Editorium Update

Microsoft Word, in a broad sense, has two kinds of section breaks (Insert > Break):

1. The kind that starts a new page (which includes “Next page,” “Even page,” and “Odd page).

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So I typeset the book in Microsoft Word, created a PDF using Ghostscript, and sent the PDF off to press. But the press didn’t like it. “You didn’t embed your fonts,” they said. Well, I sure *thought* I’d embedded the fonts. To check, I followed this procedure:

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I can’t leave the topic of typesetting without explaining some of the things I learned on the last book I typeset–in Microsoft Word. The book had more than 400 pages and several hundred footnotes, and Word would have handled it better if I’d been more particular about the following:

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In my last newsletter I wrote, “Next week, I hope to give you a macro that will let you process a ConTeXt file directly from Microsoft Word.” I’ve changed my mind. If you need such a macro, let me know and I’ll send it to you.

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“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” –Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Last week I promised to show you how to convert a Word document into LaTeX for the purpose of achieving excellent, automated typesetting. What’s LaTeX? In brief, here’s the story:

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You may have noticed that I haven’t sent out a newsletter for the past two weeks. What have I been doing? Researching. I’m still trying to work out some ways to do excellent, automated (for the most part) typesetting, starting with a Microsoft Word document. In particular, I’m interested in the following:

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I just finished typesetting another book in Microsoft Word. Even though I used my WordSetter program, I’m convinced there’s got to be an easier way. Why would I want to typeset a book in Word? Automatic footnotes, that’s why.

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Our previous newsletter included macros for condensing or expanding line spacing (leading) in selected paragraphs. If you’re trying to eliminate widows and orphans, however, it’s often better to condense or expand word spacing and leave leading alone. In Microsoft Word, you can easily condense or expand *character* spacing (Format > Font > Character Spacing > Spacing). But to adjust *word* spacing, you have to individually select spaces between words and then individually condense or expand them. Too much work! But a macro could do it for you.

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As last week’s newsletter mentioned, Microsoft Word has no way to justify lines vertically. (Vertical justification is also known as “feathering.”) It is possible to vertically justify space between paragraphs under File > Page Setup > Layout > Vertical Alignment, but that’s of little use in serious typography. Since vertical justification actually changes the specified leading between lines, it’s seldom “justified” (sorry, couldn’t resist) as a way to keep page bottoms even.

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