Summary: Microsoft Word documents display differently on different systems because of differences between the systems. Getting Microsoft Word documents to display identically typically means processing them into something else.
I have a document which was created in Word XP and is 226 pages. When I send it to a client who is using Word 2003, it looks totally different and is over 330 pages. How can I send the client the document without it changing? Also, they wanted a pdf version, which looks nothing like the word document. How can I get the word document to look like the pdf?
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Well, to be honest, you're trying to do something that Word documents aren't really intended to do. As counter-intuitive as it sounds Word isn't really about making the document look exactly the same everywhere.
But your client is on the right track, actually, since that's what PDF files attempt to do.
In a nutshell: it's all about the system, and the printer.
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The most common reason documents look different on one machine as compared to another is the printer.
When Word displays a document in "Print Layout" form, it actually uses the characteristics of the currently selected printer to determine what the layout should look like. Obvious items such as default margins, paper size, and other charaterstics of printers in general can have a document appear quite differently when viewed, or printed, on one system versus another.
In fact, if you have more than one printer on your system, you can watch this happen. While the document is up in Word, hit File, Print and then select another printer. When you do this the Cancel button will change to Close. Select Close, to close the document without printing it, and the document you're viewing will be redisplayed, taking the characteristics of the new printer into account. Depending on the differences between your printers, the change can be subtle, or quite dramatic.
Another possible difference is the use of fonts which are not common to all systems. If you create a document using one font, and then view that document on another system where that font is not installed, Word will attempt to substitute something "close" to the font you wanted. Unfortunately, "close" is fairly vague, and can often be startlingly different from the original.
PDF files are one approach at solving this problem. PDF, which stands for "Portable Document Format", is a document format that attempts to be rendered exactly the same everywhere, no matter what your system or printer characteristics.
Most commonly, PDF creation software acts like a printer - but in a sense it's a printer that's the same everywhere. You create your portable document by printer to a PDF virtual printer. The result, a PDF file, can then be viewed anywhere with a PDF reader, and should look, and even print to a real printer, exactly the same as your original PDF.
There are several options to creating PDF files. Adobe Acrobat is the most recognized tool, and actually defines the PDF standard. Another, cheaper alternative is the free and open-source PDFCreator.
So my bottom line recommendation is simply to create a PDF, authoring your document so that the PDF comes out the way you want it to, and then share that with your client. If you need to share editable Word documents, then simply realize that they will not display, or print, exactly the same everywhere.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - How do I convert a Word document into a PDF file?
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Ask Leo! - How do I download and read an ebook?
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Ask Leo! - How do I turn off automatic formatting in Microsoft Word?
Article C2750 - August 9, 2006
This issue is bigger than Ben Hur and yet so few people know about it. As Leo has stated, printer and fonts can change the look when the document is opened on another computer. Problems due to printer characteristics are fairly easily fixed by setting the page setup on the target computer to be the same as that on the source computer. Fonts... well just stick to the common fonts on the source computer for maximal compatibility.
Other sources of major problems on target computers are 'styles', or lack of them, and 'lists'. It's beyond the scope of this brief comment here to explain why but they are the source of many problems. It's more noticeable in large documents because page numbers in cross references and table of contents are obviously wrong. On closer inspection you'll start to notice that lists are not always correct, more noticeable with numbered lists, and that some styles are no longer correct.
Word is not designed for handling large document collaboration, which includes sending clients reports. As Leo has suggested, create the PDF of your report and send that your client. If they want changes, have them communicate them back and you make the necessary changes and then PDF the revised report again. It's the only way that you can be absolutely certain that your client sees what you intended.
Posted by: Greg Webb at August 13, 2006 6:00 AMHi, I would like to know how to change the font inside the comments locally. If I use the Format, Style and Formatting, this will change all the comments globally. I need to change the font just for one of the comments. Thanks for your advice.
