Format Painter

[John9210]

The format painter in Word 2007 is not working properly. It won't format more
than one item. That is, double-clicking the painter does not let me format
more than one item. Also, If I click the painter and then scroll the
document, the painter doesn't work (it is no longer selected and I have to
click it again after scrolling to the item I want to format). Is there any
way to fix this or is it a bug?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Hi, John,

I'm not seeing either of those behaviors. When I double-click the format
painter, it lets me continue formatting additional items until I either
click the tool again, or press Escape.

Similarly, when I single (or double) click the format painter, I'm able to
scroll the document -- using keys or mouse -- and the format painter remains
selected.

For starters, I would try starting Word using the /a switch (Start [Run]
winword.exe /a, and see if the format painter behaves. If it does, then the
problem likely is due to Normal.dotm corruption, registry corruption, or a
misbehaving add-in.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I find that Copy Format (Ctrl+Shift+C) and Paste Format (Ctrl+Shift+V) are
more satisfactory. When you copy a format (font or paragraph, depending on
whether or not the selection includes a paragraph mark), it is stored on a
sort of Clipboard and remains available until you copy a different one. You
can keep pasting it indefinitely, interspersed with other operations.

 

[John9210]

I tested with the /a switch and the problem did not occur. I deleted the old
normal.dotm and started Word to create a new one. At first the painter worked
ok. But after I set some new defaults (margins, font, etc) the painter
stopped working properly. Do you think I should re-load Word 2007?

Hi, John,

I'm not seeing either of those behaviors. When I double-click the format
painter, it lets me continue formatting additional items until I either
click the tool again, or press Escape.

Similarly, when I single (or double) click the format painter, I'm able to
scroll the document -- using keys or mouse -- and the format painter remains
selected.

For starters, I would try starting Word using the /a switch (Start [Run]
winword.exe /a, and see if the format painter behaves. If it does, then the
problem likely is due to Normal.dotm corruption, registry corruption, or a
misbehaving add-in.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

The format painter in Word 2007 is not working properly. It won't format
more
than one item. That is, double-clicking the painter does not let me format
more than one item. Also, If I click the painter and then scroll the
document, the painter doesn't work (it is no longer selected and I have to
click it again after scrolling to the item I want to format). Is there any
way to fix this or is it a bug?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

No. Reloading Word doesn't fix such problems, because setup tries to
preserve existing settings.

It sounds like it's a registry corruption problem, and it's likely/possible
that Normal.dotm was re-corrupted.

I would try renaming or deleting the Data key in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

And... before restarting Word, also delete Normal.dotm (to avoid getting
into a vicious cycle of corruption and re-corruption).

*Standard disclaimer: editing the registry can cause problems if you mess
up, and can destabilize the rotation of the planet. Proceed at your own
risk.*

*But, everybody does it.*

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I tested with the /a switch and the problem did not occur. I deleted the
old
normal.dotm and started Word to create a new one. At first the painter
worked
ok. But after I set some new defaults (margins, font, etc) the painter
stopped working properly. Do you think I should re-load Word 2007?

Hi, John,

I'm not seeing either of those behaviors. When I double-click the format
painter, it lets me continue formatting additional items until I either
click the tool again, or press Escape.

Similarly, when I single (or double) click the format painter, I'm able
to
scroll the document -- using keys or mouse -- and the format painter
remains
selected.

For starters, I would try starting Word using the /a switch (Start [Run]
winword.exe /a, and see if the format painter behaves. If it does, then
the
problem likely is due to Normal.dotm corruption, registry corruption, or
a
misbehaving add-in.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

The format painter in Word 2007 is not working properly. It won't
format
more
than one item. That is, double-clicking the painter does not let me
format
more than one item. Also, If I click the painter and then scroll the
document, the painter doesn't work (it is no longer selected and I have
to
click it again after scrolling to the item I want to format). Is there
any
way to fix this or is it a bug?

 

[John9210]

Thanks for the tip Suzanne. It even sound easier than using the mouse to
click the painter.

John

 

[John9210]

Herb:
I tried doing what you suggested. I deleted the registry key and created a
new normal.dotm. The problem seems to occur when I modify the normal.dotm
template for my needs. When I open the template, the painter works normally
(I tested it). However, after I create a custom header and return to the body
of the document, the painter stops working properly. That is, you can't apply
it multiple times. After the first application, the brush selection in the
ribbon turns off. I have to click the brush again to use it. I'm not sure if
working in the header causes the problem since I did not explore making other
document changes.

No. Reloading Word doesn't fix such problems, because setup tries to
preserve existing settings.

It sounds like it's a registry corruption problem, and it's likely/possible
that Normal.dotm was re-corrupted.

I would try renaming or deleting the Data key in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Data

And... before restarting Word, also delete Normal.dotm (to avoid getting
into a vicious cycle of corruption and re-corruption).

*Standard disclaimer: editing the registry can cause problems if you mess
up, and can destabilize the rotation of the planet. Proceed at your own
risk.*

*But, everybody does it.*

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com

I tested with the /a switch and the problem did not occur. I deleted the
old
normal.dotm and started Word to create a new one. At first the painter
worked
ok. But after I set some new defaults (margins, font, etc) the painter
stopped working properly. Do you think I should re-load Word 2007?

Hi, John,

I'm not seeing either of those behaviors. When I double-click the format
painter, it lets me continue formatting additional items until I either
click the tool again, or press Escape.

Similarly, when I single (or double) click the format painter, I'm able
to
scroll the document -- using keys or mouse -- and the format painter
remains
selected.

For starters, I would try starting Word using the /a switch (Start [Run]
winword.exe /a, and see if the format painter behaves. If it does, then
the
problem likely is due to Normal.dotm corruption, registry corruption, or
a
misbehaving add-in.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com


The format painter in Word 2007 is not working properly. It won't
format
more
than one item. That is, double-clicking the painter does not let me
format
more than one item. Also, If I click the painter and then scroll the
document, the painter doesn't work (it is no longer selected and I have
to
click it again after scrolling to the item I want to format). Is there
any
way to fix this or is it a bug?