Typophile

Letterhead in Word - editable fields

omar

Hi everyone,

i need to make a letter template to go with the logo i designed, first i did the entire layout in Indesign but the company also needs editable word documents where the employees just have to fill in the fields.

I did determine where everything should come like "date, department, contact, name...etc"

What i would like to do is that the people whom open the template just have to put there cursor in the field and type the date, hit tab and go to the next field, so that every letter that is being send out of the office has the exact layout and type used.

something like:
Date: "Type todays date here"
Name: "Type your name here"
Department: "type the departments name here"

Also whats the best format for a logo to be placed in word.

Hope you guys can help me out as its actually my first time i'm doing something like this, if someone could find the time to tell me how to do this from step one it would really be appreciated.

i did try looking for some kind of tutorial on the net but don't quite know how these actions are called

Cheers!

Bendy

I'm away from Word at the mo, so I'll let someone else answer the first question about form fields. You'll need to create a protected header section I think.

For your second question about the file format for the logo, I'd suggest using a png. Putting jpegs in Word tends to leave artefacts when printed.

omar

thank you very much for helping Bendy, appreciate it!

omar

Nobody on the template question please, really can't figure it out

Theunis de Jong

Google didn't help you find a way? (For example, this entry turned up with the exact phrase you asked here.)

omar

Hi Theunis, that links to explaining how to edit an existing template, i have specific margins and need to put in specific editable text fields other than names and dates.

i really want to/need to start from scratch

Nick Curtis

You can place your editable fields within a borderless table, so that entries don't affect the flow of the rest of the document. Word, at least v.2003 and later, allow placement of EPS files within the document.

djprescott

You can make editable forms in Acrobat. May be more flexible than Word.

forrest

EPS works in Word, but sometimes looks strange on-screen. I think EMF (which Illustrator can create) is better - prints just as sharp and better on screen.

omar

i know its possible in Acrobat, but they want to have word templates.

Can't someone explain how to do this please, I'm sure someone here has to know?

Dave Williams

Yeah. Here's what to do in Word 2003. Word 2000 will probably be similar. Later versions will need as bit more searching for the commands :^)

Draw a table (you will probably want to format it with no borders as Nick says) and populate it with form fields for the layout of the templatey bits. Bring up the "Forms" toolbar for quick access to the text-box and other form fields. After the table, insert a section Break (set to "Continuous"). Then go to "Protect document...", and from the "Editing restrictions" dropdown, choose "Filling in forms". Click the "Select sections..." option and tick Section 1 but leave Section 2 unchecked. Then hit the "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button.

Add a password if you want one.

Then users should be able to type what they want in the botton bit (under the table), but only fill in the fields in the top bit.

Is that what you wanted?

-Oh, and as Forrest says, EPS works for the logo, but may look crap onscreen because it'll only show the low-res bitmap header. EMFs are just as good for letterhead purposes...

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