View position

[Kathryn]

Is there a way for me to set Word so I can see the position of a character
in inches from the left edge of the page? Telling me what column it is is
pretty useless for me.

Thanks.

Kathryn

 

[anon k]

Is there a way for me to set Word so I can see the position of a character
in inches from the left edge of the page? Telling me what column it is is
pretty useless for me.

Thanks.

Kathryn

Set your left margin at the edge of the page, and adjust indents to
control where your text appears. You may encounter resistance if Word
insists that your printer can't handle it.

 

[Kathryn]

That still only shows me the column. This is Word 2003, if that matters.
The line number AND inches down the page show, but not for the column. It
would be VERY helpful if I could see inches, since columns adjust
themselves.

 

[anon k]

That still only shows me the column. This is Word 2003, if that matters.
The line number AND inches down the page show, but not for the column. It
would be VERY helpful if I could see inches, since columns adjust
themselves.

To be honest, I can't tell what you're talking about any more. All
wordprocessing and body type composition has to be done in terms of the
column; what I suggested is to make your column coincide with the page.
You will always see the column; there's nothing else to see.

The Word rulers always give these measures in inches, so I'm having
trouble working out what you're talking about. I don't know what you
mean by columns adjusting themselves; mine have never done that.

If you want absolute page coordinates without reference to the column,
you'll probably need DTP or graphics software instead of a wordprocessor.

 

[Kathryn]

You mean to tell me there is no way to set Word to tell me that this
particular character is 3 inches from the edge of the paper????? It tells
me how many inches down a line is. Why is that different?

Columns adjust themselves differently if I have it set as full as opposed to
left or right. All I want to be able to see if if this character is 3 or 4
inches from the margin/edge of paper.

I have a ruler is at the top and left edge of the screen. At the bottom, it
shows me page and section, then how many inches down the page I am then what
line nubmer that is then what column number it is. If it will tell me how
many inches DOWN I am, why won't it show me how many inches over I am as
well?

 

[Rob graham]

If you click and hold the cursor in the tab bar (as if inserting a tab
marker) a dotted vertical line appears and you can then see where your
character is. Would this help? I know it's not quite the same as in the
other dimension.

Rob Graham

 

[JohnR]

First set the View --> Print layout. The position of the cursor referenced
to the top ruler will tell you EXACTLY how far you are from the LEFT margin
John

 

[Kathryn]

I need a number, please. Not guestimating by looking at the ruler that is
inches away from where the character is. I mean, is it so hard to get?
Line 8 is 2.3 inches down. Is there no way for Word to tell me that column
(I assume that's what Col means) 3 is 1.3 inches from the left edge of the
paper or .3 inches from the margin?

Word wants to be able to let people do a thousand different things but you
can't tell where a character is?

 

[GM6TRS]

I need a number, please. Not guestimating by looking at the ruler that is
inches away from where the character is. I mean, is it so hard to

get?

Scrolling will bring it very close to the top ruler

Word wants to be able to let people do a thousand different things but you
can't tell where a character is?

In the way that you want - no.

- -
Martin

 

[anon k]

You mean to tell me there is no way to set Word to tell me that this
particular character is 3 inches from the edge of the paper????? It tells
me how many inches down a line is. Why is that different?

You can set a tab or a column edge in terms of inches. You can use that
to position characters, but positioning characters relative to the page
is not what wordprocessors are for. I don't see why you're so
exasperated about it.

Columns adjust themselves differently if I have it set as full as opposed to
left or right. All I want to be able to see if if this character is 3 or 4
inches from the margin/edge of paper.

I have a ruler is at the top and left edge of the screen. At the bottom, it
shows me page and section, then how many inches down the page I am then what
line nubmer that is then what column number it is. If it will tell me how
many inches DOWN I am, why won't it show me how many inches over I am as
well?

The ruler does not tell you how far down you are. It gives you only a
rough guide, just like the horizontal ruler does. Moreover, my rulers
indicate column dimensions; I don't know what's happened to yours.

It would be good to be able to set vertical tabs, which is
wordprocessing, but Word won't do those.

 

[anon k]

I am starting to see your problem. You seem to have a funny idea about
what a column is. Think newspaper columns, not vertical stacks of
letters. Unless you use a monospaced typeface, the letters will never
line up.

Monospaced type was invented to get around limitations of cheap
typewriters; proportional type (the normal kind) has letters of
different widths.

 

[JohnR]

Kathryn, scroll up so that the line you are looking at is the first line on
the screen, and right next to the horizontal ruler. It'll tell you EXACTLY
where the character is !
John

 

[JohnR]

Just curious, but why is this of any interest ???? With proportional
spacing, you have very little control of this .

John

 

[Kathryn]

I am starting to see your problem. You seem to have a funny idea about
what a column is. Think newspaper columns, not vertical stacks of letters.
Unless you use a monospaced typeface, the letters will never line up.

No, my idea of a column is not funny, I understand what they are. But that
is precisely the problem. I don't care what column it is, precisely because
they won't line up. I want to be able to line them up, hence the need for
an actual number.

 

[Kathryn]

Because I have various documents that I need to edit, including lining up
colums, that come to me from different people that use different software
and use software in different ways. I have to convert to and from Word and
Word Perfect and other software, depending on what software the document was
created in. Setting tabs for everything is therefore not always practical.
I know
that spacing is proportional--that makes it harder to line things up. That
is why I want a number that I can see.

 

[Kathryn]

I use print layout, always. The ruler at the top will tell me where a
character is, if by that you mean I can see that it's between 2 3/8 and
2 1/2 inches from the margin. That is still a guestimate. No 2.40
inches from margin? That would be very helpful, especially since
the fonts are proportional.

 

[JohnR]

Proportional spacing, especially makes it virtually impossible to line up to
start with. You'd probably be better off (read that as easier) to reformat
the whole document to the Word version that you are using, and then use
tabs!

John

 

[anon k]

I think that your problem is actually more fundamental than just Word.
You're asking for Word to emulate formatting decisions that depend on
changes of printer and font files and other things that you cannot
always control.

If you need that level of consistency, you have to standardize your
software AND hardware. To some extent you can get around that by using
pdf files and a common printer driver.

If you force individual characters into place, you'll produce what
amounts to poor typesetting. Whether you consider this problematic
depends on who's receiving your documents. Some people can read poorly
composed type; most are slowed down or irritated by it.

But maybe you should really be asking whether Word is a suitable choice
for your line of work. If you're not wordprocessing, then a
wordprocessor would seem an odd thing to have bought.

 

[Kathryn]

No, I'm not asking Word to emulate anything. I'm asking it to tell me
something, so I can then make decisions about typesetting. Allowing me to
make decisions will not automatically lead to "poor typesetting" or "poorly
composed type" as you suggest. I do a lot of word processing as a legal
secretary.

And the choice of software was not mine. We are using Word because we
receive a lot of documents from clients and attorneys in Word; people who
use a wide assortment of styles when creating documents, most of which are
inconsistent even within a document.

I suspect I would be better off converting everything to Word Perfect for
formatting purposes and then converting back to Word as necessary.

 

[JohnR]

Looks like you're gonna let the "tail wag the dog"