Cannot evenly distribute columns

[fashionroadkill]

I'm creating a document in Word 2007 with one cell across the page with
criteria, and the next row is 5 columns with the scoring and check boxes.
Each column has a box and a number. It repeats with the 1 column/5 column
configuration for a few pages. But when I try and evenly distribute ONE row,
it changes all of them, and they aren't even. When I copied and pasted into
Excel, it shows that the first 3 columns are 2 cells merged (one row), and
the next is one cell, with the last cell being 2 merged (one row).

I have tried starting over with a new document, I've tried a few different
computers, I've tried copying & pasting, I've tried creating new rows, and
I'm getting the same results so I'm starting to think it's operator error. Am
I doing something wrong??

 

[grammatim]

Sounds like you're talking about tables.

One way to get around the many problems caused by merging cells is to
do all your formatting and resizing before you merge _any_ cells (just
let the cross-table content take up as many rows as it wants in the
first column), and after the whole thing is done, then do all your
merging.

(You can use Ctrl-Y to repeat the Merge command so you don't have to
mouse up to the ribbon or toolbar for every row.)

 

[fashionroadkill]

But that is the problem. I'm not merging, I'm splitting.

 

[grammatim]

So why are you splitting? It sounds like you have a 5-column table,
and every so often you need a row to span all 5 columns. The perfect
setup for merging when you need the all-the-way-across row.

 

[fashionroadkill]

I started with one column that spread across the page, since there are less
rows that need to be split than there are that need to be large. So I'm
splitting the ones I need.

 

[fashionroadkill]

Apparently it ONLY does it when there is text in the cell. I can create the 5
columns, get each and every one perfectly even, but as soon as I start
entering text, it then changes them.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

First of all, disable auto resizing (Table Properties | Table | Options).
This should probably take care of the problem at the outset, but if you need
to redistribute the columns at some point, just split them off from the
table (right-click in the five-column row and choose Split Table, then
repeat in the row below it). Distribute the columns, then delete the
intervening paragraphs to rejoin the table.

 

[fashionroadkill]

Thank you so much! The first suggestion worked, and now I can continue on.
Thanks!!