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#1
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing documents
Im copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that
is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because its a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Heres my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain look and feel for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after its been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I dont know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. Im not part of the main project team Im just responsible for making the document clean when its finally delivered. So I cant really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
#2
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing documents
Ignore the problems until you have the document ready for final delivery and
then go through and reapply the correct styles (yours). Believe me, I do sympathize even though I've experienced this only going back and forth with a single client, and that's bad enough. There is just no limit to the havoc that can be wreaked by people who don't know how to use styles in Word (but think they know how to use Word), and I have to confess that sometimes I'm confused by the styles in some of my own documents when I open them up again after a long interval. The simpler you try to make the process by making the styles "easy to use," the more complexity you actually introduce, I find. Unless you can lock the document down so that no one can use any styles but the ones you permit (and I doubt that you can do that), there's really nothing you can do but just wait and "fix" it all at once. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... I'm copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because it's a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Here's my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain "look and feel" for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after it's been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I don't know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. I'm not part of the main project team - I'm just responsible for making the document clean when it's finally delivered. So I can't really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
#3
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing documents
On Jan 20, 6:45*pm, GTS wrote:
Im copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because its a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Heres my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain look and feel for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after its been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I dont know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. Im not part of the main project team Im just responsible for making the document clean when its finally delivered. So I cant really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS Try doing this. Your message leads me to believe your "Keep Track of Formatting" option may be on. Close the problem document. Open a new blank document. Click on Tools, then Options. Click the Edit tab. Look for the Keep Track of Formatting option. If there is a check mark on it, click it to remove the check mark. Click OK. Now go and open the problem document and look at your Styles list.... did the list get much shorter? If so this was the cause. If not, then that wasn't the problem. Mike |
#4
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing documents
You don't have to close the document and reopen it to see the effect of
disabling "Keep track of formatting," but this is not really the issue; turning that off just disguises the problem, which is still there. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "Mike" wrote in message ... On Jan 20, 6:45 pm, GTS wrote: Im copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because its a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Heres my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain look and feel for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after its been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I dont know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. Im not part of the main project team Im just responsible for making the document clean when its finally delivered. So I cant really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS Try doing this. Your message leads me to believe your "Keep Track of Formatting" option may be on. Close the problem document. Open a new blank document. Click on Tools, then Options. Click the Edit tab. Look for the Keep Track of Formatting option. If there is a check mark on it, click it to remove the check mark. Click OK. Now go and open the problem document and look at your Styles list.... did the list get much shorter? If so this was the cause. If not, then that wasn't the problem. Mike |
#5
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing document
Thank you so much! I had resigned myself to doing it all at the end, but I
wanted to check it out with some more experienced formatters to see if there was another way. Wish me luck! -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Ignore the problems until you have the document ready for final delivery and then go through and reapply the correct styles (yours). Believe me, I do sympathize even though I've experienced this only going back and forth with a single client, and that's bad enough. There is just no limit to the havoc that can be wreaked by people who don't know how to use styles in Word (but think they know how to use Word), and I have to confess that sometimes I'm confused by the styles in some of my own documents when I open them up again after a long interval. The simpler you try to make the process by making the styles "easy to use," the more complexity you actually introduce, I find. Unless you can lock the document down so that no one can use any styles but the ones you permit (and I doubt that you can do that), there's really nothing you can do but just wait and "fix" it all at once. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... I'm copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because it's a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Here's my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain "look and feel" for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after it's been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I don't know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. I'm not part of the main project team - I'm just responsible for making the document clean when it's finally delivered. So I can't really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
#6
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing document
Good luck! FWIW, I perfectly understand the urge to keep fixing everything
you see (and I'd probably end up doing it), but if you do this you can certainly be confident that you'll be doing it again later! -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... Thank you so much! I had resigned myself to doing it all at the end, but I wanted to check it out with some more experienced formatters to see if there was another way. Wish me luck! -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Ignore the problems until you have the document ready for final delivery and then go through and reapply the correct styles (yours). Believe me, I do sympathize even though I've experienced this only going back and forth with a single client, and that's bad enough. There is just no limit to the havoc that can be wreaked by people who don't know how to use styles in Word (but think they know how to use Word), and I have to confess that sometimes I'm confused by the styles in some of my own documents when I open them up again after a long interval. The simpler you try to make the process by making the styles "easy to use," the more complexity you actually introduce, I find. Unless you can lock the document down so that no one can use any styles but the ones you permit (and I doubt that you can do that), there's really nothing you can do but just wait and "fix" it all at once. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... I'm copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because it's a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Here's my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain "look and feel" for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after it's been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I don't know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. I'm not part of the main project team - I'm just responsible for making the document clean when it's finally delivered. So I can't really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
#7
Posted to microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing document
Yes, I have been chasing that puppy down the sidewalk for a while.
