Two seperate texts horizontally

[Raziel]

Greetings,

After searching for a while, not finding anything helpful, I decided to
starte this topic and hopefully someone can help.

I want to have two texts paralleling each other horizontally, so that the
top half (or so) of every page is reserved for one text, while the bottom
half is reserved for another text - the whole document spanning many pages.

If the description isn't clear, then imagine a short text and then a
commentary upon that text. The document is split in two (horizontally), with
the original text at the top half of every page, and the commentary
(explaining important points) following underneath on every page.

Is this possible in Word 2007? I've tried for hours to find something, but
have had no luck. For now I'm using footnotes (that take up half the page!),
but I would like to find some other solution as I'm writing a commentary on a
work and want to reserve footnotes for something else.

Thanks in advance,
// Raziel

 

[macropod]

Hi Raziel,

You could have the paragraph containing the short text formatted in a Style that enforces a 'page break before' formatting, with a
suitable amount of trailing space, and the paragraphs containing the remaining text in one or more other styles. This will reserve
as many lines as the short text use, plus the trailing space, for the upper part of the page.

Cheers

 

[Raziel]

Hey Macropod,

Thanks a lot for the answer - that might work, but could you please add some
more details about how to actually do what you just described?

I'm Danish and using a Danish version of Word, so I'm not sure what "page
break before" means? If I do a page break I end up on the next page...

Thanks again for taking the time,

Regards,
// Raziel

Hi Raziel,

You could have the paragraph containing the short text formatted in a Style that enforces a 'page break before' formatting, with a
suitable amount of trailing space, and the paragraphs containing the remaining text in one or more other styles. This will reserve
as many lines as the short text use, plus the trailing space, for the upper part of the page.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Greetings,

After searching for a while, not finding anything helpful, I decided to
starte this topic and hopefully someone can help.

I want to have two texts paralleling each other horizontally, so that the
top half (or so) of every page is reserved for one text, while the bottom
half is reserved for another text - the whole document spanning many pages.

If the description isn't clear, then imagine a short text and then a
commentary upon that text. The document is split in two (horizontally), with
the original text at the top half of every page, and the commentary
(explaining important points) following underneath on every page.

Is this possible in Word 2007? I've tried for hours to find something, but
have had no luck. For now I'm using footnotes (that take up half the page!),
but I would like to find some other solution as I'm writing a commentary on a
work and want to reserve footnotes for something else.

Thanks in advance,
// Raziel

 

[macropod]

Hi Raziel,

For your 'short' text, create a new paragraph style named 'Short' (or something else meaningful to you) via Format|Style|New (or
Alt-o, s, then click on 'New'). Alternatively, you might want to modify an existing Style (eg a Heading Style if you want your
'short' paragraphs to be numbered) and to be able to list them in a Table of Contents). Then, with the Styles dialogue box still
open, choose Format|Paragraph and give it a suitable 'spacing after' (eg 60pt), then click on the 'line and page breaks' tab and
check the 'page break before' option. Click 'OK'. You may want to give this style a special font. If so, with the Styles dialogue
box still open, choose Format|Font and give it the required attributes and click 'OK'. Likewsie, make any other special formatting
arrangements (eg numbering) that you might want to apply. When you're done, click 'OK' to return to the document.

You can any suitable existing styles for the 'long' text.

Now, whenever you want to create a new 'short' text paragraph, press <Enter> to create a new paragraph and apply the 'Short' style
to it. If you change your mind later on about how these paragraphs should be formatted, simply modify the 'Short' style and they'll
all be updated to reflect the change.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Hey Macropod,

Thanks a lot for the answer - that might work, but could you please add some
more details about how to actually do what you just described?

I'm Danish and using a Danish version of Word, so I'm not sure what "page
break before" means? If I do a page break I end up on the next page...

Thanks again for taking the time,

Regards,
// Raziel

Hi Raziel,

You could have the paragraph containing the short text formatted in a Style that enforces a 'page break before' formatting, with
a
suitable amount of trailing space, and the paragraphs containing the remaining text in one or more other styles. This will
reserve
as many lines as the short text use, plus the trailing space, for the upper part of the page.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Greetings,

After searching for a while, not finding anything helpful, I decided to
starte this topic and hopefully someone can help.

I want to have two texts paralleling each other horizontally, so that the
top half (or so) of every page is reserved for one text, while the bottom
half is reserved for another text - the whole document spanning many pages.

If the description isn't clear, then imagine a short text and then a
commentary upon that text. The document is split in two (horizontally), with
the original text at the top half of every page, and the commentary
(explaining important points) following underneath on every page.

