User Tools


Setting up MS Word for Reformatting E-Text

In this section you will learn how to set up MS Word. It is important to follow these steps for each book you reformat.

Step One: Set Document Properties

Before you start editing, set up your document properties. Add the title, author, and other information (below). This data will become the book's metadata and is used by assistive technology.

  1. Go to File in the top menu
  2. Select Properties
  3. Enter the Title and the Author of the work
    1. If the book has multiple authors, separate their names with a comma
  4. Enter the National Network for Equitable Library Service in the Company field. Do not use the publisher name of the original book.

Here is a video demo on How to Set up the Document Priorities in Word for NNELS

Note: do not use underscores (_) in document properties.

See also document metadata.

NOTE: if you are working in Office 2013, follow these instructions for setting the document properties:

  1. Click the 'File' tab.
  2. You should now be on a page titled 'Info'. Click on the link 'Show All Properties'.
  3. If needed, edit the author and title. Change the company to National Network for Equitable Library Service.
  4. Press the back arrow to return to the document.

Step Two: Set Work Area

Do the following steps for each book you reformat:

  1. View > Print Layout
  2. Show Navigation Pane: (Windows Mac: View > Navigation Pane) This is a ‘map’ of the structure in terms of the heading styles that been applied in the document. The map provides a quick means of navigating to different headings.
  3. Show all non-printing characters: (Windows: Ctrl+Shift+8. Mac: Cmd+8) This shows formatting characters and marks in the document. There are a few non-printing characters and marks that Word uses (spaces, tab characters, paragraph or ‘carriage return’ characters, and object anchors) that do not show up on the printed page. It can be useful to make them visible while editing.
  4. Show Style Pane: The Styles Pane is useful for seeing what styles have been applied to text, picking styles to apply to text, and managing styles. Style-formatting is a necessary part of making documents accessible.
  5. Show Ruler: The Ruler will help you check to see that all body text and images are left justified. Here is a link to directions on how to set up your ruler. Quotes and Headings do not need to be left justified only the body text of the document. You can use direct formatting buttons to Align Left and Decrease Indent to fix justification.

Here is a tutorial on how to Set Up MS Word

If you find you have an .rtf file, contact the Production Coordinator through RT and they will convert the file for you to .docx

Step Three: Clear Formatting

Once you have Word set up properly you will be able to begin reformatting the document.

The first step is to clear all formatting in the document:

  • Make sure the Style Pane is open
  • Select all of the text
    • COMMAND+A for Mac
    • CTRL+A for Windows PC
  • Select the clear formatting button located at the top of the Apply a Style box in the Style Pane

Here is a quick video for Clearing Formatting

Another option it to copy the entire book and paste it into a new word document. This can especially be helpful for books that have problematic formatting issues.

Now you can start applying styles as needed. See the Styles & Headings section for more info applying styles and the importance of headings.

Each section of a standard book is formatted as per the wiki instructions. The Books Sections of the eText wiki show you how, and is divided by the sections found in most books.

The Book Sections area is in chronological order for standard books. Not every book will have all these sections, and that is okay. Some books may have sections that are not covered in the wiki. When in doubt, ask! The Formatting Section is in alphabetical order.
Remember to have the original ebook open so you can reference it for formatting. This helps with quotes, emphasis, asides, etc. If in doubt, ask!

The rest of the wiki is divided up for your convenience. If anything is missing, or unclear, post a question in the Q&A section!

After you have finished reformatting the book you will need to pass the ticket to the Production Coordinator, and upload the finished book to CyberDuck.

Spacing is also important for accessibility. Ensure that you remove:
  • TAB characters used to provide indentation
  • Multiple Paragraph ‘Return’ characters (¶) used to provide spacing between paragraphs
  • Newline breaks (↵)
  • Multiple SPACE characters

If any of this exists in the document, then it is not properly formatted with styles. You will need to remove these spaces. See Find & Replace for more instructions.

Navigate Back to Getting Started

public/nnels/etext/setting_up_ms_word.txt · Last modified: 2022/12/14 13:18 by rachel.osolen