Watermarks in MS Word

[AlisonHood]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

Hello, Thanks John for his help earlier on. Here's an interesting one - we have 3 macs here in the office. I have created a doc with a watermark (using Word 2008 on PowerPC) and it looks great on screen (solid colours and no washout) and prints perfectly. Ant has created the same document (using Word 2008 on Intel chip) and it renders in washout on screen and prints pixellated! On the 3rd Mac (using Word 2004 and PowerPC) it renders to screen in washout, type pixellated on screen and it prints pixellated. Note that we have used the same pdf to create the document. Thanks for any help, Alison

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Alison:

On ANY version of Word, the "Watermark" should appear washed out on screen
because it should actually be a component of the running header or footer.

If you used Word's Insert>Watermark command to put it in, it just simplified
the mechanism of putting it in the header for you.

Word 2004 has a bug that means PDF is likely to end up pixelated.

Word 2008 has a bug that prints some vector illustrations pixelated. If
your PDF contains a vector illustration, that would be it.

The Word 2008 bug will be fixed

In the meantime, if it is just a "Draft" watermark, try using the
Insert>Watermark command to put it in. This inserts it as a "WordArt" which
is actually a font-based mechanism that may produce better results.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC

Hello, Thanks John for his help earlier on. Here's an interesting one - we
have 3 macs here in the office. I have created a doc with a watermark (using
Word 2008 on PowerPC) and it looks great on screen (solid colours and no
washout) and prints perfectly. Ant has created the same document (using Word
2008 on Intel chip) and it renders in washout on screen and prints pixellated!
On the 3rd Mac (using Word 2004 and PowerPC) it renders to screen in washout,
type pixellated on screen and it prints pixellated. Note that we have used the
same pdf to create the document. Thanks for any help, Alison

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Phillip Jones]

to get around the problem whether 2004 2008 if to leave the watermark
out open in acrobat and insert there instead if you need in a PDF. there
is a watermark and Backgrounds feature in both acrobat pro 7 or 8 that
lets you add a watermark. And you can even create your own and tweak the
angle to which it shows on a page.

Hi Alison:

On ANY version of Word, the "Watermark" should appear washed out on screen
because it should actually be a component of the running header or footer.

If you used Word's Insert>Watermark command to put it in, it just simplified
the mechanism of putting it in the header for you.

Word 2004 has a bug that means PDF is likely to end up pixelated.

Word 2008 has a bug that prints some vector illustrations pixelated. If
your PDF contains a vector illustration, that would be it.

The Word 2008 bug will be fixed

In the meantime, if it is just a "Draft" watermark, try using the
Insert>Watermark command to put it in. This inserts it as a "WordArt" which
is actually a font-based mechanism that may produce better results.

Hope this helps

--
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616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
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If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

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<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
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<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Phillip Jones]

I might note do this until MS fixes the bug in 2008; as doing so in
Acrobat adds a layer why must then be flattened to compact the size.


Because 08 is out now they may never fix in the 04 version; unless they
were to get such an outcry because of 08 bugs, they are forced to like
they are sort of forced to for XP because VISTA is not going over to
well on the PC side of things.

to get around the problem whether 2004 2008 if to leave the watermark
out open in acrobat and insert there instead if you need in a PDF. there
is a watermark and Backgrounds feature in both acrobat pro 7 or 8 that
lets you add a watermark. And you can even create your own and tweak the
angle to which it shows on a page.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

Hi Alison,

What happens if you simply insert the PDF directly into the document (not a
watermark)? What happens if you do it in a different Application like
PowerPoint or Excel?

Thanks for helping us track this down,

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft


Date: 3/18/08 8:39 PM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"

 

[AlisonHood]

Hello everyone, thanks for all the comments/ideas/suggestions coming it. Still trying to solve it though! This is really the absolute question:

Out of CS3, how should we save a graphic to use in MS Word 2004 and 2008 that will also be used on PC MS Word that will not pixellate and will be as close as possible in clarity to the original graphic, either on screen, printed to a printer and when saved/printed out as a pdf?

One of the key issues here is the high amount of variables, ie MS Word versions, OS (Mac and PC), available software. This document needs to be totally portable across all variables.

I haven't tried this in Excel or PowerPoint because it needs to be a simple Word letterhead that can be emailed/made into a pdf etc.

Keep the ideas coming - we might get a solution!!!

 

[AlisonHood]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and ideas coming in. This is really the absolute question that we all need answered:

Out of CS3, how should we save a graphic to use in MS Word 2004 and 2008 that will also be used on PC MS Word that will not pixellate and will be as close as possible in clarity to the original graphic, either on screen, printed to a printer and when saved/printed out as a pdf?

The variables are quite large with this: MS Word for Mac x 2 versions, MS Word for PC, different operating systems etc. However, there should be away that we can create an electronic letterhead that will work on all systems despite different software technologies.

I haven't tried this in Excel or PowerPoint because it needs to be a simple Word letterhead that can be emailed/made into a pdf etc.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Allison -

The typical misconception is that there is *one* particular graphics file
format that serves all purposes on all platforms. If that were the case it
would be the only survivor & the rest would perish

An image has to be processed with the foremost consideration being the
manner in which it is intended to be used... What's right for screen display
isn't right for desktop printing or for commercial press & neither of the
three are "right" for either of the other purposes. It isn't at all
uncommon - in fact it's the norm among pros - to render more than one
version of an image based on how many ways it needs to be used, for example:

Low-res jpg, gif or png for screen,
Medium- res jpg, tif, png for desktop/local printed matter,
Hi-res tif or EPS for commercial output

Further, the image content determines which file format is better (photos v.
drawings) & output method further dictates color mode (RGB v. CMYK).

IOW, if you want optimal *electronic* letterhead you may have to accept that
it won't *print* very well & vice-versa, depending on what comprises the
graphic content. In general, tif or png will most likely give the best
result & should cross from Mac to PC & back without difficulty.

 

[Matt Centurión [MSFT]]

Hi Alison, we can't help you further until we have diagnosed the correct
issue. Please let us know the answer to the following:

What happens if you simply insert the PDF directly into the document (not a
watermark)? What happens if you do it in a different Application like
PowerPoint or Excel?

Matt
MacOffice Testing
Microsoft


Date: 3/19/08 3:13 PM / From: "(e-mail address removed)"