Fixed width text box in Word 2007

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Jamie

2011-10-15 03:10:56 UTC

I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.

Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.

THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the “Rental
Agreement”) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as “Landlord”) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as “Tenant”).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
“Premises”).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Suzanne S. Barnhill

2011-10-15 12:29:03 UTC

Permalink

What you ask doesn't make "since." The whole idea of using a word processor
is to allow text to reflow as needed to accommodate insertions and
deletions. In a lease agreement such as you describe, it makes much more
sense to create a document that is "tight," with no excess space, which is
reasonably done by inserting form text and closing up the unneeded space.

To make a form that can also be filled in by hand you can fill your form
field with underlines that will be overwritten by typed-in text. Another
approach to this that doesn't use form fields at all is to use MacroButton
NoMacro fields with the underlines as the Display Text. For more on these
fields, see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/UsingMacroButton.htm. In
neither case, however, can you have a field that extends beyond one line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

"Jamie" <***@gmail.com> wrote in message news:5dfc094c-e3bf-46e9-a38f-***@v38g2000yqf.googlegroups.com...
I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.

Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.

THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the “Rental
Agreement”) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as “Landlord”) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as “Tenant”).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
“Premises”).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Jamie

2011-10-15 15:49:57 UTC

Permalink

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
What you ask doesn't make "since." The whole idea of using a word processor
is to allow text to reflow as needed to accommodate insertions and
deletions. In a lease agreement such as you describe, it makes much more
sense to create a document that is "tight," with no excess space, which is
reasonably done by inserting form text and closing up the unneeded space.
To make a form that can also be filled in by hand you can fill your form
field with underlines that will be overwritten by typed-in text. Another
approach to this that doesn't use form fields at all is to use MacroButton
NoMacro fields with the underlines as the Display Text. For more on these
fields, seehttp://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/UsingMacroButton.htm. In
neither case, however, can you have a field that extends beyond one line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.
Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the Rental
Agreement ) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as Landlord ) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as Tenant ).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
Premises ).
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Thanks Suzanne. I wasn't aware macrobuttons could be used this way.
What I was trying to do is in this microsoft support article (http://
support.microsoft.com/kb/212080) , but I couldn't get it to work. If
you have suggestions, please respond.

Thank you,
Jamie

Suzanne S. Barnhill

2011-10-15 17:16:37 UTC

Permalink

None of those solutions is really applicable to your situation. They're more
designed for "forms" as we normally think of them: documents in more or less
tabular layout with small spaces for short answers and larger spaces for
longer answers. Think of something with "Name" in one table cell and a text
form field in the next table cell for entering the name, then another pair
for "Address," and so on. If you were willing to convert your lease
agreement to something that looked like that, then you could use a table (I
think frames and tabs would be less applicable), but that's clearly not
suitable for this type of document.

I've had a little experience creating contracts of this sort, and I find
that the MacroButton fields work very nicely. You can print out a new
document based on the template, and it will have the underlines, but if you
fill it out online, the typed entries replace the MacroButton fields.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Jamie

2011-10-15 22:38:21 UTC

Permalink

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
None of those solutions is really applicable to your situation. They're more
designed for "forms" as we normally think of them: documents in more or less
tabular layout with small spaces for short answers and larger spaces for
longer answers. Think of something with "Name" in one table cell and a text
form field in the next table cell for entering the name, then another pair
for "Address," and so on. If you were willing to convert your lease
agreement to something that looked like that, then you could use a table (I
think frames and tabs would be less applicable), but that's clearly not
suitable for this type of document.
I've had a little experience creating contracts of this sort, and I find
that the MacroButton fields work very nicely. You can print out a new
document based on the template, and it will have the underlines, but if you
fill it out online, the typed entries replace the MacroButton fields.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org

Thank you Suzanne.

I suppose a lease application would not work well in a table, because
the info isn't really in columns.