Is this possible in Word 2007? I've tried for hours to find something, but
have had no luck. For now I'm using footnotes (that take up half the page!),
but I would like to find some other solution as I'm writing a commentary on a
work and want to reserve footnotes for something else.

Thanks in advance,
// Raziel

 

[Raziel]

Hey Macropod,

Thanks again for the reply and the detailed explanation. I really appreciate
it.

However, I'm not sure if I was able to convey what I actually wanted well
enough, because the result works but slightly different than what I wanted,
though still usefull and I might use this if I can't find another solution.

The "commentary" part still represents a problem when it is longer than the
first page, because instead of leaving room at the top of the second page,
the commentary begins at the top of the following page. This means that every
time I want to put in some more text to comment, I would need to start on a
fresh page, which is not exactly what I wanted.

The effect I'm looking for is this: Imagine two text-boxes on page one, one
taking up (for example) the uppermost quarter of the page, and the other
taking up the rest underneath it. Now imagine that page two looks exactly
like that, and the uppermost box from page one is linked with the uppermost
box on page two, so that the text continues on page two in the same uppermost
quarter of the page, while the bottom box from page one is linked with the
box at the bottom on page two, so that the text from the bottom-box on page
one continues in the bottom-box on page two.

I can do this with text-boxes, but I want a solution without having to use
text-boxes, because I would have to manually copy/paste each page and
manually link all the boxes - a tiresome work in a document spanning perhaps
40-50 pages.

I have seen this style used in commentaries of Arabic books (I study
Arabic), and it's really a nice way of presenting the text as well as the
commentary, keeping the two texts separate but without wasting too much
space. I'm writing a commentary in Danish, but would like to use this setup...

Thanks for taking the time to help,

Best regards,
// Raziel

Hi Raziel,

For your 'short' text, create a new paragraph style named 'Short' (or something else meaningful to you) via Format|Style|New (or
Alt-o, s, then click on 'New'). Alternatively, you might want to modify an existing Style (eg a Heading Style if you want your
'short' paragraphs to be numbered) and to be able to list them in a Table of Contents). Then, with the Styles dialogue box still
open, choose Format|Paragraph and give it a suitable 'spacing after' (eg 60pt), then click on the 'line and page breaks' tab and
check the 'page break before' option. Click 'OK'. You may want to give this style a special font. If so, with the Styles dialogue
box still open, choose Format|Font and give it the required attributes and click 'OK'. Likewsie, make any other special formatting
arrangements (eg numbering) that you might want to apply. When you're done, click 'OK' to return to the document.

You can any suitable existing styles for the 'long' text.

Now, whenever you want to create a new 'short' text paragraph, press <Enter> to create a new paragraph and apply the 'Short' style
to it. If you change your mind later on about how these paragraphs should be formatted, simply modify the 'Short' style and they'll
all be updated to reflect the change.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Hey Macropod,

Thanks a lot for the answer - that might work, but could you please add some
more details about how to actually do what you just described?

I'm Danish and using a Danish version of Word, so I'm not sure what "page
break before" means? If I do a page break I end up on the next page...

Thanks again for taking the time,

Regards,
// Raziel

Hi Raziel,

You could have the paragraph containing the short text formatted in a Style that enforces a 'page break before' formatting, with
a
suitable amount of trailing space, and the paragraphs containing the remaining text in one or more other styles. This will
reserve
as many lines as the short text use, plus the trailing space, for the upper part of the page.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Greetings,

After searching for a while, not finding anything helpful, I decided to
starte this topic and hopefully someone can help.

I want to have two texts paralleling each other horizontally, so that the
top half (or so) of every page is reserved for one text, while the bottom
half is reserved for another text - the whole document spanning many pages.

If the description isn't clear, then imagine a short text and then a
commentary upon that text. The document is split in two (horizontally), with
the original text at the top half of every page, and the commentary
(explaining important points) following underneath on every page.

Is this possible in Word 2007? I've tried for hours to find something, but
have had no luck. For now I'm using footnotes (that take up half the page!),
but I would like to find some other solution as I'm writing a commentary on a
work and want to reserve footnotes for something else.

Thanks in advance,
// Raziel

 

[macropod]

Hi Raziel,

Other than using linked text boxes, I don't think Word offers anything with the facility you're after.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Hey Macropod,

Thanks again for the reply and the detailed explanation. I really appreciate
it.

However, I'm not sure if I was able to convey what I actually wanted well
enough, because the result works but slightly different than what I wanted,
though still usefull and I might use this if I can't find another solution.

