Hi Shelly:
This is really difficult to do in a Word processor, because word processors
do not "have" blank lines
For text to appear "down the page", there
must be TEXT above it to push it down there.
Yeah, I know, it sounds silly, but understanding this is the key to solving
your problem.
Just before we start, let's make sure *I* understand your problem correctly,
OK? I believe you have a stack of pre-printed forms you want to put in your
laser printer. Those forms have blank spaces on them, and you want Word to
send text to the printer that will fit on the forms in the correct spaces?
OK. There's two ways of doing this -- let's talk about the easy way. It's
not high-tech, but it works
Read all these instructions through to the
end before you begin, so you have an idea what's coming next. Look up
anything you do not understand in the Word Help: I am leaving a lot of
description out because I assume you either already know it or you will look
it up in the Help.
1) Scan one of those forms in to your computer and save it as a picture
file (JPEG is fine).
2) Create a new blank Word document and save it.
3) Go to View>Header and Footer (a Word document doesn't have a header
until you View it, then it will create it for you).
4) In the Header, use Insert>Picture>From File to insert that picture into
the document header.
5) Stretch the picture until it is the correct size to match the form when
you print. It needs to be fairly close to the correct size, so print a
sample and keep tweaking until you get it close to correct.
6) Now click in the "Text" area of the document. When you do this, the
Header/Footer view will close. You will see the picture behind the text,
but you will not be able to select it.
7) Now, add a Text Box (look them up in the Help) for each blank you want
to fill in. Drag each one into position and line it up with the picture.
8) Print a test page or two on blank paper, and tweak the text boxes until
you get them in the correct place.
9) When you get the text boxes close to the correct place, go to back to
View>Header and Footer and click the picture.
10) Choose Format>Font>Effects>Hidden. Click out of the header. If the
picture now disappears from view, click the Show/Hide button to bring it
back into view. It won't print.
11) Now put a form in the printer and print a test. You should see your
text in the correct place, still surrounded by the black outline boxes.
12) Tweak the text boxes until they are in Exactly the correct place.
13) Now use Format>Text Box to remove the Borders from each of the text
boxes. You will still be able to see them on screen, but the borders won't
print.
14) Do another test shot. If all is well, save a COPY of the document.
This becomes your working master.
15) Go into View>Header and Footer and DELETE the scan of the form. This
won't affect the text boxes, it's in a different layer of the document.
There you go: Job's done.
Over time, you will find that this form needs fixing or adjusting. Go back
to your original, leave the picture in it so you can see what you are doing.
Save a Copy for general use and remove the picture from that: it will speed
up printing a great deal if Word is not trying to print a huge picture that
is "not actually going to print".
The above method works well for one-page forms that are not too complex.
When you need more power and flexibility, you build an "Online Form". Look
up the Help topic "Create forms that users will view and complete in Word".
Read it all, then come back here with your questions
Hope this helps
How do I set up a document in word so that I may enter data on blank lines,
then print ONLY that data. I want to feed a printed document with blank
lines through a laser jet and have the blank lines filled in with what I type.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <
[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
