Page change-moved from OS9/Word 98 to OSX/10.3

[DH]

Just upgraded from OS 9 on a 2 year old 17 inch powerbook to OS 10.3.2
(Panther) on a new 17 inch powerbook. Was using Word 98; now using current
version of Word in Office X.

When moving a 420 page manuscript (saved in Word 98) from the old powerbook
to the new one, and then opening it in Word X, it is now only 340 pages. We
have checked all obvious settings- it's all double spaced, margins are
identical, all on letter size, same font, etc, etc. What has changed is the
VERITCAL DISTANCE between lines- very slightly, but enough to make this
difference over the course of the manuscript. The horizontal type on each
line is identical. Thus, there are more lines on each page on the new
powerbook, resulting in fewer total pages.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what is going on?--- much appreciated!

 

[Elliott Roper]

Just upgraded from OS 9 on a 2 year old 17 inch powerbook to OS 10.3.2
(Panther) on a new 17 inch powerbook. Was using Word 98; now using current
version of Word in Office X.

When moving a 420 page manuscript (saved in Word 98) from the old powerbook
to the new one, and then opening it in Word X, it is now only 340 pages. We
have checked all obvious settings- it's all double spaced, margins are
identical, all on letter size, same font, etc, etc. What has changed is the
VERITCAL DISTANCE between lines- very slightly, but enough to make this
difference over the course of the manuscript. The horizontal type on each
line is identical. Thus, there are more lines on each page on the new
powerbook, resulting in fewer total pages.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what is going on?--- much appreciated!

Well, you seem to know what is going on. The question is - Do you want
to fix it?
All you have to do is change each style's line spacing. I don't know
enough about your document, but a good starting point would be to see
whether you want to change the normal style line spacing and hope that
all the other styles are based on normal.
format->style->modify->line spacing. Fiddle with the "at least" setting
till you get the same number of lines on a page.

Word is not meant to be a way of portably moving documents from one
machine to another. Indeed it is designed to cause the maximum
frustration for all who have the temerity to expect such a thing.
You have discovered that it is not very consistent between versions of
Office either.

Another thing you might try is varying the 'compatibility' (an oxymoron
of there was one) settings. I wouldn't bet a lot of money on it
working.

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Different printers, different fonts, different stuff, etc, etc, etc. This
happens, although 80 pages seems very dramatic!
Here's a very short article on why:
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/TextReflow.htm

You can affect the vertical distance between lines--in Format | Paragraph,
you can set line spacing, for instance to Double, which I think is usually
something like 26pt for a 12pt font, or to an Exact number, for instance
24pt for a 12pt font.

Is this causing you a problem or are you just curious?

DM

 

[Phillip M. Jones, C.E.T.]

couple of thoughts.

When you set up Word. did you set for 8.5 x 11 (or the reverse)?

also most applications allow you to choose whether to use inches or metric
measurements, Do you have set for metric measurements?

This sounds more like what is happening.

If you'd used A4 in 98 and 8.5 x 11 in Office X the pages would have had
different top and bottom margins.

Question - Does the Document look good in this new format? If so I wouldn't
worry about it. If it does bother you (example makes it less readable), then you
need to trouble shoot.

Another thought -
did you have double spaced and in this version set to space and half or single space?

Just upgraded from OS 9 on a 2 year old 17 inch powerbook to OS 10.3.2
(Panther) on a new 17 inch powerbook. Was using Word 98; now using current
version of Word in Office X.

When moving a 420 page manuscript (saved in Word 98) from the old powerbook to
the new one, and then opening it in Word X, it is now only 340 pages. We have
checked all obvious settings- it's all double spaced, margins are identical,
all on letter size, same font, etc, etc. What has changed is the VERITCAL
DISTANCE between lines- very slightly, but enough to make this difference over
the course of the manuscript. The horizontal type on each line is identical.
Thus, there are more lines on each page on the new powerbook, resulting in
fewer total pages.

Anyone have any thoughts as to what is going on?--- much appreciated!

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[DH]

Thanks for your (and other's) comments on this. Actually, it doesn't bug me
at all, but it's my wife's novel, and she's concerned about meeting
requirements for submission to publishers (ie, exactly what *is* first 50
pages?!). It sounds like I need to take a look at that compatibility
setting, as that is where it seems we're most likely to find an answer....

 

[Clive Huggan]

DH (meaning no disrespect, only that stands for Richard Cranium in
Australia; but I guess that's the risk when someone won't give a name ,

In addition to what Elliott mentioned, don't forget you may be able to
achieve close to what you want via small adjustments to the margins.

--Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
================================================

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word]]

For those who don't speak Australian, the shortened form of "Richard" is
"Dick" and the Cranium is... Well... One's Head...

Dayo, Clive just offered to buy the beers at the Summit, so it's safe to go
now...


This responds to article

DH (meaning no disrespect, only that stands for Richard Cranium in
Australia; but I guess that's the risk when someone won't give a name ,

In addition to what Elliott mentioned, don't forget you may be able to
achieve close to what you want via small adjustments to the margins.

--Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
================================================

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Please respond only to the newsgroup to preserve the thread.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]