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June 2008	www.infomap.com	Vol. 16, No. 2

Hints & Tips: Gridlines Got You Gridlocked?

By Stu Rubinow, Instructor

When Formatting Solutions (FS) creates a new Block, it automatically creates non-printing gridlines to guide you in writing the Block label and Block text. All of the functionality of Word is available when you work with FS, and that applies to gridlines too. The gridlines function the same way a table does in Word. So, for example, if you are in the Block label gridline and want to move to the Block text gridline, just press Tab—the same way you move between cells in a Word table.

We frequently get questions about how to use gridlines effectively. Here are a few of the most common ones.

“I use Word 2003 and just installed FS, but when I create a new Block I can’t see the gridlines. Is something wrong with my software?”

No. The issue here is simply the way you have Word configured—you currently have gridlines turned off. Open the Word Table menu; you will see a toggle button, Show Gridlines/Hide Gridlines. Click Show Gridlines to display your gridlines (the button will now say Hide Gridlines).

“My label is ‘Troubleshooting,’ and FS puts the ‘g’ on a second line!”

FS wraps words in a gridline the same way Word does in table cells.
Occasionally, as in this case, your label will be affected. Here are a few possible solutions and their results.

Possible Solution	This works, but…
Drag the label gridline border to the right, just enough to capture the letter.	The Block will be a bit out of alignment with the others.
Drop the point size of the label from 11 to 10.	The labels will be slightly inconsistent in size.
Hyphenate the word in the label.	You may not like the way this looks.
From the FS Pro menu go to Set Preferences choose the Table tab, and change the label width from the default 1.2 inches to 1.25 inches.	All the label widths will be changed to capture your letter while retaining label/text alignment on the page. This takes some extra work but is probably the best solution. Note: You’ve now changed the Block label width globally, not just here but for any new documents you write, so you will probably want to change the label width back to the default width after you complete this document.

“I’ve just started using Word 2007. Where is my FS?”

Word 2007 is organized very differently from earlier versions. It uses a new kind of toolbar called a ribbon rather than traditional toolbars. The ribbon organizes various groups of functions and commands under tabs. You’ll find FS on the Add-Ins tab at the top of the screen. The FS Pro menu is on the left side of the ribbon.

“OK, that worked. But now I’ve put some text on my page and I can’t see the gridlines. Where are they?”

Here is another place where you need to turn the gridlines on. In Word 2007 the View Gridlines command is on the Table Tools tab, but that tab isn’t visible until you put your cursor inside a table. Use the steps below to turn on the gridlines.

Step	Action
1	Put the cursor inside the block where the gridline would be. Result: The Table Tools tab is visible at the top of the screen, with two tabs below it.
2	Click the Layout tab.
3	Click View Gridlines on the left side of the ribbon. Note: As in Word 2003, this is a toggle, but Word 2007 always says View Gridlines whether the gridlines are on or off.

If you have other questions about FS Pro

e-mail us at support@infomap.com, or
call Client Services at 1-800-INFOMAP ext. 3165.

Published by Information Mapping, Inc.
307 Waverley Oaks Road | Waltham, MA 02452 U.S.A.
Information Mapping® and Formatting Solutions® are registered trademarks of Information Mapping, Inc.
© Copyright June 2008. All rights reserved.

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