Matching Multiple Document Formatting

[NichKramer]

I have a standard format (including page numbering, margins, tabs, font size,
etc.) that I want to be able to quickly apply to a document or series of
documents. I work on projects that have many different people working on
different systems creating files for me. They have templates, but often do
not use them or use out-dated templates. I need some way to fix the
formatting after-the-fact so that it is uniform across a number of files.

Is this possible with a template? Can I apply a template's formatting to a
preexisting document? If not, what else can I try?

 

[Jay Freedman]

I have a standard format (including page numbering, margins, tabs,
font size, etc.) that I want to be able to quickly apply to a
document or series of documents. I work on projects that have many
different people working on different systems creating files for me.
They have templates, but often do not use them or use out-dated
templates. I need some way to fix the formatting after-the-fact so
that it is uniform across a number of files.

Is this possible with a template? Can I apply a template's formatting
to a preexisting document? If not, what else can I try?

It isn't going to be easy. The article at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/attachtemplate/index.html summarizes it.
Essentially, a document gets its formatting from a template at the time of
the document's creation; there are very few facilities for forcing an
existing document to conform to a different template.

If this is something you need to do often, it's worth spending the time to
write and debug a macro that will enforce all of the styles, section-level
properties, options, and compatibility settings needed to make any arbitrary
document conform to your requirements.

If you record such a macro, you'll need to see
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/ModifyRecordedMacro.htm.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[NichKramer]

Thanks for the help. That's basically what I expected. I've never created a
macro before, so I thought there might be a simpler way around it, but I
guess I'm going to have the throw on the ole programming cap and see what I
can come up with.

regards,
-nich-

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

It isn't going to be easy. The article at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/attachtemplate/index.html summarizes it.
Essentially, a document gets its formatting from a template at the time of
the document's creation; there are very few facilities for forcing an
existing document to conform to a different template.

I generally prefer the results if I open a blank doc based on my
template, and then use Insert | File to get the existing file into the
template. It does more than just attaching, anyhow.