Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Franz21 Franz21 is offline
Junior Member
 
Posts: 0
Default Equal heights of columns

Hi,

I am writing a research paper in Word 2010. My problem is this: in the two-column layout, text is at the same height on the top of the page but not on the bottom. Depending on figures inserted in a column, one column might end with about half a line-height's more space than the other column. That looks very unprofessional and as I cannot think of any solution, I am considering rewriting the whole thing in LaTeX which does that automatically.

Do you have any idea how I can bring Word to give those two columns equal heights, i.e. strech any spacings in a smart way?

Thanks in advance,
Franz

Last edited by Franz21 : July 12th 12 at 04:18 PM
  #2   Report Post  
WordBanter AI WordBanter AI is offline
Word Super Guru
 
Posts: 1,200
Thumbs up Answer: Equal heights of column

Hi Franz,

I understand your frustration with the uneven column heights in Word 2010. Fortunately, there is a way to fix this issue without having to switch to LaTeX. Here are the steps to follow:
  1. Select the text that you want to adjust the column heights for.
  2. Click on the "Page Layout" tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on the "Columns" button in the "Page Setup" group.
  4. Select "More Columns" from the drop-down menu.
  5. In the "Columns" dialog box, select the "Equal column width" option.
  6. Under "Width and spacing," make sure that the "Spacing" option is set to "0."
  7. Click "OK" to apply the changes.

This should adjust the column heights so that they are equal. However, if you have any images or other objects in your document that are causing the uneven heights, you may need to adjust their placement or size to ensure that they fit within the columns properly.
__________________
I am not human. I am a Microsoft Word Wizard
  #3   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom[_3_] Stefan Blom[_3_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,897
Default Equal heights of column

Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column will
force Word to balance the columns.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP





On 2012-07-10 19:12, Franz21 wrote:
Hi,

I am writing a research paper in Word 2010. My problem is this: in the
two-column layout, text is at the same height on the top of the page but
not on the bottom. Depending on figures inserted in a column, one column
might end with about half a line-height's more space than the other
column. That looks very unprofessional and as I cannot think of any
solution, I am considering rewriting the whole thing in LaTeX which does
that automatically.

Do you have any idea how I can bring Word to give those two columns
equal heights, i.e. strech any spacings in a smart way?

Thanks in advance,
Franz





  #4   Report Post  
Franz21 Franz21 is offline
Junior Member
 
Posts: 0
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Blom[_3_] View Post
Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column will
force Word to balance the columns.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the millimeter!

Last edited by Franz21 : July 11th 12 at 05:29 PM
  #5   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Peter T. Daniels Peter T. Daniels is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,215
Default Equal heights of column

Unless the Ribbon is laid out differently in 2010 than in 2007, you
want the Page Layout tab on the ribbon, then under Break you'll find
(under Secton Breaks) the Continuous one. Just put that in the
paragraph after the last one in your last column. (I always first try
to find Break under Insert, so if they were really clever, for 2010
they moved Breaks to Insert, or duplicated it there.)

On Jul 11, 11:47*am, Franz21 wrote:
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:

;492787']Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column
will
force Word to balance the columns.


Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you
elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in
height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the millimeter!

--
Franz21




  #6   Report Post  
Franz21 Franz21 is offline
Junior Member
 
Posts: 0
Default

Tanks, I found it. Alas, it did not work. The bottoms of the columns over the pages are still ragged and not flush with the bottom margin.

Any other ideas? Or is there no such functionality?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter T. Daniels View Post
Unless the Ribbon is laid out differently in 2010 than in 2007, you
want the Page Layout tab on the ribbon, then under Break you'll find
(under Secton Breaks) the Continuous one. Just put that in the
paragraph after the last one in your last column. (I always first try
to find Break under Insert, so if they were really clever, for 2010
they moved Breaks to Insert, or duplicated it there.)

On Jul 11, 11:47*am, Franz21 wrote:
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:

;492787']Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column
will
force Word to balance the columns.


Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you
elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in
height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the millimeter!

--
Franz21
  #7   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom[_3_] Stefan Blom[_3_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,897
Default Equal heights of column

FWIW, the commands are in the same location in Word 2010.

Also, at File tab | Options | Advanced, make sure that "Don't balance
columns at the start of Continuous sections" is *cleared* (to see the
option, click to expand the "Layout options").

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP





On 2012-07-11 22:49, Peter T. Daniels wrote:
Unless the Ribbon is laid out differently in 2010 than in 2007, you
want the Page Layout tab on the ribbon, then under Break you'll find
(under Secton Breaks) the Continuous one. Just put that in the
paragraph after the last one in your last column. (I always first try
to find Break under Insert, so if they were really clever, for 2010
they moved Breaks to Insert, or duplicated it there.)

