Adjust thickness of drawn lines in word 2008 for Mac

[Bart71]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Hi,

The question has been posted before, but I still can't manage.

Every time I draw a line in Word for Mac it is a thick blue one, the color isn't very important to me, the thickness is.

So my question is: how can I adjust the thickness of the lines I draw permanently and for every new Word document I make?

Thanks in advance.
Bart

 

[CyberTaz]

In any given document you can format the shape as you wish then
Control/Right-Click it & select 'Set AutoShape Defaults'. That formatting
will be used for the creation of any new shapes in that document.

For a more global setting you'll have to open the Normal.dotm template & do
the same thing there. Save the template, delete the exemplar shape then
Close & Save the template. About the only thing you can't alter is the
infernal Shadow effect ‹ that can't be removed. Haven't tried it with lines
but theoretically it should work for them as well as for other shapes.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Bart71]

Thanx for the reply, I'll try it and let you know if it works.
The first solution (set autoshape) doesn't work, if I adjust a line to my likings and set it as default, Office doesn't use the new settings for the next line I use in the same document

In any given document you can format the shape as you wish then

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Bart:

Let met translate what Bob said for you Bob is a Gentleman who says
things "diplomatically". I am Australian

1) You can't. The default is hard-coded.

2) If you use Set Autoshape Defaults, you can change the default thickness
for the current document only. The setting is stored only in the document
that is open.

3) If you use Bob's method, you can adjust the setting in the Normal
template. If you do that, the new setting will be copied to any NEW
document you create with that copy of Word.

4) The setting is copied at the instant the document is created: no further
reference is made to the Normal Template after that, so changing the setting
in Normal has no effect on documents that already exist.

5) Changing the Normal Template is easy, but you must follow a procedure
exactly, otherwise your change will be ignored:

A) Close all other document (ALL of them: check it!). If Word has any
other documents open, your change will be ignored.

B) Use File>Open from within Word to open the file named "Normal.dotm".
This file can be anywhere on your computer: people can (and probably should)
move it to wherever suits their workflow. If you have not moved yours, it
will be in /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates

C) When using File>Open, dismiss the blank document if necessary, and
ensure that "Open" is set to "Original". You MUST make this change to the
original file.

D) You must follow Bob's instructions exactly. If you do not save the
template before you delete the line you added, the setting will not be in
the template to save.

6) Due to a bug, the shadow effect cannot be set: Word is not reading the
file correctly.

7) It is best to Quit Word after closing and saving the template in Step D.
Word holds the template in memory while it is running. If you simply carry
on, when Word next quits, it may revert to the old template it had in
memory.

Hope this helps

The first solution (set autoshape) doesn't work, if I adjust a line to my
likings and set it as default, Office doesn't use the new settings for the
next line I use in the same document

In any given document you can format the shape as you wish then

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

 

[CyberTaz]

Works here What exactly -- step-by-step -- are you doing? Include the
specific formatting attributes being used.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Bart71]

Yep, I think I figured it out. Thanx everybody for the quick and adequate solutions. Much appreciated! Greeting, Bart