Word files never display the same on different machines 1

[Paullandon]

I am regularly laying out 1 page leaflets using using Word 2003 SP1 and then sending them to the printers.

The prolem is that they display completely differently on his screen and printers than on mine. This has caused some big cock-ups to get printed.

One problem is where he has different fonts on his machine (we know about that).

Other problems are where graphics reposition themselves in Gates-only-knows positions and appear to change the
[Format Picture]->[Layout] to something random like "on top of text".

All I want is for it to do the same thing twice.

It is not a file corruption problem we have checked that thoroughly.

Should I just change to professional software that is fit for purpose instead of this can of bugs?

 

[Lilliabeth]

This is a forum for Microsoft Office users.

I think it is rude to ask for help in the same breath that you insult our choice of software.

I don't know what you are doing to cause the behavior you are describing.

 

[Paullandon]

Actually I am an Office user also

I know of many more bugs than this one, many of them
serious. Many of them have workarounds once you know
why they happen, which is what I am seraching for here.

If I cannot find a workaround for this I am at the point
of changing software. This problem has cost many hours
and hundreds in wasted printing.

I'm sorry if I sugggested your religion had some bugs in it.

 

[Lilliabeth]

Maybe if you explained the steps to create and print the document in more detail some one here will know the answer.

 

[Paullandon]

Sorry, I should have made it clearer. Rereading my post, it is my fault.
By "sending it to the printers" I meant emailing it to the company that produces thousands of leaflets.

The best way of describing the problem is that a word (.doc) file does not appear the same on 2 different PCs, and my "leaflet-producing-person's" setup seems to be more different than most. Even in the office a word document can appear different on 2 different machines.

Is there a workaround so that I can be certain that what the leaflet-producing-person is looking at is the same as me, maybe converting the file to pdf or ps?

Or is it that he has different options set in Word, or a diffferent version of Word?

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Lilliabeth]

There is no telling what settings and version (and driver, etc) he has.

I will tell you what I do and it works well - I write lots of manuals and have them professionally printed.

I downloaded Cute PDF - it is free and absolutely hassle-free.

Now I create the documents in my favorite word processor and send them to the printer as pdf.

http://www.cutepdf.com/

There are two components to download, but it is supereasy.

 

[Lilliabeth]

Oh, you will be able to use any font now without regard for whether or not the font is installed on the printer guy's machine.

 

[tf1]

The problem is that Word is a Word Processor and not a Page Layout Program. Your original post was probably correct and that you should probably look at a high-end Page Layout application (check out Adobe's products for starters).

However, what may help is if you know that Word interrogates the printer driver to work out the page layout of a document. This works well until you change to a different printer driver (not necessarily a different printer even, just a different driver).

So you can probably resolve your problems by using the same same printer driver as your chosen print studio. Then you will have a much better chance of winning the game.

Unfortunately, there are other influences, but the above are probably the most important to get right first.

You can overcome the font problem by embedding the font(s) with the document - but you need to ensure that the fonts you are using are embeddable. Microsoft has a Font site and there's a tool you maydownload that will interrogate a font to see if it is embeddable.




Regards: tf1

 

[macropod]

Hi Paullandon,

tf1 has given you some good advice as to why the formatting changes between your PC and the one at the print shop. In essence, Word formats a page according to the abilities/limitations of the print driver the document is being prepared with.

However, rather than splurging on 'professional' page layout software, you could simply convert the Word document to a PDF before sending it to the print shop. You can do this with Adobe Acrobat professional (not the free reader) or any number of inexpensive PDF converters.

Cheers

[MS MVP - Word]

 

[fumei]

Just to reiterate tf1 and macropods posts...Word will always look different on different machines. I don't think people fully realize that the look and layout of Word is totallydependent on the printer driver. And as was pointed out, it can even be printed to the same printer, but if it is different driver...it can come out differently.

It is not a graphic application. Applications like Quark are graphics application. The layout is completely set by graphical elements. Word interprets layout, as defined by the printer driver.

These are not "bugs". Not that I am saying there are no bugs in Word...sheeesh. And not that I am saying that sometimes the design of things (recursive header content for example) is down right...odd...bizarre even. However, it is good to understand what Word is capable of, and even better how/why it does them.

PDF was sort of put together for exactly the reason you are complaining about. A consistent, persistent, look. But again, it is important to understand the how/why. PDF files ARE graphics. They are not true text documents. They are images essentially.

So use PDF when you need to.

That being said...

[Format Picture]->[Layout] to something random like "on top of text".

if settings are being changed like that, hmmm. that is strange. I don no think a printer driver will change settings. It may change what that means (visually and print wise), but I have never heard of actually settings being changed.

Gerry

 

[macropod]

Gerry,

What's this about

PDF files ARE graphics.

If you save a Word file as a pdf, then save the pdf as a postscript or RTF file, you'll see that any text that was present in the original will usually still be there. PDFs are effectively postscript files inside a wrapper that various applications can interpret, display and print. The essential difference between PDFs and Word docuemnts is that PDFs are based around a page description, whereas Word documents represent a document description that is somewhat independent of pagination.

Cheers

[MS MVP - Word]

 

[fumei]

Correct me if I am wrong (and lord knows I am a lot!), but does not the step

then save the pdf as a postscript or RTF file

in fact change the PDF? If it is saved as postscript or RTF...then it is no longer PDF. If you save a Word document as postscript...is it still a Word document? I would suggest that the saved file is not a Word document. And further, that the characteristics are different between the original Word document, and the saved postscript (or RTF). Shrug. Would that not also apply to a PDF saved as postscript, or RTF? That saved file is no longer a PDF. So I am not quite getting the point. Sure you can save a PDF as postscript...but so what?

Are not PDF "based around a" graphical "page description"?

You can look at a JPG, as ASCII characters, but that does not mean that it is not essentially a graphic (image) file. I would say that you could consider a JPG as a postscript file inside a wrapper that various application can display, interpret, and print.....OK, that may be a stretch, but as I way off base here???

I am more than willing to learn something here.

Gerry

 

[BionicJohn]

Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a document which includes the text, fonts, images and vector graphics that make up the document. It is electronic paper.

More importantly, PDF files don't encode information that is specific to the application software, hardware, or operating system used to create or view the document. They are a device independent and resolution independent format.

LIVERPOOL FC - FA Cup Winners 2006.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[macropod]

Hi Gerry,

The point is that PDFs are not graphics any more than Word documents are. They may hold text and/or images and, unless protected, you can generally extract either or both of these from the file. You can even copy the text straight from a PDF and paste it into Word as text.

Cheers

[MS MVP - Word]