Numbers don't line up in Word table

[penguinroundup]

Help - I have a user who is using tables to organize financial information in a Word document (using Office2K). The numbers in the table are right-justified, and the right-most numbers line up OK on the screen, but when the numbers are printed, certain lines "stick out" to the right more than other lines. For example, the number 127 sticks out more than the number 12,262 even though both cells are right-justified (and look fine on the screen). Changing the font is not an option. We've also tried printing the page on different printers with no luck.

do certain numbers just take up more space than others?

TIA
causemaker

 

[Dreamboat]

I suggest you turn on the show/hide button and make sure this person isn't using spacing to get the numbers to line up.

What you need is a right-aligned tab at the measurement where you want the end of the last digit placed. I'll bet they're using spaces...

http://www.TheWordExpert.com

 

[penguinroundup]

Nope, I've already checked that. No spaces, just right-justified in the table column. Here's another tidbit... one of the lines in question has parentheses around the number to indicate negative amount. If I remove the parentheses, the numbers line up fine.

curiouser and curiouser...

thanks
causemaker

 

[Dreamboat]

Well, of course the parens aren't going to align the number. Word doesn't have a true number alignment. However, it does have a DECIMAL tab, which will allow all of the decimals in a column of numbers to align. To use that, however, you need to set the decimal tab in that column. Then, when numbers are typed in, they must be preceded by a tab.

http://www.TheWordExpert.com

 

[Dreamboat]

Oh, and also, to use the decimal tab, your numbers must contain decimal points.

http://www.TheWordExpert.com