John Dirks Jr Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Hi, I have a word doc template that I use to write my reports. I have Veranda in various sizes for headings and sub titles. I have bold New Times to prompt for material listings and such. Most all of my typing beyond the fixed template text is in New Times-12-not bold. When I put my cursor behind the pre written fields it always adopts the font that preceeds it which forces me to change back to New Times repeatedly throughout the writing process. Is there a way to just lock in the New Times so that no matter where I put the cursor it stays that way unless I choose to change it? I attached a piece to illustrate in general how my process works. Download Attachment: Electrical-example.doc 24.54 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randynavarro Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I know what you're saying. . . I think, but the problem is I can't even begin to figure how to explain it verbally. You need to play with the "paragraph" symbol - a bold faced "P" looking thing which resides on your toolbar. Clicking on that will show you all the "P's" in your doc. That "P" dictates the formatting of your text when the cursor is before it or after it. The "Help" menu can be helpful in understanding formatting. Search for "styles" or "formatting styles." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 . . . When I put my cursor behind the pre written fields it always adopts the font that preceeds it which forces me to change back to New Times repeatedly throughout the writing process. . . . I'm not sure that I understand what you mean. However, have you tried simply highlighting the spaces after the pre written fields, adjusting the font parameters to your liking, and saving the template? - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 . . . When I put my cursor behind the pre written fields it always adopts the font that preceeds it which forces me to change back to New Times repeatedly throughout the writing process. . . . I'm not sure that I understand what you mean. However, have you tried simply highlighting the spaces after the pre written fields, adjusting the font parameters to your liking, and saving the template? - Jim Katen, Oregon That is how I currently do it but it would save even more time if I could just lock into New Times and not worry about highlighting and selecting from format after entries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghentjr Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Look in your preferences file and change it to what you want as the default font. OOOPssss. You don't have a Mac? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghentjr Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hi, I have a word doc template that I use to write my reports. I have Veranda in various sizes for headings and sub titles. I have bold New Times to prompt for material listings and such. I attached a piece to illustrate in general how my process works. Download Attachment: Electrical-example.doc 24.54 KB Under preferences there is a "compatibility" heading where you can change your font and make it the default. (at least on word for mac there is.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 . . . That is how I currently do it but it would save even more time if I could just lock into New Times and not worry about highlighting and selecting from format after entries.. . . You shouldn't need to do that. Once you've set the formatting in the template, every time you open the template, you should be able to place your curser anywhere you want and begin typing in the correct font. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Beck Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 John, I'm not sure if this will help but after looking at your example it appears that you aren't using some of the Forms capabilities in MS Word. With this feature you can add a Text Form Field and specify the text type, size and features such as bold, italic, etc. I have done all my templates this way and also used the drop down list function. It makes for a good looking report that is a little faster to complete but more difficult to modify on the fly. If this sounds like it would be a help let me know and I'll email you a sample of my report. Jeff Beck Foresight Home Inspection LLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I haven't a clue; I can barely run a word processing program. I'm hoping that Mike or Rose will know the answer. The inspection software they use runs in Microsoft Word and they know it very well. OT - OF!!! M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Yeah, there are lots of cool tools to make a report template. Be sure you have a good working knowledge of Styles, Tables, Forms & Bookmarks, to say nothing of Macros & Autotext. Personally, I find the Forms mode way too limiting for my reporting style. Of course, it's easy enough to unlock the form on the fly and make changes. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Raymond Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Uhm , why bother with a template? I made a master document for my reports that I simply open, save as, and start typing. As long as I let Word auto return and remember to use the arrow keys to navigate on the page it moves pretty fast and type sizes and styles remain intact. I sometimes take my reports to the day job to work on them, and that means multiple PCs and diffrent versions of Word. Templates get goofy because of differences in the formating macros between versions. The master document seems to transition (forward and backward) without the goofiness. I also prefer my older version of Word. There are fewer annoying features and they are easier to turn off. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Thanks everyone. I can see that some of you are following what I'm after. I'll get busy with some of your suggestions and let you know what I figure out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted May 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 Ok, here is what I'm doing. I make a highlighted blank space behind each entry point. I put the cursor on the highlighted space and right click, select font, change to times regular 12pt, click OK, then go to the top left of the doc and click file , then save. This seems to be working. It will take some time do get it done but it will surely save time writing reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bain Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 You could save a bunch of keystrokes, John, by doing it a little differently. On your master document, after the bold Verona, change the format to 12-point New Times Roman, then tap the space bar. That way, you've already told Word the font you want to use for that sentence. Insert the cursor to the right of the space to add info for a particular house, and everything after it will be in 12-NTR. This is admittedly a little prehistoric, but it'll work and save you some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 You could save a bunch of keystrokes, John, by doing it a little differently. On your master document, after the bold Verona, change the format to 12-point New Times Roman, then tap the space bar. That way, you've already told Word the font you want to use for that sentence. Insert the cursor to the right of the space to add info for a particular house, and everything after it will be in 12-NTR. This is admittedly a little prehistoric, but it'll work and save you some time. What I'm doing is setting the styles for all the spaces in the entire document. After the initial work it will be done. I'll save everything in the master. Thereafter, every time I open it, it will have the same characteristics. I also figured out how to add auto text preferences. Look Out! I'm on a roll... I'm sure there's more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Ok, here is what I'm doing. I make a highlighted blank space behind each entry point. I put the cursor on the highlighted space and right click, select font, change to times regular 12pt, click OK, then go to the top left of the doc and click file , then save. This seems to be working. It will take some time do get it done but it will surely save time writing reports. Use the format painter. Do what you describe at the first space. Double click on the format painter icon. Now just highlight the next space you want wiht that format, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, etc. - Jim Katen, OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Ok, here is what I'm doing. I make a highlighted blank space behind each entry point. I put the cursor on the highlighted space and right click, select font, change to times regular 12pt, click OK, then go to the top left of the doc and click file , then save. This seems to be working. It will take some time do get it done but it will surely save time writing reports. Use the format painter. Do what you describe at the first space. Double click on the format painter icon. Now just highlight the next space you want wiht that format, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, etc. - Jim Katen, OR I'm using Word 2002. Is the format painter in this older version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dirks Jr Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Ok, here is what I'm doing. I make a highlighted blank space behind each entry point. I put the cursor on the highlighted space and right click, select font, change to times regular 12pt, click OK, then go to the top left of the doc and click file , then save. This seems to be working. It will take some time do get it done but it will surely save time writing reports. Use the format painter. Do what you describe at the first space. Double click on the format painter icon. Now just highlight the next space you want wiht that format, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, then highlight the next, etc. - Jim Katen, OR I'm using Word 2002. Is the format painter in this older version? Ok, I found it. Yeah, that makes the task easier. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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