Re: Was Word the right tool?
Hi Techwhirlers --the desired layout is quite different from Word's defaults?
I just finished putting together a document in Word 97. It was a
landscape layout with two columns. The left column was indented
an inch from the document margin, so the effect was a very wide
left margin, with the main headings hanging into that extra inch
of margin.
After struggling with the column layout, I ended up using linked
pairs of text boxes on each page and had to dink with each one
to get it to line up properly. While the result is nice, this is
way too much work and takes way too long. I have to find
something better for the future.
After this frustration I'm wondering:
- Is there a better way to do this in Word? One that doesn't
require tons of fiddling?
- Is Word even the right tool for this type of document, where
Meg,
I think you have answered your own question. Word can do many things. The caveat is that you have to have the time in order to make it do them. I was never designed to do more than basic formatting of short documents.
It is in fact a word processor, not a DTP layout program or a document processor. It has neither the robustness nor the feature set.
You would do better by analyzing your documents, what elements are present, and finding software that addresses those needs.
If you create relatively small documents that do not depend upon table of contents, indices, tables and extensive cross-references, but do depend upon different layouts and precise layout (most marketing documents fall into this) then look into PageMaker, Quark Xpress, and InDesign (PageMaker and InDesign are by Adobe).
If you need to make large documents, consisting of several files, typically chapters, using lots of graphics, tables, cross-references, table of contents, indices, look into FrameMaker, also by Adobe.
Scott
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