Format: Word processing tips
These are extracts from the FORMAT NEWSLETTER.
Want to know more about producing tables in Word: See <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TableBasics.htm> a feature written by Suzanne Barnhill and Dave Rado. Recommended in Woody's Office Watch <http://www.woodyswatch.com/> which also points out that if you do a Full install of Office XP, you may not be able to play Solitaire any more! Answer: Don't install the "language/alternative input stuff".
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If you are having troubles in any page layout program with styles imported from Word documents, it can be worth placing or importing the Word document into a new file in the page layout program first, applying styles in that, so they become native styles, and then copying the text into the working file.
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Having trouble importing Word files? If you do it could be worth opening the file in Word, or asking the person who created it to do so, and then go to Edit>Preferences>Save and make sure "Allow fast saves" is unchecked. Then save your document again. Some page layout programs and versions won't import Word docs with fast save at all; others just have occasional problems.
USING WORD'S SPIKE TO REARRANGE COPY
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Microsoft Word's spike is a little known but very useful tool.
Open a document you want to grab bits from; highlight the text or whatever that you want to spike and press Control+F3. Go to the next item you want to spike and repeat the operation. When you have everything you want from that document, close the document but do NOT save the changes, so that the bits you have cut and spiked are restored to the document when you close it.
Go to the next document and do the same.
When you have all the bits and pieces you want, open a new document (Control+N) and press Shift+Control+F3. Everything you've spiked is dumped in the new document so that you can sort and arrange them as necessary.
If you type the word 'spike' and press F3, everything you have on the spike will be copied to the new document. You can do this again and again until you press Shift+Control+F3, which empties the spike.
Some items may not be in the right order, so put the cursor in an item or highlight a block of text and press Shift+Alt+Up(or Down)Arrow to move the item (a paragraph or set of paragraphs) up or down. This is a great timesaver for those fiddly cut and pastes in lists.
My thanks to Robin Brown of Australia on the CopyEditing List <http://www.copyediting-l.info> for that advice.
The only disadvantage seems to be that, having selected several items, you can only paste them as a group, but you can of course delete the ones you don't want in that position and paste again elsewhere.
For more information see the Word Help menu under "spike".
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icWord is a useful Mac utility that allows you to read MS Word files from Word 2 up to 2001, from both Macs and PCs. You can print the contents, or view them on the screen, while maintaining the formatting. All for US$19.95. It is available from Panergy Software <http://www.icword.com> with a free 3.1MB 30-day trial download (slightly smaller if you pick the PPC-only option).
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If you have a problem with any MS Office application, an answer may have appeared in "Woody's Office Watch for Mere Mortals". Head over to <http://www.woodyswatch.com/wowmm/archives.asp>. You can subscribe to this and other free email newsletters produced by Woody Leonard and his frequently irreverent crew of Office Experts.
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TSM Passport 3 is a bilingual Japanese/English dictionary utility which works with Nisus Writer in conjunction with Apple Computer's Japanese Language Kit bundled with Mac OS 9.0/9.1 to allow two-way translation from Japanese to English or English to Japanese.
You can download a demo or purchase TSM Passport for US$39.95 from <http://www.nisus.com/products/>, 1.3MB (Mac only).
Basically, it works like this: While typing in Japanese using Kotoeri, enter a Japanese or English word, press a command key combination and instantly access a 100,000 word Japanese-English/English-Japanese dictionary.
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If you have a say in how Word is used for files which will end up in a page layout program, you may want to turn off a couple of the automatic features which cause trouble when files are placed in programs such as PageMaker.
For example, you may want to turn off the auto-indent feature which is in Tools > Options > Edit > Tabs and Backspace set left indent. If you turn this off, pressing tab gives you a tab instead of an indent.
