Formatting problems when opening Word documents

[canhoto]

Hi.

I don't know if it's a common issue or just my inexperience with OpenOffice, but when I tried to import some files from Word (which I want to replace, either with Pages or, preferably, with OpenOffice) I have the following problems:

- Apparently, the document keeps the same border sizes, the same line spacing and the same font and font size; but a document with 106 pages in MS Word comes down to about 88 in Writer! I have the impression that the 1,5 line spacing is much more tight in Writer than in Word.
- Also, it seems the the text goes beyond the borders: the border that you see is compliant with the original Word one, but you see the text about one centimenter out of the right border.

Any ideas about this?

Thanks

canhoto

[RoryOF]

Transition of documents between operating systems and across layout programs always causes formatting variations, due (inter alia) to differing versions of fonts and differing arithmetic calculations of character and line spacing. Also in the move between MS Word and OpenOffice it is not unusual to find that the underlying document page changes from US Letter to A4, as may be happening here. If layout is critical, you need to commit to one machine for final layout, producing a .pdf file of the final layout.

[2416_jamesw]

I do not use Microsoft Office (too expensive) and have never had any problems with documents because all my clients use OpenOffice as well.

[latege]

Transition of documents between operating systems and across layout programs always causes formatting variations, due (inter alia) to differing versions of fonts and differing arithmetic calculations of character and line spacing. Also in the move between MS Word and OpenOffice it is not unusual to find that the underlying document page changes from US Letter to A4, as may be happening here. If layout is critical, you need to commit to one machine for final layout, producing a .pdf file of the final layout.

So does this mean that you really can't transition long or complex Word docs to OpenOffice (or any other transtion) unless you're prepared to spend quite a bit of time tidying up the formatting? I'm interested because I've had quite a long of problems (loss of footnotes, change of positioning on the page (nothing to do with Letter to A4 in my case as I always start with A4) when converting longer documents or ones with more complex layout to the point that I've given up, at least for the time being, even trying to convert these types of documents and go back to using Word.

[RoryOF]

If your documents always or largely originate on Word, and the formatting is important to you, then buy and use Word. If you simply wish to insert text, then OOo will probably be adequate, but the final formatting will need to be checked on the originating program, in this case, Word. Similarly for programs that originate on OpenOffice, mutatis mutandis.

People seem to regard OpenOffice as a free MS Office substitute. |This is wrong - it is its own stand alone suite, and using its own formats is often more powerful than MS Office. The fact that it can, with limitations, open some of the less complex documents that originate on MS Office is a bonus. If you don't think this is good ebnough, bite the bullet, put your hand in your pocket and buy MS Office.

[latege]

I wasn't complaining, just asking the question. It's not a question of 'putting my hand in my pocket' since I already have Word, but I would actually prefer to be using OpenOffice if possible. However, the reality is I've 12+ years of Word docs which I need to be able to carry on using and modifying, including the long and complex ones. Thanks for your understanding of those of us caught in the transition.

[Flaxthejute]

The other thing to bear in mind is that transition between different versions of MSWord can also be problematic. We have documents created in Word 2.0 for Windows that crash in versions of Word from Word 2000 upwards. It's not just a Word->OOo problem.

[RoryOF]

It's not a question of 'putting my hand in my pocket' since I already have Word, but I would actually prefer to be using OpenOffice if possible. However, the reality is I've 12+ years of Word docs which I need to be able to carry on using and modifying, including the long and complex ones. Thanks for your understanding of those of us caught in the transition.

The solution I have used is to work on a case by case basis; when an old document needs to be modified, insert it into a blank OOo document and reformat it, which one hopes is not too laborious. You might also try http://www.zamzar.com, who offer a free conversion service by email to/from many formats. You now have the original unchanged, but from this point on you work in OOo format. Rarely do I find need to actually modify old documents; usually my thinking has changed so much in the interim that the old document bcomes a platform for a new work.

[Hagar Delest]

Note that a key point in using OOo is its file format: ODF is a true ISO standard with the full specification available. So perhaps you'll spend some time to convert long and complex documents but once it's done, you know that you're not tied up anymore with MS Office. Moreover, the use of styles is more robust in OOo IMHO (especially for outline numbering), so it may spare you some time afterward when you have changes to make throughout the whole document.