Creating large documents (manuals, novels etc.) - Best practise?

[Inge Sqz]

Hi

I have started to create a large user manual that I guess will be between
100 and 200 pages. The manual will be edited several times in the next years
so I really want to create it as efficient as possible. I'm using Word 2007.

The manual will also include a lot of pictures.

Is there some good documents out there that describe a best practise on how
to write and format such a document in Word?

Questions like
- How to link images?
- Master document (Pros/Cons)
- Big documents - slow and memory consuming. How to avoid?

is some of the things I'm wondering about.

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hello Inge

I have started to create a large user manual that I guess will be between
100 and 200 pages. The manual will be edited several times in the next years
so I really want to create it as efficient as possible. I'm using Word 2007.

The manual will also include a lot of pictures.

Is there some good documents out there that describe a best practise on how
to write and format such a document in Word?

You need to study stlyes, styles, some numbering, section properties,
and then again a bit of styles ...

A small selection:

Why Master Documents corrupt (by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm

Ins and outs of bullets and numbering in Word
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011376791033.aspx
See the section on "Numbering, bullets, Headings, Outlines" (by Shauna
Kelly)
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/
How to restart style-based numbering (by Margaret Aldis)

Working with Sections (by Dave Rado)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm

Creating a Template – The Basics (Part I, by Suzanne Barnhil)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

Creating a Template (Part II, by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Questions like
- How to link images?

Be sure to keep all images (whatever their "home" format be) as separate
files. Use Insert | Picture | From file to bring them in. Personally, in
a document the size of yours, I would not bother with linking.

- Master document (Pros/Cons)

See above. Separating into individual files (say, by chapter) is worth
the effort only if the document is really huge (and Word needs 10
minutes for each save -- again, that certainly is not the case with your
project) or when individual reviewers have to work on parts
simultaneously. If you really have to split, you can easily compile into
one file in the end, before working on pagination etc. Be sure that each
File is created from the very same template.

- Big documents - slow and memory consuming. How to avoid?

Avoid fast saves. Avoid OLE objects if at all possible. Pictures can be
linked, saves room in the file (but not memory while working), but I
only do that when graphics go into the couple of hundreds. If you buy a
computer today fit for Windows Vista, you should have no problem with it
in Word. Otherwise, make sure it has enough RAM in it. I would not want
to do your work with less than 1 GByte, and any computer I consider
buying these days has to have at least 2 GByte.

Greetings
Robert

 

[Inge Sqz]

Thanks for valuable reply.

I use "Insert link to file" and then reuse same image several times in the
document (by cropping the part I don't want to show). My idea then was that
the image would only be loaded into memory one time.

Is this a recommended way to do it?

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

I use "Insert link to file" and then reuse same image several times in the
document (by cropping the part I don't want to show). My idea then was that
the image would only be loaded into memory one time.

I wouldn't even know where to start looking whether this is true or not.

Is this a recommended way to do it?

It's the correct way to link a picture, yes.

Greetings
Robert

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In addition to the links Robert provided, see
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookword.htm

 

[Jay Freedman]

I wouldn't even know where to start looking whether this is true or
not.

I'm not sure that it's documented, either, but a small experiment convinces
me that it's not true (something I already thought).

Step 1 was to start with a new blank document and link (not "link and
insert") three copies of the same 316KB picture (a .jpg file). Then I
cropped each copy to a different smaller section of the picture. Task
Manager told me that the winword.exe process was using about 38.5 MB of
memory. (The memory numbers will depend on what versions of Word and Windows
you use and how much stuff is in your Normal.dot template, but they should
be proportional.)

Step 2 was to open three copies of the same picture in a graphic editor,
crop them to the same smaller sections, and save the cropped copies as three
separate files. Those files were 34KB, 35 KB, and 117KB, so the total was
186KB or a bit more than half of the original picture. Then I opened a new
blank document in a fresh copy of Word and linked in the three cropped
pictures. Task Manager said that winword.exe was now using about 27.8 MB of
memory -- a difference of 10.7 MB!

Word is a terribly inefficient handler of graphics. Cropping, resizing, and
recoloring of pictures in Word uses up huge gobs of memory. I suspect that
it loads a separate copy of the winword code for each graphic object that's
manipulated in the document.

It's the correct way to link a picture, yes.

You'll do much better by cropping and sizing your graphics in an external
editor such as IrfanView and inserting or linking the resulting smaller
files.

Greetings
Robert

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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