The auto-style feature, which should also be turned off to avoid importing lots of extra styles into PM, is under Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoFormat as you type > Define styles based on your formatting. While it can be very useful to create styles in Word which will carry through to your layout program, you will save much potential misery over corrupted files if you plan ahead and create styles firstly within your layout program and then add styles of the same name (though not necessarily identical specifications) within Word.
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There are useful online FAQs for Word at <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/>.
Other useful items concerning Word are to be found in the Microsoft WordFAQ by Charles Kenyon at
<http://www13.addr.com/~kenyonck/word/WordFAQ.doc> which takes a while to download being a lengthy doc file.
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Word's search and replace function can be made to do things you never thought it could:
<http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/FindingSpecialCharacters.htm>
ANOTHER WORD PROCESSOR!
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We like bare-bones word processors, because in publication production they are mainly used to prepare and perhaps tag copy which is fully formatted in a page layout program.
One worth considering on the Mac is Z-Write from StoneTable Software, and not just because we have known the creator Marc Zeedar via the Internet for several years. (He subscribes to Format). One of the advantages in our field is that Marc knows the print industry and print production in particular.
You can download a trial version from <http://www.stonetablesoftware.com/z-write/> which gives full access for 30 days, and then limits some functions, though you will always be able to open and edit files even if you opt not to pay the US$20 cost.
Z-write's main purpose is allowing a writer or journalist to keep track of information gathered in developing an article. Possibilities for use seem, at first glance, to be considerable, and the way it can be used to collate and gather information is very different to any other word processor or text editor we have seen.
It also allows files to be set up as templates, so that, for example, if you use tags to define sections of stories, you could save templates with these already in place.
Among innovative features are that it allows importing of all text files in a folder -- and each file in that folder will become a section.
You can export as "Simpletext", a Mac format supported by most Mac-based word processors, or as HTML or RTF. You can also drag a selection to the Desktop to become a text clipping. Similarly such clippings can be dragged into Z-Write. HTML export allows export as a single file or separate files for each section plus a Table-of-Contents HTML file. There is a system for having templates (with, for example, the possibility for separate sections for notes, details of deadlines, contacts etc.) and maybe to set up a template with PageMaker or QXP tags in place for headings, byline, intro etc. Tags could also be added as glossary items.
While there is no spellchecker included, the program will work with spellcheckers such as Excalibur <http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~excalibr/excalibur.html>. Sadly the program is not yet scriptable, but we would expect that Marc would respond quickly to any perceived needs.
There's no complex installation -- just unstuff and put the resultant folder wherever you wish. For Mac users, it's well worth a try. For those on PCs, we still suggest a look at NoteTab <http://www.notetab.com/>.
DASHES AND WORD
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If you'll frequently use em and en dashes in Word, you might want to temporarily assign them to the keys of your choice. Go into Insert, Symbol and click on the tab for Special Characters. Highlight em dash and note the shortcut key already given for it. If you want to assign a different key combination, single-click the Shortcut Key box and then press your preferred key combination. If this is already assigned to another shortcut but you want to use it anyway, make a note of the original assignment and you can switch back later. Then do the same for en dash and any other special character you want.
Another option is to use AutoCorrect. Insert two AutoCorrect commands: first, two hyphens becomes an en dash; second, an en dash plus a third hyphen becomes an em dash. So for en dashes you can type <hyphen><hyphen> and for em dashes type <hyphen><hyphen><hyphen>. This may be more logical than the default option which produces an em dash when you type a hyphen twice.
Beware the hyphen key in combination with Ctrl and Alt in Word. While Control and hyphen produces a non-breaking hyphen, using Alt as well produces the menu-item deletion cursor. Imagine the horror of watching menu items disappear one-by-one. If an unwanted menu-item deletion cursor appears on the screen (it's a bold em-dash), get rid of it with the Escape key.
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Equally annoying in Word is the way, by default, it turns all web and email addresses into hyperlinks. To turn it off go to Tools > Autocorrect > AutoFormat. Then, under the "replace as you type" heading, uncheck "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks"
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