Here's an example

APPLICAINT’S FULL NAME: ____________________________________________
DATE OF BIRTH: _______________ SOCIAL SECURITY #:
_____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________
PRESENT ADDRESS: ___________________________CITY:
_____________________
HOW LONG: ________ PHONE#: ____________________ LIC#__________________
PRESENT LANDLORD: ___________________________ PHONE#_________________
CURRENT RENT $__________ REASON FOR MOVE ___________________________

Suzanne S. Barnhill

2011-10-16 00:49:39 UTC

Permalink

Actually, that part you could do in a table. You just line it up as much as
possible and then split cells and drag cell boundaries as required to get
things in the right place. That's the sort of thing I *would* use a table
for, because you do want to preserve the neat appearance of the form.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Jamie

2011-10-16 04:57:15 UTC

Permalink

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
Actually, that part you could do in a table. You just line it up as much as
possible and then split cells and drag cell boundaries as required to get
things in the right place. That's the sort of thing I *would* use a table
for, because you do want to preserve the neat appearance of the form.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org

Thank you Suzanne.
I suppose a lease application would not work well in a table, because
the info isn't really in columns.
Here's an example
APPLICAINT’S FULL NAME: ____________________________________________
_____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________
_____________________
HOW LONG: ________ PHONE#: ____________________ LIC#__________________
PRESENT LANDLORD: ___________________________ PHONE#_________________
CURRENT RENT $__________ REASON FOR MOVE ___________________________

Thanks for the great help.
So in the example, "HOW LONG:" would be in a cell. The blank would be
a cell. "Phone#:" would be in a cell. Then I manually hide all the
lines of the table except the bottoms that are used as blanks. Is that
correct? Is this the best way?

Thanks,
Jamie

Suzanne S. Barnhill

2011-10-16 12:12:03 UTC

Permalink

It's not a question of "hiding" borders but of removing them. If your
default table style is Table Grid (which is the Word default, but you can
change it to Table Normal, which has no borders), then you can remove all
borders easily by pressing Alt+Ctrl+U. Then add the borders back selectively
to the cells where you want "blank lines."

If you're using Word 2003 or earlier, there will probably be a Borders
button on your Formatting toolbar (if not you can easily add it). Click the
arrow beside that button to open the Borders palette and use the button for
Bottom Border. The button will then change to Bottom Border for the duration
of the Word session (or until you choose a different border from the
palette). There is also a Tables and Borders toolbar (floating by default)
that you can display: it gives you further options of weight, style, color,
etc., without having to open the Borders and Shading dialog.

In Word 2007 or 2010, there's a button on the Home tab (bottom right in the
Paragraph group) that reflects the last border used. I think it is Bottom
Border by default, but in any case, once you've clicked the arrow to open
the menu and used the Bottom Border button, it will retain that function for
the duration of the Word session or until you choose a different one from
the menu.

Note that any Borders button will give you the weight, style, and color of
border you most recently applied. By default this is a black, single,
½ -point line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
What you ask doesn't make "since." The whole idea of using a word processor
is to allow text to reflow as needed to accommodate insertions and
deletions. In a lease agreement such as you describe, it makes much more
sense to create a document that is "tight," with no excess space,
which
is
reasonably done by inserting form text and closing up the unneeded space.
To make a form that can also be filled in by hand you can fill your form
field with underlines that will be overwritten by typed-in text. Another
approach to this that doesn't use form fields at all is to use MacroButton
NoMacro fields with the underlines as the Display Text. For more on these
fields, seehttp://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/UsingMacroButton.htm. In
neither case, however, can you have a field that extends beyond one line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.
Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the Rental
Agreement ) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as Landlord ) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as Tenant ).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
Premises ).
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Thank you Suzanne.
I suppose a lease application would not work well in a table, because
the info isn't really in columns.
Here's an example
APPLICAINT’S FULL NAME: ____________________________________________
_____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________
_____________________
HOW LONG: ________ PHONE#: ____________________ LIC#__________________
PRESENT LANDLORD: ___________________________ PHONE#_________________
CURRENT RENT $__________ REASON FOR MOVE ___________________________

