Vertical text

[Peter Whyer]

I want to type vertical text but when I use the command in Tools the
characters are rotated 90 degs too. The vertical text command also seems to
work only in a text box.
How can I keep the letters normal and vertical other than by using a line
feed between each letter, and without a text box?
many thanks.
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[Adam]

I don't know of an ideal solution to this, but one way of getting the effect
you describe is to create a table and set the column width to be
sufficiently small that only a single letter will fit on a line.

HTH

Adam

 

[Martha]

I find WORD will only allow 11 columns across the
page with six letters per column width and it controls the width of columns
according to the number. You are not free to set them as you wish.

That's quite false: Word allows tables of as many columns as you want,
with each column set to whatever width you want. If you're having
trouble getting a table to do what you want, try bringing up Table
Properties, hitting the Options button, and turning off "Automatically
resize to fit contents".

What resolution is your monitor set to? It could be that, when you're
dragging across on the Insert Table toolbar button, you're hitting the
edge of the screen at 11 columns. If so, customize your toolbar to
move the button over to the left; or use Table - Insert - Table to add
your tables.

To resize a column or row, simply drag its edge in the direction you
want. If you want to resize a column without also resizing the column
on its right, drag the column divider in the horizontal ruler. You can
also set exact column widths and row heights (in Table Properties).

 

[Peter Whyer]

It appears we are both right in that WORD does control COLUMNS just as I
said but TABLES as you describe.

It is true you can have a Table with many columns but you can't have more
than 11 Columns. I don't know if there is a way of changing this limit.

My monitor resolution is 1280 x 1024 but more to the point is the size of
my sheet to be printed.which is normal A4. I would therefore be looking to
have roughly 40 Columns per page if I wanted to fill the page.

 

[Martha]

It is true you can have a Table with many columns but you can't have more
than 11 Columns. I don't know if there is a way of changing this limit.

The suggestion you received was to insert a *table* with narrow
columns. So I naturally assumed your reply meant that you had tried
out the suggestion and had hit some sort of problem.

If you're trying to achieve vertical text with horizontal characters,
I don't think anyone would suggest newspaper-style columns. As you've
found, there's a maximum number of columns you can have (which depends
on the paper size and margins; on US Letter size with standard 1"
margins, you can have 13 columns) and a minimum width per column (.5")
which is equivalent to about 5-6 characters at 12 point font size.
There's no way to change these limits, as far as I know.

Why don't you try what Adam suggested in the first place, namely
adding a *table* with narrow columns? If that doesn't work for you,
could you clarify why you don't want to use a textbox? (Since that
would be my suggestion: use a long and narrow textbox--and hope you
never have to write "Hawaii" vertically.)

 

[Peter Whyer]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think the table is the answer for me.