Word's file format bloat

G

Guest

This is more of a general Word topic, but it's most apparent when
dealing with tables. I've noticed that identically formatted (from the
user's perspective) documents are much, MUCH larger when they're
created in later versions of Word.

If you have an installation of Word 97 handy, try this experiment:
(1) In Word 97, start a blank document
(2) Create a 10x50 (or whatever size) table, and fill each cell with
the word "Test"
(3) Save the document
(4) Note the size of the document
(5) Repeat steps 1-4 using Word 2003 instead

In my test runs on various computers (including a couple with fresh
installs), the Word 97 version weighed in at around 37KB. The Word
2003 version, however, was no smaller than 105KB!

And yes, I have tried the standard laundry list of file-size reduction
measures for Word 2003. Fast saves are disabled. The preview picture
is disabled. Versioning is disabled. Track Changes is disabled.
There are no embedded fonts, pictures, or objects. And I'm saving in
the native .doc format.

My question is this: are there any options left for reducing the file
size while still using Word's native format(s)? Thanks!
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Among the other new bells and whistles that can be removed (though I don't
know how much they contribute to file bloat) are smart tags. The fact is
that, when new features are introduced that have an effect on formatting
(that is, things that make a difference in what you can actually do in a
document as opposed to changes in the way you do it--new front ends to old
functions), they will invariably require more "code" to describe in the
binary file.
 
J

Jezebel

Word completely redesigned the 'table engine' between 97 and 2000,
presumably to deal with the complexities of rendering tables in HTML. And in
practice, on recent computers with at least 20GB of hard disk, the extra
68kb for your table really doesn't matter very much.
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Hi Ben,

As Beth and Jezebel have mentioned the structure
of MS Word was changed after Office 97, leaving
behind the limited HTML capabilities provided by
the add-in used since Word 6 to a more highly featured
file format support capability including primary
support use of 'HTML' through Edit=>Paste.

This article includes a small bit of the data stored
with the Word 2000 change and since then Table styles
usable in Word 2002 and 2003 have added more data
that is stored. 24 bit color (16million choices)for text,
for example vs the 16 colors in Word 97 is a tradeoff
to file size as well as the ability to 'nest' tables
so that a fairly simple web page could be imported into
Word was another trade.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;220564&FR=1
At the same time, Word's ability to compress embedded
graphics in a document has improved among other features.

You could get your test table document down to around 91,650
(Remove checks for everything in Tools=>Options=>Save that
is 'embedded') but saving it as a Word webpage will jump
to about 314,000 and Web Page 'filtered' to about 142,800

=========This is more of a general Word topic, but it's most apparent when
dealing with tables. I've noticed that identically formatted (from the
user's perspective) documents are much, MUCH larger when they're
created in later versions of Word.

If you have an installation of Word 97 handy, try this experiment:
(1) In Word 97, start a blank document
(2) Create a 10x50 (or whatever size) table, and fill each cell with
the word "Test"
(3) Save the document
(4) Note the size of the document
(5) Repeat steps 1-4 using Word 2003 instead

In my test runs on various computers (including a couple with fresh
installs), the Word 97 version weighed in at around 37KB. The Word
2003 version, however, was no smaller than 105KB!

And yes, I have tried the standard laundry list of file-size reduction
measures for Word 2003. Fast saves are disabled. The preview picture
is disabled. Versioning is disabled. Track Changes is disabled.
There are no embedded fonts, pictures, or objects. And I'm saving in
the native .doc format.

My question is this: are there any options left for reducing the file
size while still using Word's native format(s)? Thanks! <<

--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx
 
B

benc

Thank you Bob, Jezebel, and Suzanne for the prompt and very informative
replies.
And in practice, on recent computers with at least 20GB of hard
disk, the extra 68kb for your table really doesn't matter very much.
Click to expand...

That's true when you're dealing with PCs. However, I'm working with a
server application that handles hundreds of thousands of short Word
documents, all of which rely on tables to varying degrees.
Unfortunately, the server application is very strict about file size,
and doesn't let users upload documents bigger than 200KB. In practice,
even four pages worth of tables in Word 2000+ is enough to tip the
scales... while the same document in Word 97 doesn't even come close to
100KB.

Of course, the ideal solution would be to update the server application
to either ease the file size restriction, or to use a different file
format. I guess it's safe to assume that unless the app can be
updated, users are stuck using Word 97 or reducing their table usage.

I was hoping for some "table lite" or "Save as Word 97 doc" feature,
but it doesn't look like there's such a thing. Thanks again for the
replies.
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Hi Ben,

Unfortunately using the Tools=>Options=>Save choice to
disable features not supported in Word 97
may actually increase the file size slightly in
Word 2003 when using tables.

Word 97 has been on the market 8+ years now.
Counting the development and beta time it's close
to being a decade old :)

========

...I was hoping for some "table lite" or "Save as Word 97 doc" feature,
but it doesn't look like there's such a thing. Thanks again for the
replies.>>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx
 
M

Margaret Aldis

Just a thought - does setting the compatibility options to Word 97 make
things better or worse?
 
J

Jay Freedman

Sorry, no change... Following the directions in Ben's original post
after setting Word 97 compatibility, and disabling features introduced
after Word 97, gave me a file of 104 KB -- nearly the same as Ben got.
 
B

Bob Buckland ?:-\)

Hi Margaret,

It can increase the file size :) It can also decrease
the file size. There seems to be a connection there
with the last table resizing done by Table=>Autofit.

FWIW, changing the setting in Tools=>Options=>Save,
to not use features available after
Word 97, should generally also reset the compatability options
to that level.

I did achieve a very 'small' file size by opening the document
in Windows Wordpad then saving it from there as a Word 6 .doc
file. Only 14K <g> It removed everything but the Word
'test' repeated over and over.

From within Word 2003 if I saved the file as Word 6 .doc format
the size drops to 21K. The table comes up in a frame when
reopened that needs to be removed.

==============
Just a thought - does setting the compatibility options to Word 97 make
things better or worse?

--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP <<
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?:)
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx
 
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