Preferred Width and AutoSize question

[kewpcg]

I have a fax template that consists of numerous tables in the headers,
footer, and body.

Documents based on this template sometimes need to be changed from Letter
size paper to A4 (or vice versa).

I have tried turning off Preferred Width and setting the Table Options to
automatically resize to fit contents. This seems to help; however, Preferred
Width sometimes becomes re-checked and causes the table to not adjust
properly. (Also, even after I ensure the Table is NOT set to a preferred
width, the individual columns, rows, and cells are still at preferred widths.)

In general, what is the best way to ensure the tables will adjust
automatically when the paper size or margins change? Are there any tricks
for setting up templates so the tables will adjust and retain their
proportions?

Thanks!

 

[Lene Fredborg]

I cannot guarantee that this is the best solution but I am able to make it
work this way if the tables are "full width", i.e. from left to right margin:

1. Set the preferred table width to 100 % (Table > Table Properties > Table
tab > Preferred width). Make sure "Automatically resize to fit contents" is
_turned off_ ( (Table > Table Properties > Table tab > Options).

2. For each column, set the preferred width to a measure in _percent_ and
make sure that the sum of the column widths makes up exactly 100 % (e.g.
column 1 = 20 %, column 2 = 30%, column 3 = 50 % in a 3-column table).

This way, if you change the page orientation, change margins or change the
paper size, your tables will automatically adjust to fit from the left margin
to the right margin and the column widths will be distributed proportionally
to their original widths.

Note that if you need indented tables (i.e. tables that are not full width),
it is more complicated because the indent is a fixed size. Therefore, even if
you can calculate which preferred width percentage to use for e.g. A4, that
percentage would no longer be correct if you change to Letter.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Stefan Blom]

An equivalent method would be to choose Table | AutoFit | AutoFit to
Window, and then turn off the "Automatically resize to fit contents"
option in the Table Options dialog box.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


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