Long Documents In Word with large graphics files

[CreativeImages]

I am seeking your opinion and direction. I just lost part of a very
large word document; over 1 GB in size. I sometimes drive thousands of
miles to research something. I scan all documents, photograph
documents and the location; then insert the JPG image files into a Word
document, where the JPG image files are explained, questions asked, and
assumptions made.

There can many chapters of 500 MB file size; some chapters might be as
small as 50 MB, or maybe 25 MB.

I regularly study several subjects (books) at one time; each book with
many chapters. Occasionally, a chapter in one book needs to be added
to another book. Considering each chapters'' size, and considering
the books overall size, how should I write and store these documents to
make the possibility of file loose and corruption to a minimum?

In another project, I collect HTML, txt, JPG, PDF and other file types
that I would like to put them into a Word "book" with references and
notes. Is there a way to call the file to be printed from word, and
allow the header and footer to be on each page printed on the "Called
Files?"

Can the "Called Files" be an "exhibit" in Word; where the printing
format selected by the originator be maintained?

Thanks.


Thanks

 

[Anne Troy]

It sounds to me like you might be using a camera that produces huge images.
Try reducing the file sizes of your images BEFORE you place them into Word.
A program like www.irfanview.com has a batch converter that'll compress your
images for you. I can't respond about the rest...Word simply isn't quite
that intelligent, though some VBA could be written that would, for
instance...on print of your document, print the rest of the items in a given
folder.
************
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com

 

[Larry Randall]

Word is a simple text processor in a Windows wrapper. It handles only WMF
or EMF graphics in "native" mode. Other GFX are not well handled, and bloat
files out of any reasonable aize.

It also sounds as if you may be using a "Master Document". This is
universally guaranteed to cause a complete losss of a document. You MUST
create chapters as individual files. You can join them into a
printable/searchable book with Acrobat or another PDF creator.

Larry Randall

 

[CreativeImages]

Hello Anne Troy,

Thank you for your response. I have several digital cameras and
scanning devices, along with several software packages to handle image
files and sizes. I am not concerned with the images; in fact, the
images are the best part of my reports.

I am really trying to figure the best way to create and handle large
Word documents with Excel spreadsheets, lots of JPG images files,
occasionally HTML files and anything else that needs to be shown and
explained in these reports.

 

[CreativeImages]

Hello Anne Troy,

Thank you for your response. I have several digital cameras and
scanning devices, along with several software packages to handle image
files and sizes. I am not concerned with the images; in fact, the
images are the best part of my reports.

I am really trying to figure the best way to create and handle large
Word documents with Excel spreadsheets, lots of JPG images files,
occasionally HTML files and anything else that needs to be shown and
explained in these reports.

 

[Anne Troy]

Sorry... that's what I'm trying to say. Your Word docs are likely bloating
due to the images (and especially images you crop and/or resize AFTER you
put them into Word). Text doesn't make big Word files, so I assume it's the
images... I have NEVER heard of ANY Word file being "1GB in size", and I
have been working with huge files in Word for 10 years.
************
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com

 

[CreativeImages]

I would like to use a "Master Document" to call document files to be
printed, without having to be concerned about the called document, its
originating software, its file, its file format and/or its author.
Some of my information is pulled from the internet, and formatting this
information is always a challenge. It seems that your advice is to
take all outputs/printouts though Acrobat, save the files, then call
them from a "master document" in an Acrobat document, with all the
chapters in the same directory/folder. This approach allows PDF files
by others to be added to my reports with less trouble.

Do you know if the Acrobat "master document" headers and footers can be
printed on the called PDF files that are to be the different chapters?

Thank you.

 

[CreativeImages]

I agree. I have never had or seen a Word document this big. While the
size could be or is a problem, the corrupted fill with lost information
and wasted time is the bigger problem. I was probably to impatient
with the large file, and did not let Word handle the "back office"
functions correctly before I did something stupid, and probably
corrupted the file by my actions. I am trying to solve the printing
and distribution of several hundred pages of 'report."

 

[Anne Troy]

I don't know who you're responding to, but I never mentioned any kind of
"master PDF"; I've never heard of such a thing, and I don't know anyone who
actually recommends the "master document" feature in Word, either--it just
plain sucks. What I said is that some VBA
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic_for_Applications for a
definition) could be produced that would print ALL the files in a given
folder, regardless of their file type, but there is no "neat" solution to
your dilemma. You either need to put everything into one application or
print them separately. If I had to suggest ONE application, then it would
probably be Acrobat because you could print all the files to PDF and then
use Acrobat (not the reader, mind you, but the full-blown application that's
a mere $450, see
http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catAcrobatPro) and
combine them all into one PDF, but they're not easily editable.

************
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com

 

[macropod]

Hi,

Instead of inserting the actual images into your Word document, I'd
recommend consideration of only inserting links to them. You'd usually do
this via Insert|Picture|From File and, having selected the file, using the
'Insert' drop-down to select 'Link to File'. For more information on this,
check out 'Insert a picture from another file' and the 'INCLUDEPICTURE'
field in Word's help file.

Likewise if you've got multiple chapters in separate documents - you can
have one document that consolidates the lot via linking. For more
information on this, check out the 'INCLUDETEXT' field in Word's help file.
This allows you to avoid using Word's 'master document' feature (I use the
term advisedly).

You can link to spreadsheets in a similar way, too, by copying them and
using Edit|Paste Special and using the 'Paste Link' option.

In all linking cases, the links will need to be updated if you move the
source files. Also, since they're not part of the actual document, they
won't be included with the file if you copy it to another disk or email it.

If you want to distribute the document, I also recommend considering the use
of tools like Adobe's Acrobat Distiller (not the free reader) to convert
your document(s) to pdf format. Apart from making it harder for someone else
to change a document (you can even protect it against copying & printing),
it may well make for a much smaller final file size than you'd get from a
Word document with all the other documents, spreadsheets and images embedded
(or including all the linked files).

Cheers