document format is different on different computers

Wobitancrawfodi · 17 Oct 2021

I have a 148 manual I have written with Word 2016 for someone.
When he opens it on his office 2010 it is 178 pages and the formatting is all over the place.
When he opens it on his wife's office 2016 word is 163 pages and the formatting is all over the place.

How do I keep the formatting the same for all PCs, without having to save it as a PDF file (I don't even know if that would keep its formatting tbh)?

Berton · 17 Oct 2021

My latest Office is 2013 but have you checked File, Print and chosen Microsoft Print to PDF? I've been using that lately in place of saving a Web page as an HTML file. This is such an example of this page in Firefox:

document format is different on different computers-image.png

One other thing, how large is the file? Some ISPs/E-Mail service have limits for attachments. Another thing would be try the .rtf/Rich Text Format most word processors have.

Wobitancrawfodi · 17 Oct 2021

The limit on email from all of the providers I have experienced is 50mb.
The document is 15mb. No problems sending email.

I want to keep it in word format so he can make modifications and send it back to me if he needs to.

Sorry, I'm not following your references to web pages. I am not capturing or sending web pages. This is plain old word doc with a few embedded images.

I tried fiddling with compatibility settings but office 2010 doesn't recognize office 2016. It works the other way around, which you'd expect.

Berton · 17 Oct 2021

Just trying, obviously without success, to point out there's ways to diagnose issues with software, always more that 2 ways to accomplish the same task.

Wobitancrawfodi · 18 Oct 2021

Berton said:

Just trying, obviously without success, to point out there's ways to diagnose issues with software, always more that 2 ways to accomplish the same task.

Ok, well I appreciate the help.

Ok, I re-read your post a couple of time. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I'm simply trying to supply someone with a word doc that we can both contribute to that looks the same to both people.

wiganken · 18 Oct 2021

Try embedding the fonts in the document. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...8-86670f222dbc

Also see How to Embed Fonts in a Microsoft Word Document

Wobitancrawfodi · 18 Oct 2021

wiganken said:

Try embedding the fonts in the document. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...8-86670f222dbc

That added about 4mb to the file size. I'll see what happens after the other person checks the file.

mngerhold · 18 Oct 2021

If you are viewing it in Print layout, then the view will (I think) depend on the currently-chosen printer (paper size etc), and if that is not available on the other PC, then it may switch to that PC's default printer, which may have different settings. Just tried on 2 PCs here, but they both know about the same printer, so I couldn't prove anything.

Wobitancrawfodi · 18 Oct 2021

mngerhold said:

If you are viewing it in Print layout, then the view will (I think) depend on the currently-chosen printer (paper size etc), and if that is not available on the other PC, then it may switch to that PC's default printer, which may have different settings. Just tried on 2 PCs here, but they both know about the same printer, so I couldn't prove anything.

Ahhh... Good point. We always look at things in print view. He has an Epson XP 620 and I have a Canon MX870. Both are set to A4 .

But your reply made me think of something else... "Layout". I assume the layout (margins, headers, footers etc), are stored in the document so if I have set specific margins to the document, that should still be applicable when he opens the file?

mngerhold · 18 Oct 2021

My tests suggest the margins etc are held within the document - but if the paper size for the printer on PC #2 is unable to fit them in, I don't know what would happen. Ideally you would install the same printer driver at the receiving end and see what happens. It may have no effect!