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RE: recent thread - hiding info in Word templates ?
Subject:RE: recent thread - hiding info in Word templates ? From:"Lauren M. LeDuc" <lleduc -at- designnettech -dot- com> To:<monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 4 May 2009 17:15:52 -0400
Monique Semp wondered...."I'm thinking I remember a recent thread about
people "hiding" their name and/or company info in rarely used paragraph or
char styles in a template, with the intent of being able to later track
down/prove that they were the one who created said template.
Anyone know whether it was on this list or not? And if yes, do you have the
thread's subject name so I could re-read the info?"
Yes, it was here, see below. I'm sure you can search the archives with this
info to find the rest of the conversation.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lleduc=designnettech -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lleduc=designnettech -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Evans, Diane L (Rosetta)
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2009 12:32 PM
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Sample document creation for contract position
This is the advice that I gave the other woman on how to "copyright"
documents:
Most people who are dumb enough to steal an electronic file also don't
know a lot about Microsoft Word. Here are some ways to "prove" that the
template once belonged to you:
1. Make a character style called "MyName" and have it identical to
Normal. Use it for random words in the document. Chances are, any
copy-and-paste will preserve the style. Even if a new style is created
later on that replaces it, the style should still hang around in the
template.
2. Make a picture that is maybe 2 pixels by 2 pixels. It should be
totally white, and named "MyNameSpace" or something similar. Use this
picture liberally through your template.
3. Before handing off a template to someone, be sure that you have put a
watermark in the background, "This template is copyrighted by MyName."
Don't have it so large that it overwhelms the template, but have it
large enough to be noticed.
If you do all three of these things, the person receiving the template
would probably figure out how to remove the watermark, but not notice #1
and #2.
Several years ago, I heard of similar techniques for getting a resume
noticed. One was to put key words in 1 point font and use this for
dotted lines in the resume. The other was to format the key words in
white and use them for spaces between lines. In either case, an
electronic search would bring your resume floating to the top of the
pile.
Lesson learned on the dangers of handing over templates to a
non-employer; time to just move on.
Diane Evans, who has a love-hate relationship with Word.
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