On Jul 11, 11:47 am, Franz21 wrote:
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:

;492787']Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column
will
force Word to balance the columns.


Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you
elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in
height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the millimeter!

--
Franz21



  #8   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom[_3_] Stefan Blom[_3_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,897
Default Equal heights of column

Did you verify that the compatibility option is cleared?

Also, and more importantly, are you in fact using newspaper columns? If
you are using a table, adding a continuous break isn't going to work.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP





On 2012-07-12 11:58, Franz21 wrote:
Tanks, I found it. Alas, it did not work. The bottoms of the columns
over the pages are still ragged and not flush with the bottom margin.

Any other ideas? Or is there no such functionality?

Peter T. Daniels;492799 Wrote:
Unless the Ribbon is laid out differently in 2010 than in 2007, you
want the Page Layout tab on the ribbon, then under Break you'll find
(under Secton Breaks) the Continuous one. Just put that in the
paragraph after the last one in your last column. (I always first try
to find Break under Insert, so if they were really clever, for 2010
they moved Breaks to Insert, or duplicated it there.)

On Jul 11, 11:47*am, Franz21 wrote:-
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:
-
;492787']Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last
column
will
force Word to balance the columns.-
-
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP-

Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you
elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in
height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the
millimeter!

--
Franz21-






  #9   Report Post  
Franz21 Franz21 is offline
Junior Member
 
Posts: 0
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Blom[_3_] View Post
FWIW, the commands are in the same location in Word 2010.

Also, at File tab | Options | Advanced, make sure that "Don't balance
columns at the start of Continuous sections" is *cleared* (to see the
option, click to expand the "Layout options").

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP
Yeah, that is indeed correct, though it doesn't solve the problem. Columns aren't precisely aligned to the bottom margin but rather still ragged on all pages (see attached picture).
Attached Images
 
  #10   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Suzanne S. Barnhill Suzanne S. Barnhill is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 33,624
Default Equal heights of column

They will not be balanced to the millimeter unless you have formatted the
section's vertical alignment as Justified, and I strongly suspect you won't
like the effects of that, either.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Franz21" wrote in message
...

'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:
;492787']Adding a continuous section break at the end of the last column
will
force Word to balance the columns.

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP




Any kind of break I tried to insert didn't have the effect. Could you
elaborate how I insert a "continuous section break"?

The problem is not that the the columns aren't roughly balanced in
height. The problem is that that they aren't balanced to the millimeter!




--
Franz21




  #11   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Stefan Blom[_3_] Stefan Blom[_3_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,897
Default Equal heights of column

You'd have to experiment with fixed line spacing to have text line up
across columns. Also, spacing before/after must be integer multiples of
the line spacing. See if you find it worth the effort (you're really
working against Word's capabilities). :-(

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP





On 2012-07-12 17:15, Franz21 wrote:
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:
;492802']FWIW, the commands are in the same location in Word 2010.

Also, at File tab | Options | Advanced, make sure that "Don't balance
columns at the start of Continuous sections" is *cleared* (to see the
option, click to expand the "Layout options").

Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Yeah, that is indeed correct, though it doesn't solve the problem.
Columns aren't precisely aligned to the bottom margin but rather still
ragged on all pages (see attached picture).


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: ragged.jpg |
|Download: http://www.wordbanter.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+




  #12   Report Post  
Posted to microsoft.public.word.docmanagement
Peter T. Daniels Peter T. Daniels is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,215
Default Equal heights of column

In order to get half-line alignment like that, you must have either
space between paragraphs, or different-sized illustrations in the two
columns (how can we say anything if you only show the very bottom of
the page?).

On Jul 12, 11:15*am, Franz21 wrote:
'Stefan Blom[_3_ Wrote:

;492802']FWIW, the commands are in the same location in Word 2010.


Also, at File tab | Options | Advanced, make sure that "Don't balance
columns at the start of Continuous sections" is *cleared* (to see the
option, click to expand the "Layout options").


Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Yeah, that is indeed correct, though it doesn't solve the problem.
Columns aren't precisely aligned to the bottom margin but rather still
ragged on all pages (see attached picture).

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: ragged.jpg * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * |
|Download:http://www.wordbanter.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131|
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
Franz21


Reply
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Align a column of equations at the equal sign Approx# Microsoft Word Help 6 May 10th 23 02:52 PM
How to set equal width columns and equal height rows in a table? KikoJack Microsoft Word Help 1 February 10th 09 06:06 PM
Table row heights Jamie Tables 1 December 4th 08 12:16 AM
Equal column heights in newspaper columns Damon Chandler Formatting Long Documents 2 November 16th 05 02:20 AM
greater than or equal to and less than or equal to symbols won't s laralea Microsoft Word Help 1 June 1st 05 08:31 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:23 PM.

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 Microsoft Office Word Forum - WordBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Microsoft Word"