Styles being modified on generate

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We have recently migrated from MSO 2003 to 2010. From our database we generate client recognition documents via templates that are setup with bookmarks for inserting appropriate information. The templates were set up using, originally, MSO 97 but have operating properly using 2003. The generated documents are converted, prior to completion, into PDFs for security reasons.
Suddenly we have found that when the documents are generated and the PDF is viewed the line spacing in the document has been increased to 1.15 with a 10pt spacing after! Not really ideal!
On further investigation we have found that the Normal style has been modified to match the above spacing.

Does anyone have any idea why this shoud be happening? I have attached a before version of the template I was also hopinmg to attach qa version with the modified line spacing but for some reason my installation of Word stays stable.

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You need to set up your own styles.
In the absence of doing so, you need to change normal and the styles based on normal.
See http://legalofficeguru.com/934/fixing-word-2007-2010-line-spacing/. The problem with changing normal is that the change will show up in unexpected ways.

That this is happening tells me that the settings on the styles in your templates are set to update from the template upon opening. This in not a good setting. Automatically updating styles from a template or upon changes in formatting in a document tend to mess things up.

If you still have Word 2003 on a machine, go into your documents and templates and reset each style to not update from the template. Long term, again, create your own styles, not based on normal. Put these in your own templates and use them. http://addbalance.com/usersguide/templates.htm.

I would suggest a Body Text style and a base character style and then basing other styles on them. http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm.

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Thanks Charles you have given a lot to think about!

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The hard-coded defaults for W2003 is Times New Roman 12 single spaced an no paragraph spacing. Normal takes its settings from the defaults. Because you were happy with the line and paragraph spacing, the only thing you had to change were the font and font size (Arial 10.5).

The defaults for W2007/10 (not hard coded) are Calibri 12, 1.15 line spacing and 10 points after paragraph spacing. The first thought might be to fix the line and paragraph spacing in normal, and the second to apply the W2003 styles set (which would change the defaults to TNR 12, single line spacing, and no paragraph spacing).

But the best practice, particularly since you are using tables, is to change the defaults to whatever you want your regular text paragraphs (usually the normal style) to be. In your case Arial 10.5, single line spacing, and no paragraph spacing.

The defaults can be set in any document or template. Go to Styles pane > Manage Styles button > Set Defaults tab.

HTH,
Pam

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Pam

Thanks for that. I knew about the font but not the line and paragraph spacings!

The Normal that we use is not based on any other font and generally is fine it is only when our CRM package parses the the document for generation of the pdf that the change happens and only with some documents.

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Pam

Thanks for that. I knew about the font but not the line and paragraph spacings!

The Normal that we use is not based on any other font and generally is fine it is only when our CRM package parses the the document for generation of the pdf that the change happens and only with some documents.

An easy way to check is to open the CRM created file before it creates the pdf and look at the defaults. It might also be helpful to understand how the new document is created–from within Word or from Windows Explorer? from the template or from Normal.dotm with the template attached programmatically?

But I just noticed that you do not get these errors on your computer. That suggests that there is a difference in your computer that stops the problem. Have you changed the template or normal.dotm? If you can figure that out, you should be able to tell others what to do.

Pam

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Yes it is

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