How do I insert copy and keep old margins?

[Theresa]

(sorry if this is a repeat. First timer and I don't think my posting went
through)

I created electronic letterhead with logo artwork inserted across the top of
the page (margins are 0). I then set margins for the bodycopy and saved the
file. However, if someone copies and pastes copy to replace the existing
bodycopy, the margins don't always stay the same. Is there a way to insert
new copy without having to alter the margin each time?

I've also tried inserting the logo artwork as the header and using a text
box for the bodycopy, but the body copy margins still are not permanent.

Help. I can't figure it out for the life of me.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Unless you're pasting in text that contains section breaks (or the final
paragraph mark), the margins (and the rest of the page layout) should remain
unchanged.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Bearing in mind the content of your earlier post I think you may find
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm useful.

Where are you getting this copy from? If it is from e-mail or the web for
example it will probably contain hard returns which will affect the layout.
You may benefit from copying it into the Stripmail utility (download from my
web site) which will help remove unnecessary formatting - or see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/CleanWebText.htm

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Theresa]

I've seen your site, Suzanne, and had hoped you'd respond. It sounds like the
margins shouldn't change as a rule when copying in other text with different
margins. Still don't know how to fix it though.

There are not section breaks or special marks in the copy I'm pasting in.
Just think of your average person that is hitting the enter key at the end of
a paragraph to start a new paragraph. I am setting this up for multiple
people to use.

I'm pasting in copy from other miscellaneous letters that have different
margins than the margin I want. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Additional thoughts?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I think probably a review of
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm would be helpful.
Two things to keep in mind:

1. If you copy/paste text that includes the last paragraph in the document,
this is the same as pasting text that includes a section break: it will
contain page layout information, including margins.

2. If you paste in text from the Web, it will often have line breaks that
cause lines to end short of your margins. If you don't have nonprinting
characters and text boundaries displayed, you might interpret this as
meaning that the margins had changed. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/CleanWebText.htm for tips on dealing
with it.

 

[Theresa]

I must be an idiot. None of this is solving the problem. If it matters, I am
using Word 2003 and my operating system is Windows XP Pro.

Whether or not I copy and paste all but the last paragraph of a document
into my original letter, my original letter's margins are not retained. I
tried copy/paste of all but the last word in a paragraph just in case the end
of all paragraphs mattered, and it didn't work. Part of the document used the
transferred doc's margins and part used the original letter's margins. I've
tried using several different test doc as the ones pasted it. (There are no
section breaks in either document.)

My chief concern is that I am setting this up for others to be able to copy
other documents into and even their changing two margins is too much. They
don't want to do anything but cut and paste their documents in. Is this even
possilbe? I'm so frustrated.

Any other ideas? Could I possible have some of my settings wrong?? I can't
see that I do but I've got to be missing something.

Thanks for the continued comments.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You're positive there are no section breaks? When the insertion point is in
the last paragraph of the document you're copying, the status bar says "Sec
1"? What you describe sounds like the work of section breaks.

 

[Theresa]

On the documents that I'm copying, whether they are one page or more, at the
bottom of the document on the bottom left side, next to the page, it does
read Sec 1. The original letter that I'm copying things into also reads Sec 1
at the bottom.

From one of your previous postings, you said the last paragraph can act as a
section break which is why I tried coping all but the very end of the last
paragraph. I even tried pasting it into my original letter without pasting
over the very beginning and ending of the original letter.

On www.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/Work WithSEctionsContent, it talks about how
to keep the pasted doc's settings instead of how to keep the original doc's
settings which is my problem.

I keep thinking that there has to be a way for me to set up my original
letterhead so that it automatically formats the content that is pasted with
the original letterhead's margins. Does it normally work like that
automatically or not? I can't tell if I've messed it up or if I'm trying to
have the formatting work against what it normally does.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, it normally works that way automatically, so there's something weird
going on here.

 

[Theresa]

If it should be automatic and isn't, how do you suggest I figure this out? I
just called Microsoft Support and have been on hold for 15 mins waiting for
the guy to get back to me. Ugh.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Send me a sample of the document you're copying from and the template you're
pasting into, and I'll see if I can figure it out.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I have looked at Theresa's documents, and it turns out the problem is not
margins (at least not per se) but paragraph indents.