tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68313170746600438362024-02-19T15:55:28.805+13:00Judith's Excel, Word, Etc LettersTips for the Digital Age - especially word processing and spreadsheets.Judith Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801759554821331770noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831317074660043836.post-24012872555907699102014-06-03T15:06:00.001+12:002014-06-03T15:06:45.370+12:00Word – Adding Lines<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I created a template for a client that was used to produce a
Word document from an Excel spreadsheet; it pulled in some information from the
order and the printed doc could be taken on site, scrawled on and then taken
back and the extra information added back into the document as a record.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The client decided they needed lines for the field guys to
fill in (and bold all the text). This is what they thought had when they’d
finished (details modified to disguise the client):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyOfrXwAmR2ERO0SsJRMxOkoTWGwXTYbTVY2z4cikt41PW_41w7rBRFKVy_M9XIjhtSUORvtC2yRY3fbP-T0IemKMbF1JgDXA46z3gbPH_D1C1LMeHI3xsMPNOgxgfNxYBx9CmL6ACvfMV/s1600/lines1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyOfrXwAmR2ERO0SsJRMxOkoTWGwXTYbTVY2z4cikt41PW_41w7rBRFKVy_M9XIjhtSUORvtC2yRY3fbP-T0IemKMbF1JgDXA46z3gbPH_D1C1LMeHI3xsMPNOgxgfNxYBx9CmL6ACvfMV/s1600/lines1.jpg" height="107" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They were happy – although the ragged right hand side should
have raised some flags. But when I looked at what was actually there
(displaying tabs, paragraph marks and bookmarks), this is what I saw:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8G53x3NMcis1RfhY92BNQvLlJYU-ifChykJZqwKcIQcoPoh2KecW4v1pQ5k5MvktjFnESmyNMevWziGguP-zRRohWQJZGZprHTW0XAZzMy4uHPFXHrUpW385t-D6nsLkvkHCk0Xt5m70/s1600/lines2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8G53x3NMcis1RfhY92BNQvLlJYU-ifChykJZqwKcIQcoPoh2KecW4v1pQ5k5MvktjFnESmyNMevWziGguP-zRRohWQJZGZprHTW0XAZzMy4uHPFXHrUpW385t-D6nsLkvkHCk0Xt5m70/s1600/lines2.jpg" height="103" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">… and it is not good. Not only is it inefficient to create a
line this way (basically turn on underline and tab your way across the page)
the end result will be uglier than you might expect.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirJyBkA0mDMhj77S9iwBhbNjf7Q0eMCCaKmtzIwyA4UFdsy4ntildT34wHEWXlHEl8ctC_p2zeB9-MAvqWSLCDEnoTwpb-FCcOXP_5Rf9SinDt6YPh1F3cTDCWMCateT6cirXzcblJRrbe/s1600/lines3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirJyBkA0mDMhj77S9iwBhbNjf7Q0eMCCaKmtzIwyA4UFdsy4ntildT34wHEWXlHEl8ctC_p2zeB9-MAvqWSLCDEnoTwpb-FCcOXP_5Rf9SinDt6YPh1F3cTDCWMCateT6cirXzcblJRrbe/s1600/lines3.jpg" height="98" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First – as everything is in bold it is actually quite hard
to read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, because random tabs were used as the information is
entered the line gets pushed across the page. If there is enough information
this line overflows onto the next line – even if the information itself fits on
one line (changing the two page document into a three page document)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the tab before the bookmark at “Product” was zapped
meaning there is no space between the label and the information.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are the alternatives?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jHTRGDvf_EL3e_J-D1RhGjJhK_lcpwREkxp5pZ8l8crWiQ5nJS9NYOvtzbrovp_CPSjD7z8uUZjBCCSuwcxxqP5dBLLVm5_f9AdIyHzevw4gKCJzw4PhTfAJ3kNyP-OngeqqeKXH7uGa/s1600/lines4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jHTRGDvf_EL3e_J-D1RhGjJhK_lcpwREkxp5pZ8l8crWiQ5nJS9NYOvtzbrovp_CPSjD7z8uUZjBCCSuwcxxqP5dBLLVm5_f9AdIyHzevw4gKCJzw4PhTfAJ3kNyP-OngeqqeKXH7uGa/s1600/lines4.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still ugly – but better – would have been to have defined a
