Microsoft Office Forums

Go Back   Microsoft Office Forums > >

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-07-2013, 11:10 AM
Dr Wu Dr Wu is offline Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Windows 7 32bit Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 35
Dr Wu is on a distinguished road
Default Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers

Using tab stops, the space between my level numbers and headings looks good for numbers 1-9, but is too small for numbers 10 and up. Or if it looks good for numbers 10 and up, it is too big for number 1 - 9. What's the easiest way to set up spacing that always looks good, regardless of how many digits are in the level number?. Here's an example of the problem, using headings that are heading style 2:

1.2 Price of coffee beans in Brazil
10.2Import statistics



In the above example the P in Price and I in Import are supposed to be lined up - I can't quite replicate the tab stops in this comment box.

So, in other words, how do I have Word insert the same amount of space between each number and heading? I see in the Modify Multilevel List dialog box that there is an option to choose Space rather than Tab stop, but I don't see where you can specify how much space to use. I don't like the default space, it's too small.

Thanks
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-07-2013, 11:26 PM
eNGiNe eNGiNe is offline Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Windows 7 32bit Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Office 2010 64bit
Expert
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brussels [BE]
Posts: 746
eNGiNe is on a distinguished road
Default

One option, though you may find it graphically shocking at first, could be to use a right tab instead of a left tab: then the space between the numbering and the text will stay the same.

Another is to stay with a left tab but deliberately use a wider gap. If all your body text is indented, for example, you can leave the numbering in the left margin (which makes it easy to scan) and align the text heading with the indented body text.

A third option, of course, is to consider whether you really need numbering at all! Cross-references (even if it does seem to take two xrefs in Word to get "See title on page") and clearly differentiated styles use the power of your word-processor to make structure visible and numbering redundant. They can also, I believe, be more user-friendly: consider content where 10.2 is one page away from 10.1, but four pages away from 10.3 … I've just checked the four reference books next to my PC, and none of them uses numbered headings.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-08-2013, 01:30 AM
OTPM OTPM is offline Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Windows 7 32bit Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Office 2010 32bit
Expert
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: West Midlands
Posts: 981
OTPM is on a distinguished road
Default

Hi
You need to increase the Hanging Indent you have set for each style so that all paragraphs still line up following the paragraph numbers. You can NEVER have the same spacing on all paragraphs because the number of characters increase when you go over 9. Right click inside your paragraph and choose "Paragraph". Then under "Special:" make sure it is set to Hanging Indent and set enough space as you wish to make sure their is sufficient space between the paragraph number and the paragraph text.
Good luck.
Tony
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-09-2013, 07:51 AM
Dr Wu Dr Wu is offline Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Windows 7 32bit Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 35
Dr Wu is on a distinguished road
Default

Thanks Engine. I prefer my current standard setup to how your first and second ideas would look. And I do want to stick with numbering. But thanks for the creative solutions!

Thanks OTPM. This is what I'm currently doing, but I'm looking for something better. It looks like you can set the same amount of space between numbers and headings no matter the size of the number, by choosing space rather than a tab stop in the Modify Multilevel list dialog box. But I find the amount of space Word uses is too small for my liking, and I'd like to control the size of that space if possible.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-09-2013, 08:29 AM
Dr Wu Dr Wu is offline Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Windows 7 32bit Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Office 2010 32bit
Advanced Beginner
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 35
Dr Wu is on a distinguished road
Default

I just tried inserting a space manually at the beginning of the heading text, for heading numbers 10 and up, and it works great. Should have thought of it sooner. I realize direct formatting is generally undesirable, but my document doesn't have many headings like this so it's not a lot of work and it looks great. But will this solution cause some other problem?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers How to add space between heading number and heading text Dr Wu Word 4 07-15-2018 03:52 AM
Separate heading numbers darksupernova Word 16 03-02-2013 06:09 AM
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers Styles: Heading 4 stuck at same heading number Hallet Word 1 05-31-2012 02:37 PM
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers How to control the space that follows the heading number "Chapter one"? Jamal NUMAN Word 5 08-13-2011 11:16 AM
Space between number and heading - how to make it consistent for larger numbers heading numbers driving me nuts mzimmers Word 2 12-29-2009 09:16 AM

Other Forums: Access Forums

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:04 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
MSOfficeForums.com is not affiliated with Microsoft