Posted by: Mioko at August 18, 2006 2:08 AMMioko
My sister's printer prints out everything but her website address on her works cited pages of her references. When she send it to me it comes out fine but won't print out for her. She has MS Word and uses a HP PC Please help
Posted by: JeNay at November 5, 2006 5:54 PMThank you
J
I have two computers a laptop and a desktop. They both have Win XP and Office 2003 and were working fine. But recetly I bought a bigger HD to my desktop and reinstalled everything. Now the documents I write in my laptop look different in my desktop! Its driving me nuts as it was not happening before.
Same configuration of the paper layout, same printer, same style and type of word, same programs, etc. But the lay out is different! any clue?
Posted by: Jane F at May 28, 2007 8:02 AMi have a similar but bigger problem... the thing is that i installed the same font on 2 different machines (both with same os and software) the font is gill sans condensed, but it looks different on each one... the machines have exactly the same stuff and configuration... i even checked the screen dpi, the font smothness, etc but had no luck, anyone had this problem before? they look way too different, as if it was another font, but if i open a flash document, it would warn you if the font wasn't installed, but it doesn't (so this means that the font is installed) it just displays different... any clue?
Posted by: question at June 12, 2007 11:59 AMI have found that even the same letter fonts within word vary from installation to installation. If you want to establish a estandar in portable documents definetely use PDF but if you MUST MUST be able to see a word document exactly as it is seen in another computer (because you have put a lot of work already fixing it and its too long) what you can do is in the original computer where the the documents looks right, go to c:/windows/fonts then copy all fonts and paste them to a pendrive. then go to the computer where the document is not been seen right and install all fonts anew. It will say that some fonts are already installed, its ok if you do not install them and install everything else. This way you ensure that every font used in the original computer is also in the other one and no sustitue is being used. Good luck!
Posted by: pedro at August 11, 2008 5:31 PMPS: I have tried this several times and is the only solution I have found for this problem so far.
My problem is similar but it happens when the same printer is used and different pcs. We have several word docs that are the direction inserts for the products we make. They were all created with Word XP and all are formatted to fit to 2 pages. We got 2 new Dell Optiplex pcs last year. No problem. We got 2 new Dell Vostro pcs in April. No problem. We upgraded to Word 2003 in June. There is no problem with the new pcs but on the old pcs, the direction inserts spread to more than 2 pages, a lot more. The pcs are networked and they are all accessing the same files. They all run Windows XP home edition. When you print the insert from the old pc it is evident that the font looks a little bigger. Of course we could change the formatting but then, when printed from the new pcs the text would be too small. It’s the same story whether we print to local printer or network printer.
Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by: Lee Anderson at August 26, 2008 11:19 AMThe problem we are having is that 2 computers in our house are viewing special characters differently. For my job we use the plus minus sign a lot. One one computer it works fine, the other computer it appears like an upside down A. They both have word 2003, they both have windows XP and they both use the same printer. So, what is causing this and is there a way to rectify the problem?
Posted by: Karen at December 30, 2008 4:11 PMI am just in the process of having a website designed and when I view the website on my desktop it looks fine. Everything is aligned, pictures and tables where they are suppose to be, but when I look at it on my office computer or home laptop, it looks a mess with the tables all distorted and pictures smaller and overlapping. The programmer is telling me there is nothing she can do about that....this seems strange considering I see everyone elses websites and they look consistent. I'm thinking she doesn't have the experience to do the website. I sent her a 22 page PowerPoint presentation to use for the web design layout, but I'm not sure of what software she is using to to convert the Powerpoint file to a website. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm really concerned about how unprofessional the site is going to look,
Posted by: Rhonda at May 8, 2009 11:06 AMI have installed MS 2007 home/studen on 2 computers in my home; a desktop and a laptop. The programs do not even have all the same fonts. The laptop has some fonts that the desktop doesn't have and visa versa. Both systems are running Vista and both were installed with the same disk. I have also seen many occasions where the document comes through totally different.
Posted by: Cynthia Steele at June 6, 2009 8:33 AMMy daughter often does her homework of the laptop the send me the things she needs printed. We almost always have to revise to document before printing, due to changes in layout and fonts. It is very frustrating.