How do I change line spacing in comment balloons?

D

dnover

I want to change the style of the text in the comment balloons used in "track
changes"--both the font and the line-spacing (from double-space to single). I
would think that one could simply insert the cursor in the bubble and use the
usual paragraph format menu, but that does not work.
I would also like to change the style in the bubbles that appear for text
alterations, e.g., Deleted and Formatted. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
G

grammatim

You need to find the list of All Styles Used in your Document (you get
at it differently in the different versions of Word), and you'll find
one called Comment. Right-click on it, choose Modify, and make your
changes as in any other style.
 
H

Herb Tyson [MVP]

The font itself can be changed, but font size and line spacing affect only
what you see in the Reviewing Pane (at least in Word 2007 and Word 2003).
But, I don't quite understand why dnover is seeing double-spaced in bubbles.
I see only single spacing there.

As far as I can tell, if there is a style for Deleted and Inserted text, it
is not accessible. You are limited to the options provided in Track Changes
Options.

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


You need to find the list of All Styles Used in your Document (you get
at it differently in the different versions of Word), and you'll find
one called Comment. Right-click on it, choose Modify, and make your
changes as in any other style.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

The style Balloon Text has some effect on text in balloons (comments as well
as insertions/deletions).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
 
H

Herb Tyson [MVP]

Hmmm... as far as I've been able to determine, the Balloon Text style will
affect comments in balloons only if you actually apply that style to them...
the same is true of any style applied to comments in balloons (but balloon
comments will always default to using the Comment Text style, and won't use
certain aspects of style-based formatting).

I don't see any effect on Inserted/Deleted text in Balloons.

Can describe what steps you're taking?

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

Suzanne S. Barnhill

I almost never use balloons, but my recollection (and this may have changed
in Word 2007) is that both Balloon Text and Comment Text affect balloons. I
think it was Bob Buckland who pointed this out. I see, however, that I have
this turned around. Balloon Text is the character style that is used for the
"Comment" or "Deleted" or whatever label. By default (in Word 2003, at
least), it is 8 pt Tahoma. Oddly, the style definition doesn't specify bold,
although these labels do appear bold. Even more interestingly, if I change
the size of Balloon Text to 12 pt Tahoma, the size of the text in the
balloons (which is TNR) is also increased. The balloons still definitely
show Comment Text (in the comments) and Normal (in the deleted items).

Even more interesting, the balloons show Comment Text as being 10-pt TNR and
the Normal text in the Deleted balloon as 12-pt TNR, despite the fact that
they are obviously the same size!

That's not the worst news, though: it seems that in my attempts to help
another user the other day, I have managed to get my Normal style
contaminated Asian (SimSun) font and Chinese (PRC) language. <sigh>

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Yes, well, luckily the solution was not too difficult. I started in Safe
Mode to verify that, by default, Normal doesn't have these settings. Then
renamed Normal.dot, opened Word, used Organizer to copy Normal from the new
Normal.dot to Normalold.dot, closed Word, renamed Normalold.dot back to
Normal.dot (as an aside, Word had *not* created a Normal.dot file as a
result of my just opening and closing Word), and was good to go.

Interestingly, during all this foofaraw, I kept being prompted to save
Normal.dot every time I closed Word. I kept saying no. After I copied the
default Normal style into it and started over, I did not get the prompt. I
consider that a step in the right direction as well.

I can't remember whether I got the prompt when I closed Word after renaming
Normal.dot. It could be that my saying no prevented the Normal.dot file from
being created. It may be that those who observe that a Normal.dot is created
in these circumstances are those who don't have Word set to prompt or who
answer yes to the prompt.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
 

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