right justified tab </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">where the line was to end.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2cDuFd9UbiEIYc7D7PHFpfa2-X36I1vnKakT-fbp01J2sterP6rImwnkSP8bFzbfub1HkMipKd2jdQpWIhyphenhyphenF_Vs7Qwav8H8pXw_k-jJCKzrCx3d6T5lO-DLgG8hlgqOK2Jh8JaeSZMaX/s1600/lines5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy2cDuFd9UbiEIYc7D7PHFpfa2-X36I1vnKakT-fbp01J2sterP6rImwnkSP8bFzbfub1HkMipKd2jdQpWIhyphenhyphenF_Vs7Qwav8H8pXw_k-jJCKzrCx3d6T5lO-DLgG8hlgqOK2Jh8JaeSZMaX/s1600/lines5.jpg" height="120" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least it looks better – but when entering the information
on a PC by hand (ie not from the automatic code) you are having to mess about
to get the cursor in the right place (the original code had information placed
at the end of the lines so you just went to the end of the line – down arrow
would do it).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPStbKyhvIEvKrskhd15U2S9zIHRSvlA6DsVjaIDGto-ZrpHnaw7qUaXLE-HDMH-V0a_SYobNbN18hem_CYJgbCdUmPgM3uQxEJn1KgC67p7aFnzM-Xkfz4Y1X2eYbDYBpnGETDbgEv1VP/s1600/lines6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPStbKyhvIEvKrskhd15U2S9zIHRSvlA6DsVjaIDGto-ZrpHnaw7qUaXLE-HDMH-V0a_SYobNbN18hem_CYJgbCdUmPgM3uQxEJn1KgC67p7aFnzM-Xkfz4Y1X2eYbDYBpnGETDbgEv1VP/s1600/lines6.jpg" height="65" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nicer still would be to have used a table. Things line up
nicely. It is easy to navigate. And as an added bonus you can control the line
thickness.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCv9ocFUwHsEi9Oc9vkFMVo9G2jf1ZY-18UvZS_vFpp0jZscWjd3T3rIxbwQmntTJdnp-vF8aXV73NrGI_5IcPfUOYbxbMJxujAe4hsye1-YdvJyBXq1oXdd9KU3d4TfCwv6zxxJf4trSA/s1600/lines7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCv9ocFUwHsEi9Oc9vkFMVo9G2jf1ZY-18UvZS_vFpp0jZscWjd3T3rIxbwQmntTJdnp-vF8aXV73NrGI_5IcPfUOYbxbMJxujAe4hsye1-YdvJyBXq1oXdd9KU3d4TfCwv6zxxJf4trSA/s1600/lines7.jpg" height="81" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most sophisticated solution would have been a table and
a form. This locks the text people are not allowed to modify.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGh2yVrtz-gjqw3lD7lLhj4OomG36MFyMcFn_ZALH9E_e5zkCfYFQYLpyRCOhVDZ2bhEwkEIMAjROKfH9Ir7tIia10PTEHpgLp1e0APKr9hryIidn6vRUbcojN0Z1gcsGZt2vELLSFMtl/s1600/lines8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGh2yVrtz-gjqw3lD7lLhj4OomG36MFyMcFn_ZALH9E_e5zkCfYFQYLpyRCOhVDZ2bhEwkEIMAjROKfH9Ir7tIia10PTEHpgLp1e0APKr9hryIidn6vRUbcojN0Z1gcsGZt2vELLSFMtl/s1600/lines8.jpg" height="85" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope if you need to make a similar document you will now
consider your options before hitting the tab button across the page!</span></div>
Judith Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801759554821331770noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6831317074660043836.post-71350439203668653682014-06-03T15:06:00.000+12:002014-06-03T15:06:03.970+12:00Tab Stops<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My<span style="color: red;"> <a href="http://judithgeek.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/word-adding-lines.html">lastblog</a></span> generated a question about what tabs were – and how do you make them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BvF_26_csT4qEWZpNIMzpZpYGLL-F8AQhaIopKjQb5qz7mRAPuxHDAP-bICftnKcoqNyUp73LbmKWj7xCm64ZgUEKot1mq2cPg9Yk7UNFOHCYVNJlJRX6VxZerpw8GRLQ6-qHNUjqnsS/s1600/tab1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7BvF_26_csT4qEWZpNIMzpZpYGLL-F8AQhaIopKjQb5qz7mRAPuxHDAP-bICftnKcoqNyUp73LbmKWj7xCm64ZgUEKot1mq2cPg9Yk7UNFOHCYVNJlJRX6VxZerpw8GRLQ6-qHNUjqnsS/s1600/tab1.jpg" height="126" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A “tab” is short for a “tab stop” and for those who still