One more thing -- When I go back to do the final sweep, what's the best way to approach it-- 1. Go through the styles and delete all the extraneous ones, and then apply my styles to the paragraphs that fall apart? 2. Go paragraph-by-paragraph applying the proper styles, and then ask Word to delete all the unused styles? 3. Go paragraph-by-paragraph applying the proper styles and then turn off the Keep Track of Formatting option? 4. Another, better approach that I haven't thought of? Thanks again. -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Good luck! FWIW, I perfectly understand the urge to keep fixing everything you see (and I'd probably end up doing it), but if you do this you can certainly be confident that you'll be doing it again later! -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... Thank you so much! I had resigned myself to doing it all at the end, but I wanted to check it out with some more experienced formatters to see if there was another way. Wish me luck! -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Ignore the problems until you have the document ready for final delivery and then go through and reapply the correct styles (yours). Believe me, I do sympathize even though I've experienced this only going back and forth with a single client, and that's bad enough. There is just no limit to the havoc that can be wreaked by people who don't know how to use styles in Word (but think they know how to use Word), and I have to confess that sometimes I'm confused by the styles in some of my own documents when I open them up again after a long interval. The simpler you try to make the process by making the styles "easy to use," the more complexity you actually introduce, I find. Unless you can lock the document down so that no one can use any styles but the ones you permit (and I doubt that you can do that), there's really nothing you can do but just wait and "fix" it all at once. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... I'm copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because it's a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Here's my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain "look and feel" for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after it's been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I don't know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. I'm not part of the main project team - I'm just responsible for making the document clean when it's finally delivered. So I can't really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
#8
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Keeping formatting and styles consistent when sharing document
Any or all of the above (or below). Here's what I do with manuscripts I get
for the first time. If hard copy has not been provided, I will usually print out the document I was sent so that I have a visual reference. I then make a copy of the original file and apply my base style (Body Text, say, or Body Text First Indent--whichever will be the dominant style in the book) to the entire document. I remove any section breaks. Then I insert the file into a new document based on the template I intend to use. Then I go through applying the non-Body Text styles as needed (creating new styles as required for special formatting). Then I do the copy editing before applying myself to the final formatting. A lot depends of the specific book/manuscript, however. In your case, a lot of this work will already have been done, and you don't necessarily want to blow it away. Probably your best bet is to attach or reattach your template, apply the appropriate styles as required, and then paste the whole shebang into a new document based on your template, thus leaving the unused ("user-defined") styles behind. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... Yes, I have been chasing that puppy down the sidewalk for a while. One more thing -- When I go back to do the final sweep, what's the best way to approach it-- 1. Go through the styles and delete all the extraneous ones, and then apply my styles to the paragraphs that fall apart? 2. Go paragraph-by-paragraph applying the proper styles, and then ask Word to delete all the unused styles? 3. Go paragraph-by-paragraph applying the proper styles and then turn off the Keep Track of Formatting option? 4. Another, better approach that I haven't thought of? Thanks again. -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Good luck! FWIW, I perfectly understand the urge to keep fixing everything you see (and I'd probably end up doing it), but if you do this you can certainly be confident that you'll be doing it again later! -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... Thank you so much! I had resigned myself to doing it all at the end, but I wanted to check it out with some more experienced formatters to see if there was another way. Wish me luck! -- GTS "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: Ignore the problems until you have the document ready for final delivery and then go through and reapply the correct styles (yours). Believe me, I do sympathize even though I've experienced this only going back and forth with a single client, and that's bad enough. There is just no limit to the havoc that can be wreaked by people who don't know how to use styles in Word (but think they know how to use Word), and I have to confess that sometimes I'm confused by the styles in some of my own documents when I open them up again after a long interval. The simpler you try to make the process by making the styles "easy to use," the more complexity you actually introduce, I find. Unless you can lock the document down so that no one can use any styles but the ones you permit (and I doubt that you can do that), there's really nothing you can do but just wait and "fix" it all at once. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA http://word.mvps.org "GTS" wrote in message ... I'm copyediting and formatting a huge government document (in Word 2003) that is authored and edited by government officials, consultants, sub-consultants and other various and sundry personalities. Because it's a government document, it will go through dozens of revisions by many different people (one chapter has had over 30 revisions). Here's my basic question: How do I keep track of all the styles and formatting without losing my mind? The original project team had approved a certain "look and feel" for the document. I set up a custom template and styles to conform. But every time it goes out for review, someone decides they want a different font, size, format, (whatever) and changes it. Some of the people changing formatting know a little about styles and change the style formatting. Some (sometimes high-level executives) will play with fonts and formatting until they get something they like. Sometimes, someone decides to copy and paste from one of their own documents, bringing in more styles, which they then apply their own creative formatting to get the text to look like a style that already exists. When I finally get the document back after it's been around the block, I look at the styles and want to cry. I have mystyle + bold, mystyle + bold + italics, mystyle + bold + italics + green, mystyle + arial + bold + italics + green, hisstyle, histyle+arial, etc. ) I don't know how to keep control of the document when there are so many people reviewing it between the time I do the initial formatting and the time it comes back to me. I'm not part of the main project team - I'm just responsible for making the document clean when it's finally delivered. So I can't really control how the review process goes, or how people deal with changes. Any ideas on how I can clean up the mess and/or keep control of the document? -- GTS |
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