Correct way to make a template?

[glooft]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

I am creating a template for a flyer which includes several text areas and a picture. I started by creating a table with three cells. The top cell is a row and it contains the headline text. Below that is two columns. The left contains body text. The right contains a picture and text below it.

First of all, should I even be using a table? Second, when the picture is replaced with a different one, the formatting gets messed up because a larger picture does not fit into the cell. The picture must be shrunk to fit into that cell.

This is a template that will be sent to many people of potentially novice computing skills and I want to make it idiot-proof as possible. Can someone suggest how to make this thing simpler to use?

Thanks.
Gary

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Gary -

If you think of a template as being the same - conceptually - as a
cookie-cutter it will put things into the proper perspective. As long as you
want each cookie to be identical, basic templates are the solution. If you
want each cookie to be even "just a little" different than the others...
well, that's a different ballgame and the more variable & dramatic the
differences, the more problematic to design a template to accommodate them.

You can use the Table Properties to set an exact Row Height & a Preferred
Cell Width, but there is *nothing* Word can do to regulate the dimensions of
the incoming image until after-the-fact. Ideally, images always should be
finished in terms of print dimensions, resolution, etc. *before* inserting
them into another document.

There are some ways to allow for the variables, but any of those options
would make it even more problematic for novices to use the template. I
believe you're on the right track with the template - but your best approach
(IMHO) is to find some way to have the images properly prepared or train the
users to adjust accordingly. They really need only be able to double-click
the image & enter the prescribed measurements into the Size page of the
Format Picture dialog. Once the image is resized it should fit within the
cell.

Since you're using 2004 [assuming all users are working with the same
version] you could include a macro in the template that would resize the
image to the required dimensions, but it might be just as challenging to
have users run it effectively as it would be to have them do their own
resizing.