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May I have little more help, please?
Great article. It really helped me out with a past project.
Now, I would like to create a document for my client that shows them the graphic, but doesn't print the graphic since we have previously printed letterhead available. Any ideas? I've been searching and reading articles, but haven't found a solution yet.
Thanks,
jmed
word letterhead
oh so brilliant, thanks i really appreciate your insite it was easy to follow and got me outa some deep doodoo this week,
ta mucho
ang
thanks!
Dozza, great info from someone who's "been there." Thanks!
AM
Great reference, but incomplete..... Here's the completion
I've had to do this numerous times for clients and hate having to do it as I hate Word and always have to remember how I did it. I now have a bookmarked reference, so thanks Anne-Marie for this.
I have to generate stationery exactly like 'Windward-DG' , where letterhead and continuation differ in their header graphic AND their top margin depth. From reading the comments and Anne-Maries, it appears that her article does not cater for this scenario. Unfortunately it doesn't explain how to adjust your doc to allow the second page header AND margin to be different.
Using sections (Method #1) removes the 'natural' way, after enough carriage returns, a different header is added to continuation pages in Anne-Maries article and my clients like this. What I think Anne-Marie needed to clarify for her 'Method #2' was the following.
SOLUTION: If you want different headers on first and continuation AND different Margins on First and continuation, follow the article to a T, then set the whole documents top margin (Format>Document>Margins>Top and Apply to Whole document) to the size of the SMALLER top margin, which is usually the continuation top margin as the first page has address details etc. You then add additional carriage returns to the First page header only, to 'push' down the live text area to your desired start point.
Out of interest, I find the AI export to .EMF is not accurate and does something akin to a 'roughen' filter on closer inspection. I tend to export (save for web using max setting for JPG with ICC embedded) the page graphics from PShop at 144ppi, then place in Word and scale to 50% so it is effectively double the screen res, but the correct physical size. This is ample for most clients in-house inkjet/ laser jet printers and generates a filesize that is not prohibitive to it being sent regularly via email
http://www.pylondesign.co.uk
RE File sizes
I have not run into this problem... but I'm wondering if Word's Fast Save could be at fault? With the file sizes that are already big, ask the user to choose Save As and name it the same/save it in the same location as the original, to overwrite it, and see if that's any smaller.
And then ask them to go to their Preferences, choose the Save panel, and disable Fast Saves if it's on, see if that makes any difference.
AM
Re: Ballooning file size?
I have also been experiencing this problem. Any solutions yet?
Thanks for the great article. I always cringe when I have to "design" something in Word.
Cruddy topic, Fabulous Information
Thanks Anne-Marie!!! I get this request a lot. I've never been able to make it work very well. Unfortunately I will now be able to satisfy those requests. I really, really hate Word...but not quite as much as I hate Publisher!
Ballooning file size?
I've developed a letterhead for a client and they've just reported to me that after editing some text and re-saving, it balloons from <1 mb to 21 mb!
Anyone else experienced this? They're using Word 2003, Windows; I'm on Mac Word 2008 and no ballooning on my end.
Thanks to AM!
The article helped me immensely, too. (twice in the last week since I read the article!) I've used it to help our Marketing folks create somewhat "branded" documents. (User/technical manuals.) The info about having 2 different page styles (first page different) was PRICELESS. THANKS!
a little more
Man I wish we could edit these comments ...
In my long comment below, in the 3rd paragraph, I meant to say "(speaking to Windward here, too)" ... the commenter who can't get my instructions to work.
Also, Windward, don't take my comments to mean that I don't believe you ... ;-) I do, I do. I just can't replicate them over here. No matter what I try, what checkboxes are enabled when I place the images (linked/not linked, e.g.), I cannot *shake* the 2nd header art. It's always there, even after I delete the 2nd page and add it back in again.
Just to confirm ... you're not using Sections, are you? The method I described has nothing to do with Sections. If a section break is on page 2, and you delete the page, then I'm guessing you might lose any header/footer that belonged to section 2.
I just used the Different First Header method. It's important to turn this on BEFORE you add art to the first header, btw. Otherwise, as soon as you turn it on you lose the art in the first header -- it empties out, and you have to redo it.
AM
re: Digital Letterhead - Troubleshoting
Jeremy, you can embed a different first page header in a one-page document. But as explained in the article, you have to add a 2nd page temporarily in order to *see* the 2nd page header, so you can add the artwork there. Then you can delete the text or run of carriage returns you entered to force the 2nd page. You're left with a 1-page document. You can close it, email it, turn it into a template, whatever. As soon as you open it again and add enough text to force a second page, the 2nd page header reappears.
At least, that's how it works with Word 2004 on the Mac, the version I used for the article.
I *think* we're confusing margins/sections with headers here (speaking to Jeremy here, too). And there is some overlap between the two, so it's common to get discombobulated trying to figure it out.
Side Margins: The only way to set different side margins on a per-page (or even per-paragraph) basis is to use Section breaks. When you choose Insert > Break > Section Break (any of them, including Continuous); and you click your cursor below the break, you can go to Format > Document and change the margins (top/bottom and left/right). Note that by default the "Apply to:" dropdown menu is set to "This Section."
