Text Box vs. Tab Stops

[Guest]

I have a document that has a lot of Text Boxes in places where a tab stop
would do. My question for you is which is easier for Word to deal with, a
Text box or a tab stop.

Thanks in advance.

Barb Reinhardt

 

[Jay Freedman]

I have a document that has a lot of Text Boxes in places where a tab
stop would do. My question for you is which is easier for Word to
deal with, a Text box or a tab stop.

Thanks in advance.

Barb Reinhardt

No question about it, a tab stop uses far fewer resources -- a text box is a
drawing object with a fairly heavy memory requirement, while a tab stop is a
property of a paragraph with only three properties of its own (position,
alignment, and leader type).

Besides that, it's easier to manage the locations of tab stops than of text
boxes, by dragging the markers on the ruler. It's easier to format the text
at a tab stop. It's easier to get to the next tab stop than to use the mouse
to move to the next text box.

If you don't need any of the other properties of a text box -- the ability
to float in the drawing layer, wrap text, have a background color, and so
on -- then it's a waste of Word's resources and your time.

 

[Guest]

That was my feeling, but thought I'd get input from someone more experienced
in the intricacies of Word. I inherited these documents, warts and all and
now I've got to support them. I'm converting the unnecessary Text Boxes to
tab stops whenever possible. I found one case where a text box was put over
some text to add a background color. Apparently the person who put it there
didn't know about the background and border feature for text.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To add to Jay's much more rational assessment, I'll just say that IMO text
boxes are an invention of the devil. I use them only when all else fails!

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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[Jay Freedman]

I always thought Beelzebub was employed somewhere in Redmond. Next time I'm
there I'll have to sniff for brimstone...