text centering: freezes

[lebowski]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Power PC

create a new doc
insert a picture
put some text underneath (like a comment for the picture)
center the picture in the doc
then, try to center the text under the picture.

word freezes,
over
and over
and over

came back to word 2004.........

ps: mac ppc imac 2,0 latest mac os 10,5,5

ps: strange thing, with Word 2004, when i do that, Word doesn't freezes, but the WHOLE documents gets centered. I then have to undo to get it right (my line centered, and the rest of the doc not)

oh boy....

 

[John McGhie]

Word is freezing because it thinks you are asking it to do the impossible,
probably because the picture is anchored to the paragraph you are now
centring, so you are asking it to calculate an equation on which both sides
are variable.

Try this:

1) Turn your paragraph marks on, so you can see what you are doing.

2) Create two blank paragraph marks

3) Insert your picture.

4) Format your picture Layout to be "Inline with text"

5) Move the picture so it is sitting in the top paragraph.

6) Centre the paragraph. The picture is now centred.

7) Type your text in the following paragraph.

8) Centre that paragraph too. The text is now centred.

Try that: It's possible that you have a bug in your Normal template. It is
also possible that you have not applied all the latest updates.

But it's more likely that you have not yet learned about anchoring objects
in Word documents yet. Well, you have: the above procedure is the easiest
way to do it, and that's the way I nearly always do it.

Hope this helps

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Power PC

create a new doc
insert a picture
put some text underneath (like a comment for the picture)
center the picture in the doc
then, try to center the text under the picture.

word freezes,
over
and over
and over

came back to word 2004.........

ps: mac ppc imac 2,0 latest mac os 10,5,5

ps: strange thing, with Word 2004, when i do that, Word doesn't freezes, but
the WHOLE documents gets centered. I then have to undo to get it right (my
line centered, and the rest of the doc not)

oh boy....

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[lebowski]

Hi,
I tried: won't do.
also tried this:
new document
write a whole paragraph. align to the left
created 2 blank paragraph marks
write another paragraph.

problem: if I want to center the second paragraph. it also centers the previous paragraphs.

 

[John McGhie]

You have left "Automatically update" turned on in the style you are using.

Use Format>Style and turn off "Automatically update".

OR:

You are not using "paragraph marks" you are using "New Line" characters. If
you create the whole thing as a single paragraph with Returns to end the
lines, when you centre any part of the paragraph, you centre it all.

OR:

You are getting confused because you have left "Justified" turned on for the
paragraph. If you have only a few words on a line, "Justified" can lead to
a very peculiar effect.

Avoid using blank paragraph marks in a Word document: it makes the
formatting and pagination very difficult to control.

Hope this helps

Hi,
I tried: won't do.
also tried this:
new document
write a whole paragraph. align to the left
created 2 blank paragraph marks
write another paragraph.

problem: if I want to center the second paragraph. it also centers the
previous paragraphs.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[Lebowski]

Hi John,
thx for the reply. I'll comment the points you have mentionned:

You have left "Automatically update" turned on in the style you are using.
Use Format>Style and turn off "Automatically update". Comment: No, this
function is disabled. OR:





You are not using "paragraph marks" you are using "New Line" characters.
If you create the whole thing as a single paragraph with Returns to end
the lines, when you centre any part of the paragraph, you centre it all.




Comment: What's the translation in French for "New line" characters?
Here is what I have in Preferences/View/"Non printable characters" (not sure if it's the right translation): the last function of the left column in "Non printable characters" is "marques de paragraphes", which I assume to be the "paragraph marks" in English. This is the only enabled function in the "non printable characters" View Preferences.

OR:





You are getting confused because you have left "Justified" turned on for
the paragraph. If you have only a few words on a line, "Justified" can
lead to a very peculiar effect. Avoid using blank paragraph marks in a
Word document: it makes the formatting and pagination very difficult to
control. Hope this helps Comment: No, the "justified" function is disabled.





I tried this also: create two paragraphs. (yes, I type "Enter" on the keyboard to end a paragraph. Is there another way to end a paragraph?

The first paragraph is aligned to the left.
Now I want to center the second paragraph. I select the 2nd paragraph and click on the center function. Like I said in the previous post, the 2 paragraphs get centered.... And now, what's puzzling is the following: If I undo this (Apple + Z), I get it right: the second paragraph is centered while the first paragraph remains aligned to the left.

Weird, huh?

So I must confessed I'm lost here. I've been using Word since the 90's, I can't say I'm a beginner. I use Word at the office but on Windows XP.
From now on I'll have to use a text editing software at home on a regular basis, hence the purchase of Office for Mac. I don't think I have "funny" functions enabled on the Word for Mac version.

If there is a way to give you screenshots of my settings, I'd be glad to send them to you, so you can check by yourself all the settings you have mentionned in your previous posts. That way, you and I are sure it's not about the settings but about something else.

I really need to get going with Word without all these problems, because right now I cannot say Word is an asset to me. I paid for the Office for Mac, I'd like to use it "normally".

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Lebowski;

The "whole document reformatted" effect is caused by the Automatically
Update issue that John described. That's the only known reason for that to
happen, but I believe the whole matter is getting confused because you're
apparently using 2 different versions of Word & experiencing different
problems in each. The 2 issues may or may not be related. Let's see if we
can separate this out into its individual components once again

In Word 2004:

Open the document you're having the centering problem with, go to Format>
Style, make sure ¶Normal is selected in the list of styles [if it isn't,
which style name is selected?]. Then click the Modify button. At the bottom
of the Modify Style dialog there's a checkbox for the Automatically Update
setting which needs to be cleared of the check, then check the box for Add
to Template, click OK then Apply. Save while holding Shift and if the
problem continues please post back for further suggestions.

Word 2008 does not have the Automatically Update checkbox for the ¶Normal
style - it was removed to prevent this very problem. However, if a Word 2004
(or prior) document is saved with the Automatically Update check in place
for ¶Normal that variation on the style travels with the document when
opened in Word 2008. That would explain why you're finding the checkbox
"disabled" [do you mean "absent"?] if you're examining ¶Normal in a native
2008 document as opposed to the actual document presenting the problem.

Reply with your results... The 2008 matter can be addressed once this one is
out of the way

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

 

[Lebowski]

Hi Bob,

The reason I kept Word 2004 is that I wanted to make sure that Word 2008 was 100% ok before eventually deleting it.

In Word 2008, I went to format/style/unchecked the "automatic update" in the "normal" style, and it seems it solves the problem!

In Word 2004, I did the same stuff, and it also solves the problem.

many thanks!
I think I can get rid of the "old" Word 2004 now

 

[CyberTaz]

There Ya Go - Thanks for the confirmation!

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