Making a Letterhead Template for Word

[Thomas_Bricker]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Power PC Im constantly being asked be clients to set up a Word template document that would have their identity built into it.
(I would generally design their letterhead in InDesign)

I have tried to establish the best way to export my graphics and embed them into a Word doc.
I have never actually figured out a way to do it that has
A: Worked. (Where my graphics are razor sharp and positioned where I want them on the page)
B: Taken me less than a couple of hours of painful trial and error to come up with anything even close to what Im after.

Surely there must be a recommended way to do this as I have to believe millions of people need this to happen every day.

Sooo, all you word experts out there, how should I do this?

What is the best format to save my graphics out to.(For maximum sharpness)
How do I position these graphics exactly where I want them on a Word document?
How do I make said graphics locked so the end user doesnt accidently move them out of place?
And how do I control where the editable text field(s) get positioned?

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Thomas;

What you're asking is certainly possible but you first have to understand
that Word works on a totally different set of principles than a page layout
program. There are no physical pages in a Word document. It's a flow of text
& all inserted objects are 'attached' to that text as either In Line (as
though they were characters) in a paragraph or Floating (having some form of
Text Wrapping applied). Floating objects still have to be anchored to a
paragraph. Controlling/maintaining the position of floating graphics is a
challenge which takes more than a general awareness of basic word processing
& a passing familiarity with the program Even seasoned professional Word
users with in-depth understanding of how Word works can have their patience
tested when it comes to the inclusion of floating objects.

IOW, it isn't something a user wants to get involved with on a 'casual' or
part-time basis... You're best to either avoid them altogether/take what you
get *or* spend a fair amount of time absorbing the extensive volumes of info
you'll find on these pages and the links they contain:

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/PagesInWord.html

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/DrawingGraphics.htm

You'll find the 'mechanics' that provide the background that answers your
questions among the info there. For specifics on letterhead design see:

http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm

Your final question re "editable text field(s)" doesn't really pertain
unless you are designing a Form template... Unlike a page layout document, a
Word document *is* an editable text field. For letterhead there's no need to
use text boxes ‹ in fact, it's better to not do so... They're just more
graphic objects that need be contended with & have to be in the text layer
where the user can have at them ‹ intentionally or accidentally.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Thomas:

This is really easy, provided you are not trying to work cross-platform

To get them razor-sharp, store the picture in a vector format. One of
Word's native formats is WMF, and that will do a fair job: it's a 16-bit
vector format that prints as sharp as most office printers are capable of.
However, you will be constrained by the fact that the colour-table is only
16 bits, and curve accuracy is similarly affected by the smaller numbers.

A much better alternative is EMF (the 32-bit version of WMF). That has
EPS-like resolution, accuracy, and colour rendition. But it's twice the
size, and I believe that some Adobe products can't produce it properly.

You cannot embed fonts in these formats on the Mac, so you need to use fonts
you know the customer has. So try to use the fonts Microsoft gave you with
Office: they are specifically coded to render as close as possible to the
same fonts available on the PC.

Do not attempt "Text as curves" in WMF, its resolution is too low for that.
I wouldn't do it in EMF either, because you'll lose the hinting.

In Word 2008, EPS is an available choice: but for PCs it must BE real EPS
and not AI format, and you will find Adobe products are somewhat unwilling
to generate that. The problem with EPS is that older copies of Word on the
PC will not display the EPS inline, they will only print it. And if the
Printer is non-PostScript, PC Word falls back to the 72 dpi black-and-white
TIFF placable header in the EPS, which looks really disgusting.

The ideal format would be EPS with a WMF placable header: when the PC falls
back to the placable header, most users won't notice the difference in
resolution. But I believe Adobe products can't do WMF headers in EPS.

Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to send anything other than 24-bit RGB
colour space to Word: it can't cope, and may crash.

To get them where you want them, either set the picture inline with text,
then use paragraph properties to position that paragraph the picture is
sitting on, or float the picture and use Format>Picture to specify an offset
from the paragraph it is anchored to.

A Word document is composed of paragraphs: everything is positioned relative
to a paragraph, there are no "pages" in a Word file, and no "white space" to
position things on.

Inline pictures sitting on a paragraph is the most rugged and reliable way
of positioning pictures. Floating pictures will be fine if they are
anchored to a paragraph above themselves that does not move (e.g. In the
running header). Using floating pictures in the body of the document is not
a reliable technique when end-users have to use the result.

To prevent the user accidentally moving them, put them in the running header
of the document. Specify the running header as "Different First Page" then
set the letter head in the running header of the first page.

Unless the user specifically opens the header, they will be unable to move
or edit anything in it.

You can insert editable text fields in the body of the document, but
normally we would recommend that you don't: let the user type freely there,
you will get less trouble.

I would provide sample address block text, with each paragraph positioned by
a paragraph style. Let the user over-type that at will: the style will hold
the formatting for you provided that they do not delete the paragraph.

Mac Word doesn't have the ability to restrict formatting to nominated
styles.

That covers the high-points: the rest, as Bob says, is a matter of doing a
lot of reading. Word is not InDesign, it has a very different Document
Object Model (closer to HTML) and you have to spend some time learning it to
get precision results.

