Creating columns - Word 2007 "Merlin12" <geneho[ at ]san.rr.com> 6/3/2007 10:54:29 PM I'm mostly proficient in WordPerfect, but trying to come up to speed in Word 2007 (some limited past experience with Word 2002-2003). I'm trying to create a document with 4 columns that will allow me to enter information in the first column, move to the second, third and fourth in order then back to column 1. In WordPerfect this is known as "parallel" columns as opposed to "newspaper" type columns. I can't seem to get this to work in Word and finally had to resort to using a 4-column table which operates much the same way but doesn't allow for spacing between cells that columns would. Also it requires formating if the borders are to be removed. Does Word have this feature in columns? While I don't use it often it is definitely occasional use and would be nice to have. Thanks for any wisdom on this subject.

Re: Creating columns - Word 2007 "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill[ at ]mvps.org> 6/3/2007 11:00:49 PM You've correctly figured out that a table is the way to do this in Word. You can add cell padding as needed. I don't know what the default is in Word 2007, but in early versions the default space between table columns is 0.15"; this can be adjusted with the "cell margins" setting in Table Properties. As a setting for the entire table, this is the way to go, but you can also add indents (left and right) to the paragraphs in the columns as needed. -- Suzanne S. Barnhill Microsoft MVP (Word) Words into Type Fairhope, Alabama USA Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. "Merlin12" <geneho[ at ]san.rr.com> wrote in message news:466346b7$0$8938$4c368faf[ at ]roadrunner.com... [Quoted Text] > I'm mostly proficient in WordPerfect, but trying to come up to speed in Word > 2007 (some limited past experience with Word 2002-2003). I'm trying to > create a document with 4 columns that will allow me to enter information in > the first column, move to the second, third and fourth in order then back to > column 1. In WordPerfect this is known as "parallel" columns as opposed to > "newspaper" type columns. > > I can't seem to get this to work in Word and finally had to resort to using > a 4-column table which operates much the same way but doesn't allow for > spacing between cells that columns would. Also it requires formating if the > borders are to be removed. > > Does Word have this feature in columns? While I don't use it often it is > definitely occasional use and would be nice to have. > > Thanks for any wisdom on this subject. >

Re: Creating columns - Word 2007 Jay Freedman <jay.freedman[ at ]verizon.net> 6/4/2007 12:44:09 AM The default inter-cell spacing is 0.15". It can be changed -- on the Table Layout ribbon, in the Alignment group, click the Cell Margins button and set the left and right cell margins (each of which gets half of the total space). Another little trick: You can instantly turn off table borders by clicking in the table and pressing Ctrl+Alt+U. However, there's a better way... In Word 2007, unlike previous versions, you can create a table style to hold all the formatting you want. (Word 2003 has table styles, but they're relatively limited.) After inserting or clicking in any table, go to the Table Tools > Design tab on the ribbon. Right-click any of the table styles and select New Style. In that dialog: - Enter a name for this style. - For the "Style based on", choose the one nearest to what you want, probably Table Normal. - Select "New documents based on this template" to store the definition in Normal.dotm (assuming that's the current template). - Click the Format button and choose Table Properties. - On the Cell tab of the properties dialog, click the Options button. Uncheck the "Same as whole table" box (this is misleading, but it's the only way to enable the needed settings), and then set the cell margins you want. Click OK in the Options dialog and the Table Properties dialog. - Again click the Format button and this time select Borders and Shading. Select "None" to turn off the borders and click OK. - Choose any other table formatting you want for your purposes. - Click OK in the New Style dialog. Your new style should appear as the first one in the table styles gallery. Right-click it and select Set as Default. When prompted, select "All documents based on this template". Now every table you insert will automatically have the formatting you put into the style. A last hint: while you're working in borderless tables, it helps to go to the Table Tools > Layout ribbon and click the View Gridlines button so you can see where the cell boundaries are. Click it again to turn them off. -- Regards, Jay Freedman Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so all may benefit. On Sun, 3 Jun 2007 18:00:49 -0500, "Suzanne S. Barnhill" <sbarnhill[ at ]mvps.org> wrote: [Quoted Text] >You've correctly figured out that a table is the way to do this in Word. You >can add cell padding as needed. I don't know what the default is in Word >2007, but in early versions the default space between table columns is >0.15"; this can be adjusted with the "cell margins" setting in Table >Properties. As a setting for the entire table, this is the way to go, but >you can also add indents (left and right) to the paragraphs in the columns >as needed. > >-- >Suzanne S. Barnhill >Microsoft MVP (Word) >Words into Type >Fairhope, Alabama USA >Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org >Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so >all may benefit. > >"Merlin12" <geneho[ at ]san.rr.com> wrote in message >news:466346b7$0$8938$4c368faf[ at ]roadrunner.com... >> I'm mostly proficient in WordPerfect, but trying to come up to speed in >Word >> 2007 (some limited past experience with Word 2002-2003). I'm trying to >> create a document with 4 columns that will allow me to enter information >in >> the first column, move to the second, third and fourth in order then back >to >> column 1. In WordPerfect this is known as "parallel" columns as opposed to >> "newspaper" type columns. >> >> I can't seem to get this to work in Word and finally had to resort to >using >> a 4-column table which operates much the same way but doesn't allow for >> spacing between cells that columns would. Also it requires formating if >the >> borders are to be removed. >> >> Does Word have this feature in columns? While I don't use it often it is >> definitely occasional use and would be nice to have. >> >> Thanks for any wisdom on this subject. >>