Labels--Is it Me?

[Joe McGuire]

Is there a way to get Word to actually match up exactly with the various
labels? It seems that every label I try in Envelopes & labels (Word 2003
but I had the same problem in earlier versions) gets progressively further
"off" the further down the label page I go. For 8.5 x 11 sheets with, say,
80 return address labels (20 rows of 0.5" labels), a text entry is well
positioned in the first row but runs off the label by the 20th! At the
moment I am using a small file label (Avery 5202)(7 file labels, page size
is 4 x 6), and I am even using an Avery template (there is no such label
size in Word). The problem is that the template gives the label size
(height) as 0.67 inches whereas the true size is more like 0.645. But Word
does not seem to let me set a label measurement to 3 decimal places. The
margin of error between 0.64 (a little too small) and 0.65 (a shade
oversize) is slight with only 7 rows and I can live with it. But the
difference gets magnified with a larger sheet and small labels. Am I doing
something wrong? Did I miss something in Word 101? I doubt that it is a
printer problem. I had this trouble with my old one and our various laser
printers in the office do exactly the same..

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Joe:

OK, I know the problem. Word will accept only two decimals and if you work
in "inches" that's a fairly big number

Try again specifying your measurement in "millimetres" or "points". You
will still get only two decimals, but this time, the measurements will be
accurate within a twentieth of a point.

For example: 0.645 inches is 46.44 points or 16.38 mm.

Cheers

Is there a way to get Word to actually match up exactly with the various
labels? It seems that every label I try in Envelopes & labels (Word 2003
but I had the same problem in earlier versions) gets progressively further
"off" the further down the label page I go. For 8.5 x 11 sheets with, say,
80 return address labels (20 rows of 0.5" labels), a text entry is well
positioned in the first row but runs off the label by the 20th! At the
moment I am using a small file label (Avery 5202)(7 file labels, page size
is 4 x 6), and I am even using an Avery template (there is no such label
size in Word). The problem is that the template gives the label size
(height) as 0.67 inches whereas the true size is more like 0.645. But Word
does not seem to let me set a label measurement to 3 decimal places. The
margin of error between 0.64 (a little too small) and 0.65 (a shade
oversize) is slight with only 7 rows and I can live with it. But the
difference gets magnified with a larger sheet and small labels. Am I doing
something wrong? Did I miss something in Word 101? I doubt that it is a
printer problem. I had this trouble with my old one and our various laser
printers in the office do exactly the same..

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Joe McGuire]

Aha! Thanks. I'll try it!

Hi Joe:

OK, I know the problem. Word will accept only two decimals and if you
work
in "inches" that's a fairly big number

Try again specifying your measurement in "millimetres" or "points". You
will still get only two decimals, but this time, the measurements will be
accurate within a twentieth of a point.

For example: 0.645 inches is 46.44 points or 16.38 mm.

Cheers




--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Joe McGuire]

Well, changing the unit of measure t point certainly works better but Word
still won't allow me to set the row height exactly as I want. For example,
it stubbornly insists that my row height will be 48.2 points, not 48. I can
set a very different number for the heck of it, but when it comes to these
labels, Word is not going to do it my way. The difference now between the
Word table and the actual label is quite slight, not enough to get too
worked up about. Yet it is nonsensical that I cannot set the row height
exactly as I wish, at least within two decimal places for inches and perhaps
one decimal place for points. Then again, it's Microsoft.

Of course, changing the units to points affects everything in Word so I may
have to switch back, especially if I have to set some tabs, indents, etc.

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Joe:

Switching your measurement back to inches won't change the values stored.
Internally, Word stores measurements in "twips", where a twip is a 20th of a
point, 1/1440th of an inch.

If you change the displayed measurements, the values won;t change unless you
make a change to them.

Of course, if you were DETERMINED to get it exact, this is what I would
do...

1) Create a text box that is exactly 0..645 inches high.

2) Create a square that is exactly as tall as the print image of your
paper.

3) Duplicate the box 12 times (if there are 12 labels per row)

4) Use the drawing tools (on the Drawing toolbar...). Look for the Align
and Distribute tools, and choose "Distribute". Word will arrange the 12
boxes an exactly even distance from each other

Now copy the label fields into the text boxes

Cheers

Well, changing the unit of measure t point certainly works better but Word
still won't allow me to set the row height exactly as I want. For example,
it stubbornly insists that my row height will be 48.2 points, not 48. I can
set a very different number for the heck of it, but when it comes to these
labels, Word is not going to do it my way. The difference now between the
Word table and the actual label is quite slight, not enough to get too
worked up about. Yet it is nonsensical that I cannot set the row height
exactly as I wish, at least within two decimal places for inches and perhaps
one decimal place for points. Then again, it's Microsoft.

Of course, changing the units to points affects everything in Word so I may
have to switch back, especially if I have to set some tabs, indents, etc.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks! Setting row height using points is, to borrow a phrase, close
enough for government work, although in this case it's more like the point
of diminishing returns. Microsoft does enough of the job that I start to
feel a little obsessive-compulsive about struggling to do the rest of the
job. Whatever Microsoft does not do must obviously not be worth
doing--otherwise the company would have done it already.