Jamie

2011-10-17 13:56:17 UTC

Permalink

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
It's not a question of "hiding" borders but of removing them. If your
default table style is Table Grid (which is the Word default, but you can
change it to Table Normal, which has no borders), then you can remove all
borders easily by pressing Alt+Ctrl+U. Then add the borders back selectively
to the cells where you want "blank lines."
If you're using Word 2003 or earlier, there will probably be a Borders
button on your Formatting toolbar (if not you can easily add it). Click the
arrow beside that button to open the Borders palette and use the button for
Bottom Border. The button will then change to Bottom Border for the duration
of the Word session (or until you choose a different border from the
palette). There is also a Tables and Borders toolbar (floating by default)
that you can display: it gives you further options of weight, style, color,
etc., without having to open the Borders and Shading dialog.
In Word 2007 or 2010, there's a button on the Home tab (bottom right in the
Paragraph group) that reflects the last border used. I think it is Bottom
Border by default, but in any case, once you've clicked the arrow to open
the menu and used the Bottom Border button, it will retain that function for
the duration of the Word session or until you choose a different one from
the menu.
Note that any Borders button will give you the weight, style, and color of
border you most recently applied. By default this is a black, single,
½ -point line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
What you ask doesn't make "since." The whole idea of using a word processor
is to allow text to reflow as needed to accommodate insertions and
deletions. In a lease agreement such as you describe, it makes much more
sense to create a document that is "tight," with no excess space,
which
is
reasonably done by inserting form text and closing up the unneeded space.
To make a form that can also be filled in by hand you can fill your form
field with underlines that will be overwritten by typed-in text. Another
approach to this that doesn't use form fields at all is to use MacroButton
NoMacro fields with the underlines as the Display Text. For more on these
fields, seehttp://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/UsingMacroButton.htm. In
neither case, however, can you have a field that extends beyond one line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.
Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the Rental
Agreement ) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as Landlord ) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as Tenant ).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
Premises ).
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Thank you Suzanne.
I suppose a lease application would not work well in a table, because
the info isn't really in columns.
Here's an example
APPLICAINT’S FULL NAME: ____________________________________________
_____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________
_____________________
HOW LONG: ________ PHONE#: ____________________ LIC#__________________
PRESENT LANDLORD: ___________________________ PHONE#_________________
CURRENT RENT $__________ REASON FOR MOVE ___________________________

OK. Thanks again for your help.

Jamie

2011-10-17 13:56:26 UTC

Permalink

Post by Suzanne S. Barnhill
What you ask doesn't make "since." The whole idea of using a word processor
is to allow text to reflow as needed to accommodate insertions and
deletions. In a lease agreement such as you describe, it makes much more
sense to create a document that is "tight," with no excess space,
which
is
reasonably done by inserting form text and closing up the unneeded space.
To make a form that can also be filled in by hand you can fill your form
field with underlines that will be overwritten by typed-in text. Another
approach to this that doesn't use form fields at all is to use MacroButton
NoMacro fields with the underlines as the Display Text. For more on these
fields, seehttp://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/UsingMacroButton.htm. In
neither case, however, can you have a field that extends beyond one line.
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USAhttp://word.mvps.org
I would like to create a fill-able form with fixed width text boxes.
I've done a lot of reading and many people suggest using a table.
Inserting 1 cell tables doesn't seem to make since inside of a
paragraph. Besides it seems hard to control exactly where they are
positioned.
Here is an example of a form. I would like the "blanks" to stay the
same size and the text next to them not move. This will allow the form
to be filled out on a computer or printed and filled out by hand.
THIS LEASE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the Rental
Agreement ) made and entered into this ________ day of
__________________, 2011, by and between ___________________
(hereinafter referred to as Landlord ) and
_________________________________________________________________________
(hereinafter referred to as Tenant ).
RECITALS
A. Landlord is the owner or Agent of owner of certain real
property
being, lying and situated in ______________ County, ____________, such
real property having a street address of
____________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the
Premises ).
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Thank you Suzanne.
I suppose a lease application would not work well in a table, because
the info isn't really in columns.
Here's an example
APPLICAINT’S FULL NAME: ____________________________________________
_____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________
_____________________
HOW LONG: ________ PHONE#: ____________________ LIC#__________________
PRESENT LANDLORD: ___________________________ PHONE#_________________
CURRENT RENT $__________ REASON FOR MOVE ___________________________

OK. Thanks again for your help.