Our office has just installed a scanner that converts documents to Word in
..rtf format. Many of the happy users save the documents onto the network in
that format. However, when those documents come to me for revisions with a
request either to add or change automatic numbering, TOC, etc., formatting
nightmares appear.

Am I wrong in suggesting that if the documents€”and they are long legal
ones€”are to remain in stable condition, they should be put into unformatted
text and THEN formatted before placing them onto the system?

Thank you for this and all of your past help!

You are pretty much close on with your solution. The scanner will have come
with an Optical Character Recognition application that coverts the scanned
text (only a graphics) into editable text. However, it will have absolutely
no idea about styles and all it will do is stuff everything into the
document hoping that it 'looks' as close as possible to the original.

You need to attach the document to a template that has the correct styles
and then you may get away with using Format, AutoFormat - but I've never
found it that good. Ultimately, if these are complex documents, you may need
to remove all formatting and then apply all the Styles again.

A couple of shortcuts you may need is that Ctrl+Spacebar removes all direct
formatting (Reset character style) and Ctrl+Q resets the paragraph back to
the underlying style (Reset Paragraph) as well as Clear Formatting command
in the Styles TaskPane (which may need enabling by clicking Show: Custom and
checking the tick box).

One thing for sure; this isn't a simple task if they are long documents.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

"Island Girl" wrote in message
...
: Our office has just installed a scanner that converts documents to Word in
: .rtf format. Many of the happy users save the documents onto the network
in
: that format. However, when those documents come to me for revisions with
a
: request either to add or change automatic numbering, TOC, etc., formatting
: nightmares appear.
:
: Am I wrong in suggesting that if the documents€”and they are long legal
: ones€”are to remain in stable condition, they should be put into
unformatted
: text and THEN formatted before placing them onto the system?
:
: Thank you for this and all of your past help!
:

Terry, once more you've come to my rescue! Thank you!!

"TF" wrote:

You are pretty much close on with your solution. The scanner will have come
with an Optical Character Recognition application that coverts the scanned
text (only a graphics) into editable text. However, it will have absolutely
no idea about styles and all it will do is stuff everything into the
document hoping that it 'looks' as close as possible to the original.

You need to attach the document to a template that has the correct styles
and then you may get away with using Format, AutoFormat - but I've never
found it that good. Ultimately, if these are complex documents, you may need
to remove all formatting and then apply all the Styles again.

A couple of shortcuts you may need is that Ctrl+Spacebar removes all direct
formatting (Reset character style) and Ctrl+Q resets the paragraph back to
the underlying style (Reset Paragraph) as well as Clear Formatting command
in the Styles TaskPane (which may need enabling by clicking Show: Custom and
checking the tick box).

One thing for sure; this isn't a simple task if they are long documents.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

"Island Girl" wrote in message
...
: Our office has just installed a scanner that converts documents to Word in
: .rtf format. Many of the happy users save the documents onto the network
in
: that format. However, when those documents come to me for revisions with
a
: request either to add or change automatic numbering, TOC, etc., formatting
: nightmares appear.
:
: Am I wrong in suggesting that if the documents€€�and they are long legal
: ones€€�are to remain in stable condition, they should be put into
unformatted
: text and THEN formatted before placing them onto the system?
:
: Thank you for this and all of your past help!
:

Can anyone explain how to do this in simple step by step terms for me? Or
would you know where i can get that info?




"TF" wrote:

You are pretty much close on with your solution. The scanner will have come
with an Optical Character Recognition application that coverts the scanned
text (only a graphics) into editable text. However, it will have absolutely
no idea about styles and all it will do is stuff everything into the
document hoping that it 'looks' as close as possible to the original.

You need to attach the document to a template that has the correct styles
and then you may get away with using Format, AutoFormat - but I've never
found it that good. Ultimately, if these are complex documents, you may need
to remove all formatting and then apply all the Styles again.

A couple of shortcuts you may need is that Ctrl+Spacebar removes all direct
formatting (Reset character style) and Ctrl+Q resets the paragraph back to
the underlying style (Reset Paragraph) as well as Clear Formatting command
in the Styles TaskPane (which may need enabling by clicking Show: Custom and
checking the tick box).

One thing for sure; this isn't a simple task if they are long documents.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

"Island Girl" wrote in message
...
: Our office has just installed a scanner that converts documents to Word in
: .rtf format. Many of the happy users save the documents onto the network
in
: that format. However, when those documents come to me for revisions with
a
: request either to add or change automatic numbering, TOC, etc., formatting
: nightmares appear.
:
: Am I wrong in suggesting that if the documents€€�and they are long legal
: ones€€�are to remain in stable condition, they should be put into
unformatted
: text and THEN formatted before placing them onto the system?
:
: Thank you for this and all of your past help!
:

[Bill Clinton]

You're not the only one who has nightmares working with Word. They need to
place a clause on the label, not meant for documents longer than one
paragraph.
--
Breathe deep the gathering gloom, another day''s useless energy spent.


"Island Girl" wrote:

Our office has just installed a scanner that converts documents to Word in
.rtf format. Many of the happy users save the documents onto the network in
that format. However, when those documents come to me for revisions with a
request either to add or change automatic numbering, TOC, etc., formatting
nightmares appear.

Am I wrong in suggesting that if the documents€”and they are long legal
ones€”are to remain in stable condition, they should be put into unformatted
text and THEN formatted before placing them onto the system?

Thank you for this and all of your past help!

[Terry Farrell]

An aging rocker that's a Moody Blue's fan. Nights in White Satin, IIRC.

--
Terry Farrell - MSWord MVP

"Bill Clinton" wrote in message
...
--
Breathe deep the gathering gloom, another day''s useless energy spent.