Creating Documents for Use Outside of Microsoft Office Word 2007

1/3/2007

Contents

In this chapter from Microsoft Office Word 2007 Step by Step, you will first learn about saving documents in other file formats. You will then preview a document in Web Layout view, save the document as a Web page, and make adjustments necessary for optimum presentation on the Web. You will create a blog post, register an existing blog account, and then publish the blog post. Finally, you will save a document as an XML file and view its XML tags, and then attach a schema containing custom tags to it.

Chapter at a Glance

Sometimes you will create a document in Microsoft Office Word 2007 and then want to send it to someone who does not have Word 2007 installed on his or her computer. Word comes with several conversion utilities that you can use to save documents in other file formats so that you can distribute documents that your colleagues can read and use no matter what programs they work with.

One way of distributing the information in your documents is by converting them to Web pages so that people can read them on the Web. The Web has become a major part of our everyday lives. We use it to shop, check the news, find out how our favorite sports team is doing, and research topics. It’s also a great publishing tool if you are trying to reach a broad audience. For example, your organization might want to publish a Web newsletter to provide information while advertising its goods or services. Or you might want to use built-in Word tools to create and post articles to a blog (short for Web log) about a particular topic.

In addition to converting documents into Web pages, you can convert them into Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents. The XML format distinguishes different parts of a document, giving it a structure that enables you to identify and extract items of information. For example, if you write a training document including procedures whose numbered steps are uniquely identified with a Procedure style, and then convert the document to XML format, all the procedures can be extracted into a different file for a different purpose—perhaps as a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page for your organization’s Web site.

In this chapter, you will first learn about saving documents in other file formats. You will then preview a document in Web Layout view, save the document as a Web page, and make adjustments necessary for optimum presentation on the Web. You will create a blog post, register an existing blog account, and then publish the blog post. Finally, you will save a document as an XML file and view its XML tags, and then attach a schema containing custom tags to it.

Saving a File in a Different Format

When you save a Word document, the default file save format is the Microsoft Office Word 2007 DOCX format. If you want to be able to use the file with an earlier version of Word or with a different program, you can save it in a different file format.

To save a document in a different file format, display the Save As dialog box, and then change the Save As Type setting to the format you want to use. If you want to save a Word document in a format that can be opened by the widest variety of programs, use one of the following formats:

Rich Text Format (*.rtf). Save the document in this format if you want to preserve its formatting.
Text Only (*.txt). Save the document in this format if you want to preserve only its text.

If you want someone to be able to view a document but not change it, you can save the document as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. In recent years, PDF has become a common standard for distributing information. The text and graphics in a PDF file are essentially static, and because a PDF file breaks a document into discrete pages, it mimics the way information appears on a printed page. Unlike a printed document, however, a PDF file can be sent by e-mail to many recipients, or it can be made available on a Web page for download to anyone who wants it. Using a PDF file can also help guarantee the quality of your document when you print it because it sets exact page breaks, which ensures that the pages are printed as you intended them to be.

You can open and read PDF files by using a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available as a free download from the Adobe Web site as well as from many Web sites that distribute PDF files. You can create PDF files from Word documents by purchasing the full version of Adobe Acrobat.

Saving Files for Electronic Distribution

From the Microsoft Downloads Web site at www.microsoft.com/downloads/, you can install a free add-in that enables you to save Word documents in the more securely distributable Portable Document Format (PDF) and XML Paper Specifi cation (XPS) file formats. (XPS is the reasonably new Microsoft XML-based format for delivering documents as electronic representations of the way they look when printed.)

When saving a Word document as a PDF or XPS file, there are several ways in which you can optimize the document to suit your purposes. You can optimize the file size for your intended distribution method, or click Options to fine-tune the PDF output by selecting only certain pages of the document, including or excluding comments and tracked changes, creating electronic bookmarks, and so on.

To save a document as a PDF or XPS fifi le after installing the Save As PDF Or XPS add-in:

Click the Microsoft Office Button, point to Save As, and then click PDF or XPS.
In the Publish as PDF Or XPS dialog box, browse to the location where you want to save the fifi le (if necessary, click Browse Folders to display the Folders list). If you want to, enter a new name for the converted document in the File name box. (Changing the file name here does not change the name of the original Word document.)
In the Save as type list, choose PDF or XPS Document.
If you will be distributing the file online, select the Minimum size (publishing online).
If you want to make additional changes as discussed above, click Options, make the changes you want, and then click OK.
In the Publish as PDF or XPS dialog box, click Publish.

Using Add-Ins

Add-ins are utilities that add specialized functionality to a program (but aren’t full-fledged programs themselves). There are several sources of add-ins:

You can purchase add-ins from third-party vendors—for example, you can purchase an add-in that tracks the entire print history of a document.
You can download free add-ins from the Microsoft Web site or other Web sites.
When installing a third-party program, you might install an add-in to allow it to interface with a 2007 Microsoft Office system program. For example, you can install an add-in to capture screens from within an Office document.

To use some add-ins, you must first install them on your computer and then load them into your computer’s memory, as follows:

Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then in the lower-right corner, click Word Options.
In the page list in the left pane of the Word Options window, click Add-Ins.
At the bottom of the page, click the Manage arrow, and in the list, click the type of add-in you want to install. Then click Go.

A dialog box corresponding to the type of add-in you selected opens. For example, if you select COM Add-Ins, the COM Add-Ins dialog box opens; if you select Templates, the Templates And Add-Ins dialog box opens.
In the dialog box, click Add.
In the Add dialog box, navigate to the folder where the add-in you want to install is stored, and double-click its name.

The new add-in appears in the list of those that are available for use.
In the Checked items are currently loaded list, select the check box of the new add-in, and then click OK.

The add-in is now available for use in Word.

To unload an add-in, display the Add-Ins dialog box and clear the add-in’s check box to remove the add-in from memory but keep its name in the list. To remove the add-in from the list entirely, click the add-in name, and then click Remove.

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