotations). Go through the 20 pages and apply the proper styles.

Then copy it into the existing dissertation.

(the interim step of doing all this is a new doc is just an extra safety
procedure, not really necessary, I just think a little easier not to have to
worry about the existing 200 pages of text when doing heavy editing on 20)

Daiya

 

[Edward M. Baum]

THANKS!!!

I want to thank Clive Huggan and Daiya Mitchell for the helpful responses
they gave me in formatting Word X for my daughter¹s PhD dissertation. Their
advice was on target, and solved my problems (my own understanding of the
intricacies of Word) completely.

This evening my daughter put her dissertation in the mail and will receive
her doctorate in June from Harvard.

Again, thanks to you both.

Edward Baum
Dallas

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You're welcome, and congratulations to your daughter. Even sounds like she
mailed it well before the deadline.

DM