Or maybe someone can suggest an alternative solution. Here's my situation:

I have several large documents with many sections each. They are set up
correctly using styles for most formatting (headings, normal text, etc.). I
want to reformat all of them to use the styles and layout I've created in a
separate template document. Specifically, I want to replace the page layouts
(margins), and paragraph styles (normal, headings, etc.) with the ones I've
created in the template.

I'm hoping I can just copy the styles from the template doc over to each of
these documents. What I don't want to do, because it will be a lot of work,
is copy the text over, piece by piece, and paste it into my new template
doc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Colin

The styles can be imported into the documents by attaching the new template
with "Automatically update document styles" checked, but this procedure will
have no effect on the document layout (margins, header/footer, and other
document/section properties). Truly the easiest way to take care of all of
this is to create a new blank document based on your template and paste the
text in, one section at a time, without section breaks (which would import
the formatting). See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...thSections.htm and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...ectionInfo.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"WebColin" wrote in message
...
Or maybe someone can suggest an alternative solution. Here's my situation:

I have several large documents with many sections each. They are set up
correctly using styles for most formatting (headings, normal text, etc.).
I
want to reformat all of them to use the styles and layout I've created in
a
separate template document. Specifically, I want to replace the page
layouts
(margins), and paragraph styles (normal, headings, etc.) with the ones
I've
created in the template.

I'm hoping I can just copy the styles from the template doc over to each
of
these documents. What I don't want to do, because it will be a lot of
work,
is copy the text over, piece by piece, and paste it into my new template
doc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Colin

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. :-(

I should acknowledge that I may have misused the term "template." I simply
created a new document (.doc) file that has all the styles and page
formatting I want the resulting documents to have. It's not actually a
TEMPLATE in any technical sense.

But I have dozens of documents, each with many sections. I dread copying
them over one section at a time.

In WordPerfect, I could simply grab the style formatting in Reveal Codes,
and paste it over the Style formatting in the older documents. I guess
there's no equivalent in Word?

Thanks for any additional suggestions,
Colin

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
The styles can be imported into the documents by attaching the new
template
with "Automatically update document styles" checked, but this procedure
will
have no effect on the document layout (margins, header/footer, and other
document/section properties). Truly the easiest way to take care of all of
this is to create a new blank document based on your template and paste
the
text in, one section at a time, without section breaks (which would import
the formatting). See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...thSections.htm and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...ectionInfo.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"WebColin" wrote in message
...
Or maybe someone can suggest an alternative solution. Here's my
situation:

I have several large documents with many sections each. They are set up
correctly using styles for most formatting (headings, normal text, etc.).
I
want to reformat all of them to use the styles and layout I've created in
a
separate template document. Specifically, I want to replace the page
layouts
(margins), and paragraph styles (normal, headings, etc.) with the ones
I've
created in the template.

I'm hoping I can just copy the styles from the template doc over to each
of
these documents. What I don't want to do, because it will be a lot of
work,
is copy the text over, piece by piece, and paste it into my new template
doc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Colin

So make it a template. File Save As.
If all you want is the styles, you can use the Organizer to copy them.
From the help file:
1.. On the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins.
2.. Click Organizer, and then click the Styles tab.
3.. To copy items to or from a different template (template: A file or
files that contain the structure and tools for shaping such elements as the
style and page layout of finished files. For example, Word templates can
shape a single document, and FrontPage templates can shape an entire Web
site.) or file, click Close File to close the active document (active
document: The document in which you're working. Text you type or graphics
you insert in Microsoft Word appear in the active document. The title bar of
the active document is highlighted.) and its attached template or to close
the Normal template (Normal template: A global template that you can use for
any type of document. You can modify this template to change the default
document formatting or content.). Then click Open File, and open the
template or file you want.
4.. Click the items you want to copy in either list, and then click Copy.
I would add to this:
Select all the styles you want to copy (using either the ctrl or shift
key to select multiple styles) and click the Copy button three times,
allowing it to overwrite styles when you are asked. This will preserve links
between your styles.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.

"WebColin" wrote in message
...
Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. :-(

I should acknowledge that I may have misused the term "template." I simply
created a new document (.doc) file that has all the styles and page
formatting I want the resulting documents to have. It's not actually a
TEMPLATE in any technical sense.

But I have dozens of documents, each with many sections. I dread copying
them over one section at a time.

In WordPerfect, I could simply grab the style formatting in Reveal Codes,
and paste it over the Style formatting in the older documents. I guess
there's no equivalent in Word?

