Cleaning up Dead Space in a Document

[Guest]

I am working with WORD 2000. I am vreating training documentation that has
several pictures. When the document got over 35 pages I decided to break it
up into three distinct documents. To do this I deleted the unwanted pages
from te original and did a save as. The problem is that the new document is
the same size (when viewed in Windows Explorer) as the original. Is there
some way to save the new document without it holding a "reservation" for the
deleted portion? If I copy and paste pages into a blank document then save
the size reduces dramatically. This is an option, but takes a long time
because I loose the Style formats in the transfer.

Thank you in advance for all of your assistance.

Tony

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Tony

35 pages isn't a big document for Word. It can happily cope with documents
thousands of pages long, so if the only reason you broke up your document is
because you thought it was getting too big, it may be worth re-considering.

In any case, go through this list from Suzanne Barnhill of reasons that
files may be larger than they should or could be:

There are a number of reasons for excessive file size, including:
1. Fast Saves: Disable this at on the Save tab of Tools | Options.

2. Preview Picture: Clear the check box on the Summary tab of File |
Properties.

3. Versions (File | Versions): Make sure "Automatically save version on
close" is not turned on.

4. Revisions (Tools | Track Changes):
Highlight Changes: Make sure "Highlight changes on screen" is turned on
(or that "Final Showing Markup" is displayed).
Accept/Reject Changes: If "Accept All" or "Reject All" is available then
revisions are present; accept or reject all changes, then turn Track Changes
off.

5. Embedded True Type fonts (Tools | Options | Save); embedding fonts should
be avoided wherever possible.

6. Embedded graphics: When feasible, it is preferable to link the graphics.
That is, when you insert the graphic, click the arrow beside Insert in the
Picture dialog and choose Link to File rather than Insert or Insert and
Link.

7. Embedded objects: These are even worse than ordinary graphics saved with
the document. If you see an { EMBED } code, the graphic is an OLE object.
Unless you need to be able to edit the object in place, unlink it using
Ctrl+Shift+F9.

8. File format: Make sure you are saving as a Word document; in some cases
..rtf (Rich Text Format) files are significantly larger than .doc files.

9. Document corruption: See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/­AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.



Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[Guest]

Shauna,

Thanks for the information. Now, how do I get the original document back
down to normal size. Actually, most of the solutions were all ready in
effect. The original doc is 355255KB. When I used the cut and paste method
it dropped to 115266KB. What can I do to undo what has been done with "bad"
settings.

Tony

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Tony

I assume you followed the instructions at
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/­AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm and copied and
pasted all but the last paragraph of your document into a new document. And
it's half the size of the old one. So I would keep the new, small one. And
put the old, big one away in a backup folder just in case.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word