Discrepancy in word count

[Gary Goldberg]

I'm using Word 2004 in OS 10.4.11 for translations.

I find that the word count at the bottom of the file is often a few
words different from the word count I obtain from the pull-down Tools
column. Which, if either, is correct?

I invoice based on the word count and I'd like to be accurate, even if
it's only a difference of a few words.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Gary:

"Neither" is the answer

Tools>Word count will give you the word count of the selection if there is
one, or the main text story, if there is no selection.

The word count in the status bar always shows the word count of the main
text story.

Neither will reach in to headers, footers, text boxes or other floating
objects. The Tools>Word count will ignore footnotes and endnotes unless you
tell it not to.

Both of them rely on the information that appears in
File>Properties>Statistics.

I guess if you wanted a measurement that is less likely to vary, you could
use "Characters including spaces" divided by 6, which is the old Telegram
formula (and pretty accurate).

However, the main cause of the disparity is things like tracked changes,
which do not get counted.

If I were you, I would bill on Word's count, and if the client challenges
it, tell them you could count the words by hand, but there would be a charge
for this service...

Hope this helps

I'm using Word 2004 in OS 10.4.11 for translations.

I find that the word count at the bottom of the file is often a few
words different from the word count I obtain from the pull-down Tools
column. Which, if either, is correct?

I invoice based on the word count and I'd like to be accurate, even if
it's only a difference of a few words.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[Gary Goldberg]

Thanks, John. There were no headers, footers, etc., just straight text.

The word count was almost 42,000. I like the idea of having them verify
Word's count (by either method) by hand ;-)

 

[John McGhie]

If you think the count is seriously out, save a copy of the file to plain
text and measure the word count there.

Nothing is skipped or ignored in a plain text file, so the word count will
always be precisely accurate.

Cheers

Thanks, John. There were no headers, footers, etc., just straight text.

The word count was almost 42,000. I like the idea of having them verify
Word's count (by either method) by hand ;-)

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]