Thanks for any additional suggestions,
Colin

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
The styles can be imported into the documents by attaching the new
template
with "Automatically update document styles" checked, but this procedure
will
have no effect on the document layout (margins, header/footer, and other
document/section properties). Truly the easiest way to take care of all
of
this is to create a new blank document based on your template and paste
the
text in, one section at a time, without section breaks (which would
import
the formatting). See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...thSections.htm and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...ectionInfo.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"WebColin" wrote in message
...
Or maybe someone can suggest an alternative solution. Here's my
situation:

I have several large documents with many sections each. They are set up
correctly using styles for most formatting (headings, normal text,
etc.).
I
want to reformat all of them to use the styles and layout I've created
in
a
separate template document. Specifically, I want to replace the page
layouts
(margins), and paragraph styles (normal, headings, etc.) with the ones
I've
created in the template.

I'm hoping I can just copy the styles from the template doc over to each
of
these documents. What I don't want to do, because it will be a lot of
work,
is copy the text over, piece by piece, and paste it into my new template
doc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Colin

On 11/18/05 8:09 AM, "WebColin" wrote:
In WordPerfect, I could simply grab the style formatting in Reveal Codes,
and paste it over the Style formatting in the older documents. I guess
there's no equivalent in Word?

I don't know what that would do in WordPerfect, but as Suzanne said, in
Word, you can get the styles from one doc to another fairly easily. What
you cannot do is copy margin settings, etc--layout elements are the main
difficulty here.

You might find these links on the differences between Word and WordPerfect
useful.

How Word differs from WordPerfect
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...ordPerfect.htm

Some Tips and "Gotchas" for those who are new to Word
Especially if migrating from WordPerfect
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...AndGotchas.htm

Is There Life After "Reveal Codes"?
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm

WordPerfect to Word converters (and why none of them are perfect)
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Genera...Converters.htm



--
Daiya Mitchell, MVP Mac/Word
Word FAQ: http://www.word.mvps.org/
MacWord Tips: http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/
What's an MVP? A volunteer! Read the FAQ: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

I agree with Charles Kenyon. Save your document (.doc) as a template using
his steps. I have had great sucess with this on projects very similar to the
one you describe, especially when I have many authors working on documents
available on the LAN. It keeps everone's documents looking the same.

I hate to mention it but there is another way. You can copy styles from one
document to another through the organizer. The organizer is available through
the Macro dialog box. But I think the better solution is to actually take
advantage of the template features.

As for page layout, I have a trick. To use it you first have to save your
template as a template and attach your documents to it.

Next record a macro in your template of the page layout changes.
1. Tools-Macro...-Record a Macro
2. Reaccomplish all of the page layout commands
3. Stop the record

Now when you open your documents, you can run the macro which is stored in
the attached template.

If you want to really get fancy, in the template customize your menu bar and
add a menu item for your new macro. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut
to this macro. Then when you open the documents, the new menu item is there
and you can reapply these page layout changes to each document.

If you change your mind on the page layout, edit or modify (or replace) the
macro in the template. Then re-run the macro in each document.

Good luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of macros.
--
Jack Rumple


"WebColin" wrote:

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. :-(

I should acknowledge that I may have misused the term "template." I simply
created a new document (.doc) file that has all the styles and page
formatting I want the resulting documents to have. It's not actually a
TEMPLATE in any technical sense.

But I have dozens of documents, each with many sections. I dread copying
them over one section at a time.

In WordPerfect, I could simply grab the style formatting in Reveal Codes,
and paste it over the Style formatting in the older documents. I guess
there's no equivalent in Word?

Thanks for any additional suggestions,
Colin

"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote in message
...
The styles can be imported into the documents by attaching the new
template
with "Automatically update document styles" checked, but this procedure
will
have no effect on the document layout (margins, header/footer, and other
document/section properties). Truly the easiest way to take care of all of
this is to create a new blank document based on your template and paste
the
text in, one section at a time, without section breaks (which would import
the formatting). See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...thSections.htm and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting...ectionInfo.htm

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
all may benefit.

"WebColin" wrote in message
...
Or maybe someone can suggest an alternative solution. Here's my
situation:

I have several large documents with many sections each. They are set up
correctly using styles for most formatting (headings, normal text, etc.).
I
want to reformat all of them to use the styles and layout I've created in
a
separate template document. Specifically, I want to replace the page
layouts
(margins), and paragraph styles (normal, headings, etc.) with the ones
I've
created in the template.

I'm hoping I can just copy the styles from the template doc over to each
of
these documents. What I don't want to do, because it will be a lot of
work,
is copy the text over, piece by piece, and paste it into my new template
doc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Colin