Default to View > zoom... > page width in Word X?

[cyb...@officeformac.com]

I have an old copy of Word X, which I use primarily to open documents that other people send me. In other words, it is rare that I actually begin a document of my own in Word.

A longstanding annoyance of mine is that 99% of the time when I open someone else's document, I end up toggling the view setting to view > zoom > page width so I can actually read it comfortably.

Is there a way in Word X to make this happen by default?

Please reply in simple one syllable words ;) since although I am computer literate (I am a web/software developer) I almost *never* actually use Word to do anything so I don't really know my way around very well.

I guess I could set up a QuickKeys type macro or something... Automator?

[Daiya Mitchell]

Yes, there is!

Option 1:
Go into Tools | Customize and add the ViewZoomPageWidth setting to the
toolbar, or give it a keyboard shortcut. You'll still have to reset
every document, but it will be quicker and less annoying to do so.

Option 2:
Set up a macro that runs on every document that is opened to change the
zoom. This takes more setup, and a little learning about macros and very
minor messing with code, but will then operate without your
intervention. (Could be transferred to Word 2004, but not to Word 2008)

If you want Option 2, you'll need help, just holler--Option 1 will
probably make sense if you mess with it.

[dng...@gmail.com]

Hi Dalya,

About Option 2. Would you post something that describes how to set a
global macro to always open a Word file at a particular zoom. My
normal template sets the zoom for new files that I create, but the
files I get from others are always at the wrong zoom.

How to set such a macro would be very useful for many of us.

thanks,

Dave

[Daiya Mitchell]

Hi Dave,

Macros will only work in Word 2004 and earlier, not in Word 2008.

In Word 2004/earlier, a macro named AutoOpen will run on almost all
opened documents and can set pretty much anything you want--zoom, view,
size, table gridlines, etc.

There is a *very* long discussion here that shows some samples and works
through some issues. If that's too hard to follow (and I can barely
follow it, and I'm *in* it), I'm rushing off, but will check back in a
couple of days to give real help, unless someone else does in the meantime.
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.mac.office.word/browse_thread/thread/3bb941ad7fefe841/899a45488adf2408

will check back,
Daiya

[Unknown]

How would you set the default view and zoom in Word or Excel 2008?

[Daiya Mitchell]

wrote:

> How would you set the default view and zoom in Word or Excel 2008?

No clue about Excel--try asking in the Excel group. For Word:

Use File | Open to open your Normal template at
[username]/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User
Templates/Normal.dotm. Make sure to use File | Open from within Word.

Set the desired size (and view? and zoom?) you want documents to be.
Type a space and then delete it--the point of this is to make sure Word
thinks there is a change that needs to be saved, without actually
leaving text in Normal.

Save and close. All new documents created henceforth should use those
view settings.

(this will NOT affect documents that other people send you--those need
to be changed one-by-one, as they carry the settings from their
creator--you can use a script to speed up the one-by-one process).

[Guest]

> (this will NOT affect documents that other people send you--those need
> to be changed one-by-one, as they carry the settings from their
> creator--you can use a script to speed up the one-by-one process).

Could you show me how to use a script to speed up this process? I've never used scripts before (just switched from PC to Mac).

[Daiya Mitchell]

Why yes, I can! I assume you are using Word 2008, right? The
instructions for Word 2004 are very different.

It's a little bit complicated, because you have to write your own script
to match your preferences, so you'll have to learn a *leetle* bit about
scripting. But there is a tutorial with sample scripts and instructions
on customizing them here:
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/scripts/WindowSize.html

Read the page carefully, consulting the sample script--if you have
problems or questions with it, post back and be sure to mention at which
step you ran into difficulty and what happened instead. The page
explains setting Size, Position, and Zoom, and View, but you should be
able to skip any of those you don't care about.

Thank you for asking, I worked hard on that article. :) I was teaching
myself by writing it, but it's nice to have it used. Suggestions for
improvement welcome. And welcome to the Mac!

Daiya