Len
The source of the problem, as you know, is that the tab stops have been
applied manually, at different settings, to Normal paragraphs in the four
different files you inserted. They need to be removed manually, which is a
pain unless you can use the Command-Option-q keystroke I mentioned to strip
all paragraphs back to the characteristics of the underlying style. But the
tab stops can also be removed as a consequence of applying a style.
The first (manual) solution applies if all your document comprises only
these paragraphs -- or at least if these paragraphs are in a series of
convenient bunches between other manually formatted material such as
headings, tables or whatever.
In this scenario, you would remove all the tabs using Command-a to select
all the document and Command-Option-q to strip all paragraphs back to the
characteristics of the underlying style. Then, keeping the text selected,
you would manually apply new tab stops in the required positions.
The second (styles) solution is best if your document comprises a lot of
manually formatted material such as headings (e.g., manually emboldened
Normal style) interspersed between the paragraphs with tabs in. It involves
making a style for these tabbed paragraphs.
You don't have to remove the manual tabs before doing this, which will save
time.
Here are the steps (I'm using Word 2001 -- some of the terminology may have
changed in Word X, and Word X has some different features for applying
styles -- I have asked someone else to visit this newsgroup, look at my
answer and update it for Word X if necessary):
1. Click anywhere in the first paragraph that has tab stops in it. Move the
tab stops along the ruler to where you want them (holding down the Option
key allows you to position them precisely).
2. In the Formatting toolbar (if it's not visible, go to the View menu ->
Toolbars) you'll see a pop-down menu with the word "Normal" displayed. Click
on "Normal" and key "tabbed para,tp" (note there is no space after the
comma) then hit the Return key.
What you have just done is to create a style based on Normal that, whenever
you apply it, inserts the tab stops as part of the style.
3. To apply this new style to existing tabbed Normal text, first select the
paragraphs you want to apply it to: click anywhere in the second paragraph
and drag over the text, through the next paragraph(s), down to anywhere in
the last paragraph to which you want to apply this style (e.g., just before
a heading, table or whatever).
4. Next, apply the style from the Style pop-down menu mentioned in para 2
above.
5. Do the same for other paragraphs. You may find it convenient to key
Option-Return or Command-y to apply the style on subsequent occasions --
this command repeats the last action you performed.
The great advantage of fixing your problem by applying a style is that you
can quickly amend all such paragraphs in future (e.g. moving the positions
of the tab stops) by modifying the style, which takes less than 10 seconds.
For further information on styles, including the background to the actions
above (and why I recommended you put",tp" after the name of the style),
download my notes on the way I use Word, called "Bend Word to your Will", at
ww.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm -- on page 57 you'll see an
article titled "Styles and templates ‹ the keys to consistency and saving
time". You will find references to other useful articles there, too. (Be
sure to read the introduction of the document, because you need to apply a
few settings to the document. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a
100-page document -- apart from the intro and the article on styles,
everything else is dictionary-style.)
I'm going to be away for 10 days, probably without Internet access or at
best access only every few days, so I hope this provides *all* the info you
need, Len. If not, it's likely that someone else will be along to take up
the thread. (I'll be happy to answer anything after I get back at the end of
November, but that may be too late for you.)
Cheers,
-- Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
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* If anyone is still reading down this far, here's a question: is it time
for you to back up your Normal template and all your Word settings files?
(This should be on a medium other than the internal hard drive and, if you
also want to protect against theft and fire, stored in a different
building.)
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