OK, one more "reach out"...this time I'm looking for help with computer documents.

DDD

Well-Known Member
This week is not my sharpest. Can you guys help me out "again" today??

Our fund raising event uses a Flyer to get support from the community. For the past five years I have created the verbage and layout and a former Board member who's in the business has put it together for me for distribution. Sigh! She is no longer part of the organization and I finally found someone to take over the Presidency so I can slide down the Board and be FREE next year. Yeah, DDD.

The new President and the new Secy put together the Flyer for this year and I received it as an attachment for my approval from the Secy. The one page Flyer printed out on two pages...the letterhead part on one sheet and the body of the hype on another. I wrote an email to the Secy saying "great job" but...it's arriving split into two pages. Today the new Pres. tells me "I have sent the Flyer to X and he says it's great, will make copies and distribute." So...I reply "that's wonderful" but could you send me a copy from your computer because the one I received from X printed as two pages." He sent his attachment..........it prints on two pages not one.

easy child/difficult child was working for awhile today and he tried to alter it by cutting and pasting. He ended up after his best effort with one page YEAH ... but...the top is now on the bottom of the page. I had to print and use it that way for him to pick up gift certificates but how to heck do we get it on one page with the top on the top and the middle/bottom where it belongs?????? (by the way, I tried using the Tab to close the gap but that didn't work. Help, please. DDD
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
What form was the document sent in, a PDF? Is so, ask them to resend it as the original word document (or pages if you have mac) then it can be easily edited. Or, you can send it to my email as an attachment and I can see if I can work on it for you. PM me if you want and I'll give you my email.

Sharon
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
People. Computers. The two just don't mix.
(sorry. I'm a techie. One of those people who gets all the calls when things go wrong.)

Lets see... without answers to the questions already asked, I'm going to have to guess...
1) The author of the doctor used a font you don't have. As a result, all font sizing goes wonky, and the doctor no longer fits on one page.
2) The doctor is done on a different program than what you are using. For example... one party uses MS Office, the other uses OpenOffice... you can get incompatibilities.
3) PDF doctor - if the pdf is on one page, then I've honestly never seen a case where the PDF received had more pages than the PDF sent. In fact, this is the most "compatibility-issue-free" way of sharing info that we've come up with yet - if you don't need to modify the final result.
4) Your printer has different minimum-margin requirements than their printer. Sometimes, Word is too smart for its own good, and re-adjusts everything without telling you this...
5) There's a hidden page-break between the header and the body. These are HARD to find - never sure exactly what I do to find it, but its often there.
6) Extra lines at the end of the bottom section, and the whole thing wrapped with "keep lines together" and "keep with next"... which forces the whole section to the next page instead of just the blank lines
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
What's the extension at the end? .pdf? .doctor? Also, perhaps they want the flyer to fold over into threes so that the title would be on the outside fold when mailed? It should still have a title on the top of the inside, but smaller...
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Yep...you guys are right. This is not my area of expertise...understatement. One of the family members is going to make a stab at fixing it for me. Fingers crossed. Re "cut and paste" easy child/difficult child tried but it only worked in reverse. The top is at the bottom, lol. Actually it doesn't look as screwy as you would think but I'm really trying to tiptoe with the new officers as I really really want them to take over the reigns. I fear that distributing their preparation "upside down", lol, may undermine their confidence. My goal is to praise them to death so next year they are independent.
Boy, volunteer work is more time consuming that either of them expected. Baby steps. Baby steps. Thanks. DDD
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I have learned, in my experience with desktop publishing, to really HATE Word. It's a lot better than it used to be, a lot more user-friendly, but for layout work I still try to avoid it. I use InDesign these days, learned my way through every version of Pagemaker before that. I like the fine control with elements in the page.

It should be possible to create a poster in a matter of minutes, especially if text and graphics are provided. Sometimes when something like this glitches, it is faster to reproduce it from what you've been given, than try to de-bug a buggy file. But if you can, find something graphics-based to use. Word will do the job if it's all you have, but I find it takes longer and I want to scream at it after the first ten minutes (especially when the task should only take two minutes!)

Marg
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
I've hated Word since the day it came out.
I don't need some stupid program written by a stupid programmer to do all sorts of stupid-think for me.

(programmers: no I'm not anti-programmer, I AM one... I'd rather write edit-script than use Word... I want to be in control! now, if it was MY code behind it, I might feel differently)

WordPerfect was better - you could imbed commands - but I haven't used that for about 5 yrs so not sure where its at now.

The other stuff... depends on what you're trying to do. Toughest part is to get the right tool for the job!
(usually the tool you really need is the one you don't have)
 

Marg's Man

Member
[rantmode] DDD I'm gonna assume that you are both Americans and using the usual default of US letter as your page size. InsaneCdn will know what I mean when I grumble about the usual default for a computer out of the box is US letter when the REST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD uses A4 as a default [/rantmode]

Having got that of my chest, check Page Layout in whatever programme you are using for Paper Size, then check with margins and fonts.
I find that when I am sharing files you really have to go plain vanilla ie using the most commonly used fonts without all the bells and whistles. Usually it is Arial for a sans serif font and Times or times New Roman for the serif font and the default paper size of whatever your organisation is using. Also don't push the margin too hard because different printers have different requirements for the minimum area they will print on even if you are all using the same paper size. These variations can occur between manufacturers and even between models from the same manufacturer.
I just updated my printer from one model of HP to another and had to reformat about half my documents which (for technical reasons) HAVE to have tight margins for the new printer. Nothing else had changed!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Hmmm. In a sick way this is kinda funny. I've turned over the job to the two new officers and am really trying to keep in the distance. The Flyer came into my computer at work and my computer at home..all messed up as I described. A CD family member gave it a shot for me...thanks. Anyway, the Sec'y works for the college and really wants to move up in the volunteer arena. She is smart, personable etc. and some doors that she wanted opened are opening. The Pres. is a retired law enforcement honcho who is used to have a secretary.

So....the Pres. received the Flyer and it was fine. The Secy sent it to one other person and it was fine. They are "doing their thing" and I "think" they assumed it was only my issue. Darned if they didn't send out the Flyer to the Chambers, the Y etc. etc. Hmmmm....at least two of the recipients got the messed up version like I did.

"Detach", DDD. LOL! I'm trying! Turns out the college has the very latest version of Word. Most of us have very antiquated versions since we don't spend update money. Now the question is did the newspapers also get a back/assward version? I've suggested they call all the recipients. We'll see if they do. Sigh. I know they are doing their best to step up to the plate but it's driving me a bit nuts that they want to forge away in hopes of getting it done and it's not the cautious way. DDD
 
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