Just got Office Suites. Already fit to be tied. I have prepared a booklength
document in (the new) Word and thoroughly formatted it--margins, linespace,
various fonts, page size. It is to end up printed (by me, on my Lexmark) on
single-folded 8.5 x 11 sheets. Each page, then, will be 8.5 by 5.5.
Naturally, there will be a margin around the text, and running headers. Total
pages thus formatted, about 240.
To print books of any length, the pages must be grouped into what are called
"signatures"--basically mini-booklets with two pages on each side of the
sheet. But the pages on a given sheet, and fromt sheet to sheet, are not
consecutive, because they are to be folded in a "nested" form--the first side
of the first sheet may be pages 1 and 20, etc. This is all standard stuff.
When I copy my Word document into Publisher (20 pages worth, let's say), I
use a booklet-type template which I've carefully created. The problem is that
much of my original formatting is being overridden somehow. Some fonts come
through; other font changes are ignored. My indents are replaced by
no-indent. My font size changes from 12 pt to 10 pt. Paragraph formatting is
altered. Strangest thing: whereas the empty text box I've created (with the
"use for each new page" directive checked) has the precise dimensions needed,
the importing creates new text boxes right on top of it that are fully 11
inches long and too wide!
Nor does there seem to be a straightforward way to "tell" Publisher to
simply make the content of each text box replicate the content of the
corresponding page on my Word print-layout screen, and then move on to a new
text box on a new page. (Evidently print layout "pages" are just set up for
display; they aren't real pages that can be exported over to Publisher. And
there's no command that allows you to "select the displayed single page you
are now looking at" either.)
I'm amazed that Office has no straightforward way to handle this. This is
basic desktop publishing.
Having worked at this for several days now, purchased a book, gone to some
of the helper sites mentioned on this group, and even patronized Office's own
"help" file (which is generally useless)--I obviously need advice.