TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Need some assistance with Word, maybe Find and Replace?
Subject:Need some assistance with Word, maybe Find and Replace? From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:TECHWR-L' Whirlers <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, Joyce Fetterman <Joycef -at- gtsoftware -dot- com> Date:Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:04:13 -0400
Joyce Fetterman wondered: <<I have some OLD (1995) WordPerfect files
that I need to convert to PDFs for archiving purposes.>>
Don't do it. You mentioned that you're converting them into Word
first, so it's much wiser to archive them as Word files. If you ever
need the contents again, you can avoid converting backwards from PDF.
(And if you don't think you'll ever need them again, whyever would
you bother archiving them as PDF?)
<<I was trying to open them with Word 2003. The files open just fine,
except that many (most?) of the paragraphs are converting to a
hanging indent. I don't expect anyone to ever need these files so I'm
not going to spend time fixing the paragraphs individually (hundreds
of pages), but if there's a quick way to get rid of the hanging
indent, that would make me happy.>>
If the indent is wrong for only a single paragraph style, the easiest
solution is to edit that style's properties to eliminate the hanging
indent: Format --> Style --> then edit the paragraph properties. If
some styles require the hanging indent, you'll have to figure out a
way to avoid changing those paragraphs. The following suggestions
should help:
If the hanging indent is somewhat consistent (e.g., a new paragraph
style is created that should be replaced with an existing style, or
if the indent is always the same amount), then it's easy once you
expand the dialog box to reveal all the options: If you want to
replace the bad paragraph style (with an indent) with the correct
style, position the cursor in the "Find what" field, click the Format
button to display a menu of formatting options, then select Style.
Choose the style you want to get rid of, move the cursor to the
"Replace with" field, and repeat this process to choose the correct
style.
If the paragraph style is inconsistent, but the indent is consistent,
repeat this process, but instead of selecting "Style" in the "Find
what" field, select "Paragraph", then select "Hanging" beside the
indent. Move to the "replace with" field and repeat the process, but
select the correct indent this time (i.e., none, first line indent,
whatever).
"Replace all" and you're done.
----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
***Now available*** _Effective onscreen editing_
(http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial. http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-