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Thread ID: 40305	2003-12-04 06:24:00	Please Save My Hair & the Cats. Word.	Murray P (44)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
197207	2003-12-04 06:24:00	Hi all, a cry for help :_| I don't really know whether I need new software or a kick and some basic tutoring, probably all three and whatever else you guys can come up with, anyway here goes . Spec's: Win 2k pro (patched, install a few weeks old)) Office 97 (partially patched, install a few weeks old) xp 1800+ cpu 512MB DDR 32 MB shared with nForce onboard vid . Various other bits and pieces like Photo Shop Elements, CAD/drawing viewing software Publisher 97 . I spend a good deal of my time in front of the puter writing reports . These range in length from a few pages to 100 pages of mainly 11 point text . They also usually contain a few tables and a number of scanned text and drawing documents and images . The drawings and images will often have text and objects (arrows, symbols, etc) either embedded or wrapped . I learnt quite quickly to put the weighty bits in a separate appendix doc after my first report spat the dumby and me shortly thereafter . The problem is, that even in a shiny new doc by the time I've inserted 20 or 30 images, etc, word just gets real grumpy or if everything seems to be fine I print the doc and there's bits left out ar the images print without the character or visa vera . It doesn't seem to make any difference if I embedded, link, save with document, float over text, lock object to text or object anchors . I printed one off this afternoon and some bits were missing . I dive in to word to sort it out and there are arrows and pictures on the wrong pages and . For the next few hours its like herding cats and malicious ones in a very stop start fashion and the puter and word discuss what they're going to do with me (I know they're talking behind my back because the cpu is doing 19 to the dozen, 100%, ram's ok tho) . I decided to throw most of my days work in the garbage and start again with the docs split into smaller units . Now it starts complaining on the third image and I know if I try to force another one on it it'll be all over and I don't want that to happen because the herd of cats escaped so I have nothing satisfying to kick and most of my hair is already on the floor . Sorry, I've just unburdened on you lot and it's probably getting boring but, I do feel better . So what is happening . I know word isn't the greatest thing to dump images into but how do other people write their reports, thesis, proposals and presentations . I've tried Publisher but it doesn't (or I can't) give me the formatting options and even it groans with different types of images (I try to make most jpeg's if I can get the detail I need) . Am I asking too much of the software and need to get something more in tune with what I'm doing . I don't believe its a hardware issue even though I only have 32MB of onboard, its the processor that taking its time (yes, I will slot a new gfx card in sometime soon) . Am I handling the images/drawings the wrong way? They do seem to be more successful if I add captions and wot not to the image then import but, then the documents don't have that consistent look from start to finish . well that about raps up my rant and gripe for the day . Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated . Yours in a pickle ?:| :( Murray P	Murray P (44)
197208	2003-12-04 06:49:00	Word is a hungry beast at the best of times but when you start adding tables, objects, images, etc it blows out something shocking . What size is the file you are working on? It may or may not have any effect but the universal trick to try and fix Word when it breaks is to create a new normal . dot file . With Word closed find yours and rename it to normal . old then reopen Word and your file . If that doesn't have any effect we'll think of something else .	Fire-and-Ice (3910)
197209	2003-12-04 07:04:00	Hi thanks for the reply. 11.6MB, which is an average size as far as these go. I've tried refreshing normal.dot before but didn't think to try is this time. Just gave it a whirl and the word jambed up tight as I was srolling down the pages and doze helpfully informed me that it was no longer responding. When was it ever responsive to my needs, its all take and no give ;) BTW, I've tried "saving as" to a diff name which sometimes works for a little while, it at least shinks the file size somewhat, I guess it forces word to let go. Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
197210	2003-12-04 07:41:00	Hi Murray How are you inserting the images into the Word Document? Makes a big difference if you are just copying and pasting into Word instead of using Insert > Picture > From File (which is the correct way). You can still add captions to the images afterwards.	Jen C (20)
197211	2003-12-04 08:15:00	Ah well Murray, there's your problem. One thing is for sure, cats are highly individual creatures. Communal gathering, as in a herd, is ananthema to them. They also have no use for computers. Put them out with plenty of jellymeat and have a firm Word wth your machine. ;\ Open Office?	Winston001 (3612)
197212	2003-12-04 08:16:00	Hi Jen, ta . Yep, I'm doing Insert > picture and choosing to link rather than embed although I haven't always done so . I sometimes do forget to check the "link" option when inserting and have ended up with some horrendously big doc's becuase of it . At the mo I'm working through each image in photo shop and adding my knick nacks saving as jpeg's (lower quality ones, word won't do PSD's) and then inserting . But photo shop isn't as adept or intuitive (for me) to add objects and text to images and I don't think they look as good as Word's but it handles the big files and resources alot better . BTW I've batch processed all images to 100 DPI and I'm inserting the new, altered images into the original appendix doc one at a time as I delete the old images one at a time while keeping all the text wrapped above and below . it's a bit of a juggle, I don't want to end up with the wrong text on the images so it's a matter of grinding it out with Word giving the odd shudder here and there . Where these doc's can end up, there can be no errors or confusion, at all . keep it rolling please . Do you think word is the appropriate application to be using? Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
197213	2003-12-04 08:28:00	Word isn't a happy unit when files of that size are created. My memory reminds me that its a matter of the type of image file structure (all jpg's are not created equal) that is a contributary menace in this matter. I recall pinning this down once, and when using correctly formatted jpg's, the file size reduced by a factor of about 10. It will take some dogged searching, but the answer will exist on Google.	godfather (25)
197214	2003-12-04 08:28:00	To be honest with you having used both Word and Wordperfect the latter handles complicated docs like you are creating a lot better. Like you I have lost a lot of hair while trying to do complicated docs with word. The Wordperfect office 2000 package can be picked up for very little. I can source it for about $25.	mikebartnz (21)
197215	2003-12-04 08:30:00	Ah Win, just the reply I need :^O. The little so & so's are off the jellied stuff and putting them out is how we now have 6 instead of the 2 we were comfortable with. We're keeping at least one in so we don't end up with 10 before the additional 4 are weaned. And yeh, they're not much good around computers and certainly no help with the current struggles. But communal gatherings are not unknown to pussy cats, just don't expect then to sing harmonies. I've had one or two firm words with the machine today, hey! you could be on to something there maybe my technique is all wrong ;) > Open Office? Yes, I've been thinking along those lines myself, any idea if it handles these things better? Cheers Murray P	Murray P (44)
197216	2003-12-04 08:35:00	Actually I think the answer was to reduce the colour depth to 256 on the pictures before you embed them. Also you need all the service packs for Word 97	godfather (25)
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