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Author Topic: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)  (Read 5173 times)

Clive

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Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« on: November 16, 2016, 03:09 PM »
I have many tables (codeword puzzles) which I'd like to re-size to fill an A5 page (1/ page) . Currently the tables are too small and whilst I know how to re-size them one at a time that process becomes tedious and time consuming when you want to do many of them. Also, I'd like to increase the size of the numerals and make them bold. If this is'nt suitable for a snack any tips on how I could do this myself would be appreciated.
Thank you

Stoic Joker

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2016, 03:40 PM »
Ctrl+A then Ctrl+B to make all text bold.

Hold Ctrl+Shift and then tap the > key to increase the font size. If you go to far hit the < key to decrease the font size.

What impact this will have on table size - perhaps none - I've not a clue.

Clive

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2016, 04:48 PM »
Thank you SJ. I wasn't clear in my first post. I wanted everything (including font changes) to be automated so that I can batch convert any number of puzzles at once.

Target

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2016, 05:16 PM »
how many do you have, and can we assume you want to print them as hard copies?  Probably lots of ways to skin this cat, but if you supply a sample in word format people can have a game and work something out?

Clive

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2016, 05:39 PM »
OK - long story now  :) The original games are in java (jCodeword)and meant to be played on a device e.g. PC. My partner (Margaret) prefers to play on paper. The game outputs to PDF which I can convert to Word. They're too small to be used comfortably which is why I want to re-size (enlarge them) before printing to paper. As a housebound person Margaret will do 3 or 4 (min) of these a day to help while away her time. So, I'm talking big numbers over the course of a year. I've uploaded a copy to my Google Drive here for you to have a look at.

Thank you

Target

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2016, 07:07 PM »
you know how to use macro's in word?

Can you confirm if the attached is what you're after?

if so, there's a macro in the file to make the requisite changes, albeit one file at a time.  Have a game and if it does what you want, it can be tweaked to loop thru a directory

Clive

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2016, 04:59 AM »
Hello Target,
No, I don't know how to use macros in Word. I'm familiar with the concept in that I understand what a macro can do, but that's the extent of my knowledge. I'll have to do some study. Could you just explain how to trigger the macro perhaps? Just to get me started. The layout you've done could be a little bigger and I'd make the numerals size 9.

Thank you,
Clive

Target

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2016, 05:00 PM »
ok, some further questions then

when you say bigger, what do you actually mean?  In your OP you stated A5, so the page is sized accordingly and the table pushed out about as far as it can go (there are limits on margins that imposed by individual printers)

do you want the table at A5 size, or is there some other measure here?

also, it might be useful to know what version of word you're using.

There are several ways to approach the running a macro, simplest way is probably to press ALT-F11 to open the editor.  Put your cursor anywhere in the text and press F5.  Of course you probably wont see anything cos the tables already been processed, but we need to answer the layout questions before we worry too much about this part

Clive

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Re: Auto Re-size Tables (MS Word)
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2016, 05:51 PM »
Using Word 2010. In the example you attached to your previous post I was able to drag the borders of the table out further. When I was playing with a copy that I had created I set the margins to 5 mm which seemed to work OK on the printer I'm using. Essentially I'm attempting to get the to tables to fit on a piece of A5 paper and be as big as possible whilst still fitting on the page.
Perhaps, now that you have alerted me to the possibility of using macros, I could just have a go on my own. I'm sure that there are macro tutorials available. It may even be possible to create a macro for the whole process - from creating the PDF, converting to Word, reformatting, etc?