The "commentary" part still represents a problem when it is longer than the
first page, because instead of leaving room at the top of the second page,
the commentary begins at the top of the following page. This means that every
time I want to put in some more text to comment, I would need to start on a
fresh page, which is not exactly what I wanted.

The effect I'm looking for is this: Imagine two text-boxes on page one, one
taking up (for example) the uppermost quarter of the page, and the other
taking up the rest underneath it. Now imagine that page two looks exactly
like that, and the uppermost box from page one is linked with the uppermost
box on page two, so that the text continues on page two in the same uppermost
quarter of the page, while the bottom box from page one is linked with the
box at the bottom on page two, so that the text from the bottom-box on page
one continues in the bottom-box on page two.

I can do this with text-boxes, but I want a solution without having to use
text-boxes, because I would have to manually copy/paste each page and
manually link all the boxes - a tiresome work in a document spanning perhaps
40-50 pages.

I have seen this style used in commentaries of Arabic books (I study
Arabic), and it's really a nice way of presenting the text as well as the
commentary, keeping the two texts separate but without wasting too much
space. I'm writing a commentary in Danish, but would like to use this setup...

Thanks for taking the time to help,

Best regards,
// Raziel

Hi Raziel,

For your 'short' text, create a new paragraph style named 'Short' (or something else meaningful to you) via Format|Style|New (or
Alt-o, s, then click on 'New'). Alternatively, you might want to modify an existing Style (eg a Heading Style if you want your
'short' paragraphs to be numbered) and to be able to list them in a Table of Contents). Then, with the Styles dialogue box still
open, choose Format|Paragraph and give it a suitable 'spacing after' (eg 60pt), then click on the 'line and page breaks' tab and
check the 'page break before' option. Click 'OK'. You may want to give this style a special font. If so, with the Styles dialogue
box still open, choose Format|Font and give it the required attributes and click 'OK'. Likewsie, make any other special
formatting
arrangements (eg numbering) that you might want to apply. When you're done, click 'OK' to return to the document.

You can any suitable existing styles for the 'long' text.

Now, whenever you want to create a new 'short' text paragraph, press <Enter> to create a new paragraph and apply the 'Short'
style
to it. If you change your mind later on about how these paragraphs should be formatted, simply modify the 'Short' style and
they'll
all be updated to reflect the change.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Hey Macropod,

Thanks a lot for the answer - that might work, but could you please add some
more details about how to actually do what you just described?

I'm Danish and using a Danish version of Word, so I'm not sure what "page
break before" means? If I do a page break I end up on the next page...

Thanks again for taking the time,

Regards,
// Raziel

:

Hi Raziel,

You could have the paragraph containing the short text formatted in a Style that enforces a 'page break before' formatting,
with
a
suitable amount of trailing space, and the paragraphs containing the remaining text in one or more other styles. This will
reserve
as many lines as the short text use, plus the trailing space, for the upper part of the page.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
-------------------------

Greetings,

After searching for a while, not finding anything helpful, I decided to
starte this topic and hopefully someone can help.

I want to have two texts paralleling each other horizontally, so that the
top half (or so) of every page is reserved for one text, while the bottom
half is reserved for another text - the whole document spanning many pages.

If the description isn't clear, then imagine a short text and then a
commentary upon that text. The document is split in two (horizontally), with
the original text at the top half of every page, and the commentary
(explaining important points) following underneath on every page.

Is this possible in Word 2007? I've tried for hours to find something, but
have had no luck. For now I'm using footnotes (that take up half the page!),
but I would like to find some other solution as I'm writing a commentary on a
work and want to reserve footnotes for something else.

Thanks in advance,
// Raziel

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Raziel,

Random thoughts:

With two text boxes per page, you might hit Word's limit before you are
done anyhow. I forget, but think it might be a max of 32 linked text
boxes or something, in a single document. Try a search, someone should
mention it, not sure if it is version-dependent. Guess you could break
the doc into chapters. I'm not sure whether you could manage what you
want with just one text box per page. Better to look to InDesign or
something for that kind of page layout control. Also, when things are in
text boxes, you lose some text features--for instance, I don't think
Word looks in text boxes when it generates an index, which you might want.

The usual best approach for "simultaneous translation" (which is very
close to what you need) is a two-column borderless table, starting a new
table row whenever you want paragraphs to line up. But you want
horizontal, so that won't work--although, vertical sidenotes might
actually be easier for the reader. A two-column table might be an
efficient way to work on the document before reformatting it into
something fancier, however.

It is possible to have multiple sequences of notes. For instance, you
could use lettered footnotes restarting every page for the commentary,
and also have a sequence of separately numbered endnotes at the end of
the document for citations.

maybe something there will be useful,
Daiya