Hi,

not an I.T. newbie but I have very rarely used word,

Here is the situation:

Tldr:

Is there a way the boss can set a MASTER document to apply across all locations that will just make sure the certificate is only one page when printed? Key aspect - this is already in place, the user fills in the blanks on several different spreadsheet pages, these pages all link to producing a certificate in excel, this produces 1 certificate. Each of the 70 users may need to produce 30 different certificates a week, from various locations.
< We would like to move the certificate aspect of this to word or as suggested by Guessed a PDF form >. The formulae are in place so the finished product is just fill in the blanks.

The problem: The certificate is on one page as an excel sheet but due to different locations, pc /printer setups the margins will change and push the sizes larger than 1 page. The data changes, are from multiple users typing into - This part is already in place.

1, register/name, on spreadsheet page 1. - to display name on certificate.
2, Level 1 - 4 - when this is entered it changes the boxes on the certificate to show content relevant content for that level from another spreadsheet, e.g. if i type level 1 , then level 1 expectations appear on certificate.. if I type level 2 - level 2 expectations will appear on certificate.
3. Grade A - D for the each level expectation taken from spreadsheet page 2.
4. A comment about the person.


The end product for the certificate - There are multiple (70+) users at multiple locations with systems ranging from office 97 - to the most recent and windows xp - windows 11 this leads to multiple printer setups / layouts across a shared network. The output has to ALWAYS print on one page without anyone fiddling with page setup.

Is there a way we can set a MASTER document TEMPLATE that can override printer / format settings to apply across all locations that will just make sure the certificate is only one page? . It is a shared network as we don't own the locations and are just given access to their network on our own logins.

All suggestions welcome I am not tied to using 1 product, if it can be stadardised across all locations from 1 master thats the main aim.

Can it be done with Word - Yes.
Will the solution work on all machines back to Word 97 - Maybe, if it is designed and tested well enough.
Would I do it in Word - Probably not, there are too many variables across 27 years of hardware/software to be confident in the output.

I don't think you've explained it very well as to whether every location prints the exact same page or whether the '25 boxes of info' changes for every location, customer, etc.

If the data changes, is that done by 70 individuals and printed only by that one individual or does one person produce the certificate and send that file to 70 people?

If the data changes, is that purely typing into 25 boxes or is there other data entry and formulas involved in populating the contents of those 25 boxes.

If the output has to ALWAYS print on one page without anyone fiddling with page setups then I would be exporting to PDF (acrobat) or maybe designing a PDF form that is standalone.

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

Just a note that, in Word jargon, "Master document" is a term referring to a problematic Word feature. You may want a template instead.

• Master Documents "Feature" in Microsoft Word
• Templates in Microsoft Word

You can bring in information in an Excel sheet to a Word document using Mail Merge.

• Mail merge using an Excel spreadsheet - Word

That may be what you are trying to do.