outline level 2 randomly being promoted to level 1

[hbear]

I'm creating an outline in outline view and everything is fine until I switch
to print or normal view. When I do this, all my level 2 headers are promoted
to level 1 and are printed as such. Does anyone have any idea what is
causing this or what to do to correct it? Appreciate any help.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

I've never seen that behavior. What version of Word is this? Could there be
a misfiring macro or add-in that's undermining you? Are the Heading 3 levels
being promoted to Heading 2 also?

 

[hbear]

Thanks for your response. I'm using Office 2003. And no, heading 3 is still
in approximately the correct position. If anything, it's indented a bit too
far. In outline view, everything is fine. This only happens in print and
normal view.

It seems I accidently posted this question twice and a response to the other
posting states:
"indents seen in Outline view reflect the *outline level* (in Format |
Paragraph), whereas the indents in an actual printout (or in Print Preview)
are determined by the *indent* settings of the paragraph(s)."

I thought setting levels in outline view automatically created a
traditionally formatted outline for printing, but apparently not. So I'm
going to investigate the paragraph settings as directed above, and see if
that resolves the issue.

I'll let you know if that works.

Thanks again,
hb

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

When you said your level 2 items were being promoted to level 1, I
interpreted that to mean that your Heading 2 items were changing into
Heading 1 items -- i.e., that the styles were automatically changing. If
it's a matter of your indents shifting, then yes, that's what happens. In
Outline view, Word automatically presents your document in a way that
emphasizes the structure, the actual formatting notwithstanding.

I thought setting levels in outline view automatically created a
traditionally formatted outline for printing, but apparently not.

Actually, that's exactly what outline view does--but it creates an outline
view of your document, and doesn't reformat the document itself--just what
you see and print. The outline you see is there only while viewing in
outline view. If you print while the document is displayed as an outline,
then the outline is what will be printed. You can use outline view to
re-organize your document. With all of the sub-text collapsed, when you drag
or otherwise move a heading, all of the collapsed text gets moved too. It's
a great tool for writers when working with long documents.

Once you switch out of outline view into Print Layout view, the actual
document format is again displayed.

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

 

[hbear]

Sorry that I was unclear. A biproduct of my confusion, I'm afraid. But it's
been an informative morning. Thanks so much for all the information.

hb

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To add to what Herb has said, you might see the explanation of Outline view
at http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/UsingOLView.htm.