Text spacing uneven when copying charts from EXCEL 2007 to WORD 20

[MikeM]

I'm trying not to whine, however, amongst the many problems and frustrations
in making the transition from the current Office environment to Office 2007,
we have experienced some uneven text spacing when copying charts from Excel
2007 to Word 2007.

Our method is as follows: the charts are objects on the worksheet. We
select the chart, copy as a picture in Excel and paste into Word as an
enhanced metafile. Our default font is Arial.

I have tried this using every combination of copying (as picture) in Excel
and pasting into Word and the problem persists. I have used both our black
and white (Hewlett Packard LaserJet 8150) and color (Canon Fiery) print
drivers.

The problem has also occurred when the chart is a separate worksheet in Excel.

When the same Excel file is opened in Excel 2002, the chart is copied and
pasted in the same way and there is no problem with the text at all.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

Mike

 

[Jon Peltier]

I've been dissatisfied with copying as picture/pasting as picture in Office
2007. In prior versions, the metafile that's produced can be completely
ungrouped and modified, but the new versions cannot. For example, all of the
horizontal gridlines in a chart are included in a single shape which cannot
be further ungrouped. I'm sure it was done to facilitate the new shape
formatting effects (gradient lines and all that). I wish I could revert to
the old style graphics in 2007. All the fancy glow and shading effects are
for the birds.

Ironically, my customary advice to use picture format rather than bitmap
format when copying as a picture in Excel must be reversed for best results
in 2007.

- Jon

 

[MikeM]

Jon:
Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post. It doesn't seem to
be a problem on most users' radar. Unfortunately, copying and pasting as a
bitmap is not a solution for us. And, thanks for your great website, by the
way, I've enjoyed perusing your custom charting methods for a good long time
now.

We create complex financial documents here in Word and use Excel and
PowerPoint as 'child' or source files for our Word content. (mainly Excel
charts, PPT org charts, and so on). We do a lot of custom charting here as
well. Not to get off the subject, I've found the custom charting aspect of
Excel 2007 to be a nightmare. It's as if, having gained a degree in fluency
in a language, we are now reduced to 'goo, goo, gah, gah' in Excel 2007.
Everything has to be relearned. And to what end? The ultimate result (for
us) is identical to the prior version of Office. These documents are very
formal and not subject to 'eye candy' and all the stuff MS seems to think
everyone wants.

Regarding this uneven kerning problem in pasting from Excel 2007 to Word
2007, it is particularly vexing as we cannot seem to find any logical cause.
It never happened in Office 2002. The only obvious difference we have found
(although it seems to have no bearing) is that you can now format chart font
kerning. If you select a chart in Excel 2007, click on the 'Font' group
arrow to open the Font dialog box, there is now a tab called 'Character
Spacing'. It seems to default to 'Normal' spacing and then has this check
box selected: 'Kerning for fonts: 12 points and above'.

We thought we'd hit paydirt but you must have a chart already created to
turn off the 'Kerning for fonts' selection. Turning it off only affects that
particular chart. When you create a new chart, the switch is turned back on
automatically.

So, that was no help.

What's especially odd is that one of our users (the head of product
development) does not have this problem at all. When he logs in on our PCs,
the problem goes away. At first we thought it was profile-related but when
we log on onto his PC, it works fine also! This seems to make no sense at
all.

So, that's where we are. If we do stumble on a fix, I'll be sure to post it
here.
Sorry to ramble on so long, but Office 2007 seems to inspire it.

Mike

 

[Jon Peltier]

Not to get off the subject, I've found the custom charting aspect of
Excel 2007 to be a nightmare. It's as if, having gained a degree in
fluency
in a language, we are now reduced to 'goo, goo, gah, gah' in Excel 2007.
Everything has to be relearned....

I have felt the same way. Considering the emphasis on discoverability of
features, some things are much more difficult to uncover in 2007 than ever
before. The dialogs also are much less efficient than in the past. Most of
my displeasure revolves around the ineffectiveness of the UI for doing what
I was so effective at in earlier versions. And I frankly don't care about
the enhanced graphical formatting capabilities.

To address this, I've started to design some custom dialogs, which
incorporate the best of 2007 and of 2003, plus some of my own adjustments.
It's in the very early stages, but I'd like to get something out in a couple
months or so, and probably eventually market a commercial version. I think
people need help to do these things even in the best situation, and Excel
2007 makes it more difficult.

- Jon

 

[MikeM]

Jon:

Once again, thanks for your reply. Your input is valuable, to say the least.
I look forward to the solutions you come up with. When it comes to truly
understanding the users' perspective, Microsoft looks and looks but they
still can't see.

Mike