Top/Bottom Margins: There are 2 ways to get different top/bottom margins on different pages. Method #1 is to use Section Breaks as above. Method #2 is to insert live text (even empty placeholder carriage returns) into the header or footer to increase their depth. If you insert 20 lines of text in a header, it grows dynamically to fit. When you get out of Header/Footer mode, you'll see the top margin of the live page area is directly below the header, wherever it ends.
Since you can't have a different header/footer every page (unless you use Section breaks -- each section can have its own header/footer, a topic for another article!), you can only use Method #2 if you just want page 1's top/bottom margin to be different from any additional pages in the document. Of course you needed to turn on "Different First Page" in the Header area of Format > Document.
Now ... in my article, I recommended people place artwork into the header and then via Format > Picture, set its X/Y position to an Absolute value. When you do that, it's like adding a layer (background or foreground) to the page, and it pays no attention at all to the live area in the header. In other words it won't force the header area down, so it doesn't affect the top margin.
The moral of the story: If you use my method to add header art, AND you have a different first header, AND you need the top margin of page 1 to be different than the top margin of additional pages, I recommend you cheat with placeholder carriage returns in the headers. Add as many as necessary to force live text down to where it should start on the page.
AM
re: Digital Letterhead - Troubleshooting
not sure about 2007, but in Word 2003 you can insert a section break (Insert > Break > Next page) and then in Page Setup you can change the margins for each section (make sure This section is your choice under Apply to:).
As far as I know, there's no way to create the second page with different header/footer from a one page document. You'll need to create a one page version and a two page version.
hope this helps...
Digital Letterhead - Troubleshooting - cont.
I forgot to add that I am working in Word 2007. The margins on page one are 2.2" at the top of page 1 and need to be 1" on continuation pages.
The file works great so long as I keep the same margins on both pages. The trouble equation starts when I change the top margin on page 2. Is it that I can't have a Word letterhead with different margins? The graphics work great until then.
Digital Letterhead - Troubleshooting
Can someone please help me? Great article on converting custom letterhead to Microsoft Word templates. I have repeated Hergeekness's steps in new Word files umpteen times and cannot remove the second page without losing the first page logo header and footer.
The file I have created has a logo header and graphic footer. The second page has a blank header (no logo) and a modified version of the original graphic footer. The file looks great and functions as a two pager. However, I do not want page two to be present until needed for a longer letter. When I try to delete this page, the first page header and footer delete, too.
What am I doing wrong?
I work in a corporate
I work in a corporate communications office and quite often I have to create MS templates for use by our various facilities. For example, last week I created posters in Word with a textbox so they could put in the specific details for their location (time and place of a meeting). I created the poster in InDesign (photo and text), exported to pdf (high quality print), opened the pdf in Photoshop (150 pixels/inch) and then saved as a png. Then I set the Word margins to 0, inserted the picture, and inserted a text box on top of it.
Another method would be Format > Background > Fill Effects > Picture, but you'd have to experiment to get it sized correctly before you insert it (no way to resize it in Word).
Anyway, great article, I enjoyed it. I'd also be interested in an article that explains what Microsoft office actually does to an image that's inserted. How does Insert Image compare to copy and paste? When you resize an image in Word, is it changing the resolution? etc. Same with powerpoint?
thanks!
thanks
thanks everyone. I'm interested in hearing how the technique I outlined works out for you (e.g., were the colors better than jpegs?). I know it works for my clients, but I'm just one lone designer.
Also, if anyone knows any secret setting to get art in the header/footer to show up at 100% in Page Layout/Preview mode, I'd love to hear it. I mean it's nice that it *prints* at 100%, but it would be nicer if the artwork previewed at 100% while people were actually opening and reading the Word docs on their computers. I scoured the Internet and Word .mvp sites for hours looking for a solution but couldn't find one.
AM
Great information
I often create Word letterhead templates, but up until now I've been placing high-resolution JPGs. It will be interesting to see how well the colors in PNG and EMF files match those of InDesign printouts. It's been a real problem for me, but somehow the end user doesn't seem to mind or even notice the discrepancies. Stoopid end users! Oh, did I type that or think it?
___________________________________
Laura Foley
http://www.lauramfoley.com
http://culinarymom.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Working alone is never easy, but having Creative Pro send me valuable tips every week really makes my life much easier!
Her Geekness? I'll say!
Thank you for this REAL WORLD article! I'm an in-house designer and embrace my Microsoft side daily. I loved the article and just when I thought I knew what I was doing - you helped immensely! (Especially appreciated the “Zaph Chancery” reference!) Keep these kinds of articles coming!
Love your podcasts too! I listen while I’m working and so far you’ve trimmed many, many minutes of bad habits out of my everyday tasks.
Excellent Info!
About every two years, I get a Word or PowerPoint layout request that keeps me chasing my tail for a couple of days. I always have to perform a cryptic mix of Export/Insert of various graphic formats then test on a PC to see how much I screwed it up. Of course, the hardest part is telling the client that "yes, it does looks crappy on screen now, but wait until you see how good it looks when you print it. Er, you do have a postscript printer, don't you?"
Now I'll just refer to your great article. Thank you!