remember typewriters they were little bits of metal that stuck out and stopped
the carriage (which carried the paper) when you hit the tab bar. In word
processing the setting is simpler – but potentially more complex.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most common tab is the <b>Left Tab</b> and when you hit
tab the text will left align with the tab stop. If you hit tab when no tabs are
defined Word will use the default stop – which defaults to one every 1.27cm.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvc37HgXIzh-DSqIL0hQOBvTRDN4N0VqU-9J5BMR0RXkFT-cqG200Ixuv2g8xsExdWV5cuCV6UNwFJI1PrQpGl1caClk0mWsynlZO0u6bR7EGloUPnymNA8nrek3no3GrVlmDxNmKyomm/s1600/tab2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvc37HgXIzh-DSqIL0hQOBvTRDN4N0VqU-9J5BMR0RXkFT-cqG200Ixuv2g8xsExdWV5cuCV6UNwFJI1PrQpGl1caClk0mWsynlZO0u6bR7EGloUPnymNA8nrek3no3GrVlmDxNmKyomm/s1600/tab2.jpg" height="81" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to set tabs at specific points there are two
ways to do it. You can click on the ruler – or set it with a style. I’ll leave
setting up styles for another blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By default the <b>Left Tab</b> is found at the top of the
ruler (if you cannot see the ruler set the checkbox in the View tab for Word
2007/2010/2013 – or the View menu prior to Word 2007).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnuwfIDEKBVk480tJikDeh_TrdRpC6uO7dDnea2DraFshkAZKsRA-3wKdM0DdPHqNpT92BRQfW4OFF2OYQnvwig7WL8iOjKlyosTuWno7JYjvSLKQFaH0_MajMY1JilrOB_oTf4ajYV2m/s1600/tab2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnuwfIDEKBVk480tJikDeh_TrdRpC6uO7dDnea2DraFshkAZKsRA-3wKdM0DdPHqNpT92BRQfW4OFF2OYQnvwig7WL8iOjKlyosTuWno7JYjvSLKQFaH0_MajMY1JilrOB_oTf4ajYV2m/s1600/tab2a.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look at your text and click on the ruler. A </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left Tab</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> symbol
will appear on the ruler. This tab will be inherited when you hit enter. To
remove a tab just drag it off the ruler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If after you have typed more info it is obvious the tab is
not set correctly you can select all the text and drag the tab to the correct
position.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apart from the Left Tab, a <b>Right Tab</b> defines the
right of the text. So when to tab the right hand part text following will line
up with the tab.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A <b>Centre Tab</b> will centre the text around the tab. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, a <b>Decimal Tab</b> will align the decimal point
of numbers.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwn5F94a8vLM_IRq0qKqszJ_PARw6oEa47qT4npSnhVmUfLOdZKvBQoRqRkC95tqu9Y9JStQEWj56RMhvPw_sWHx33VUlinGn-AHca5-M0C63P1ZgrWvWVpb-O3HfjnBBvy5MPpBxKogz/s1600/tab4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwn5F94a8vLM_IRq0qKqszJ_PARw6oEa47qT4npSnhVmUfLOdZKvBQoRqRkC95tqu9Y9JStQEWj56RMhvPw_sWHx33VUlinGn-AHca5-M0C63P1ZgrWvWVpb-O3HfjnBBvy5MPpBxKogz/s1600/tab4.jpg" height="281" width="640" /></a></div>
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Judith Kiwihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801759554821331770noreply@blogger.com0