We would be delighted to help you with further questions in here: but I am
currently writing a book on Word, and have just allocated 50 pages to this
very subject

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Power PC Im
constantly being asked be clients to set up a Word template document that
would have their identity built into it.
(I would generally design their letterhead in InDesign)

I have tried to establish the best way to export my graphics and embed them
into a Word doc.
I have never actually figured out a way to do it that has
A: Worked. (Where my graphics are razor sharp and positioned where I want them
on the page)
B: Taken me less than a couple of hours of painful trial and error to come up
with anything even close to what Im after.

Surely there must be a recommended way to do this as I have to believe
millions of people need this to happen every day.

Sooo, all you word experts out there, how should I do this?

What is the best format to save my graphics out to.(For maximum sharpness)
How do I position these graphics exactly where I want them on a Word document?
How do I make said graphics locked so the end user doesnt accidently move them
out of place?
And how do I control where the editable text field(s) get positioned?

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Thomas_Bricker]

Thanks Guys,

All I can say is, good grief!
I cant believe how difficult this all is!

I dont really need to modify the typing field.
All I want to do is put a sharp graphic in the background, either in the header area and or the footer area.
The recommended techniques above, make me feel whoozy.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Thomas:

You're only saying it's difficult because you haven't tried it

Trust me, it's easy, I do it all day every day

As with anything else in life, "power tools" are a great advantage in the
hands of a skilled professional. In the hands of the unskilled, they simply
enable them to make a larger mistake faster. And Word is the most powerful
word-processor there is!

Sadly, Microsoft encourages all users of Word to flounder around clicking
and dragging with no comprehension of what they are doing (in fact,
Microsoft makes it extremely difficult for any kind of user to do anything
else!)

On the other hand, Documentation Professionals and Graphics Designers
require robust, repeatable, precision results. And for that, you need
skill, care, and knowledge.

I got so pissed off at this state of affairs that I am actually writing
a(nother) book to try to cut through the fog of BS surrounding "Great
looking documents are easy!".

In fact, they are: but only if you have the same level of knowledge about
Word as you need to successfully drive InDesign

Cheers

Thanks Guys,

All I can say is, good grief!
I cant believe how difficult this all is!

I dont really need to modify the typing field.
All I want to do is put a sharp graphic in the background, either in the
header area and or the footer area.
The recommended techniques above, make me feel whoozy.

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

As john said, your fundamental requirement should present no problem if you
follow the the directions on the -letterhead- link I gave you. The only
thing that's a little 'tricky' is the part about enabling the template for
2-page letterhead... And the only thing that makes it a challenge is the
seemingly destructive step of deleting part of what you've done as a final
touch before you finish. Trust me, it works

You really don't have to get involved with all the other material unless you
intend to create documents or templates where you intend to include graphic
objects in the text layer rather than just the Header/Footer. I may have
read a bit more into your op than you intended to convey.

Regards |::>)
Bob J.

 

[Thomas_Bricker]

Ok I will try the Header/Footer approach.
I dont necessarily need to have graphics on anything but the first page.
So I have a fighting chance.

I was hoping I could just paste a certain type of graphic into the correct layer within a
Word file and call it a day.
But then it wouldnt be a Word experience I guess... : )

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Thomas;

I think you'll find that the procedure is no more difficult than what you
describe, with one exception... If you're truly interested in *sharpness* of
your graphics -- anywhere -- avoid copy/paste at all costs. Regardless of
what you're copying or where you're copying from you get what's on the
operating system's Clipboard - PNG on Mac, EMF on Windows.

Always use the Insert> Picture method which actually embeds the image in its
native file format.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Thomas:

Effectively, that's what we have sent you instructions for.

You need to swot up on this if you are going to do a lot of it.

To begin with, Bob's tip about Insert>Picture>From file... Is essential.
When you copy, the picture gets converted going onto the clipboard, and when
you paste, it gets converted again coming back. Not many vitamins and
minerals survive that process

Now: A Word document has about a dozen "Stories" (text flows) of which the
headers, footers, and main text are seven (three headers, three footers).

There is also a "Drawing Objects" container: that is where you are actually
inserting the picture. For the picture to appear in the document, Word
needs to know which paragraph it is attached to.

If you do not put the graphic IN the paragraph you want it in, then you need
to set an Anchor in the paragraph you want it tied to. This should ALWAYS
be a paragraph ABOVE the graphic (earlier in the text flow) and on the same
page.

If you set the graphic into the paragraph, Word treats it as a very large
character. This is the most stable and rugged way of positioning graphics.

If you set an anchor (by setting the "Wrapping" property of the graphic to
anything but "Inline with text" then you need to set the Z-order. In the
Main Text Story, the Z-order is basically infinite (I am sure there is a
limit, but I haven't found it...). No "layers" as such: the objects in the
document are numbered starting with the "Text" which is zero. Minus numbers
put the object behind anything with a lower number. Positive numbers put it
in front of anything with a lower number.

Flexible, and powerful: but not recommended for documents that will be
exposed to end-users

Cheers

Ok I will try the Header/Footer approach.
I dont necessarily need to have graphics on anything but the first page.
So I have a fighting chance.

I was hoping I could just paste a certain type of graphic into the correct
layer within a
Word file and call it a day.
But then it wouldnt be a Word experience I guess... : )

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

--

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]