Chapter 6. Printing, Faxing, and Scanning

SPELLCHECKING

Choose or Lose the Red and Green Squiggles

The Annoyance:

The red and green squiggles drive me nuts.

The Fix:

If the squiggles offend you, turn them off. Choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab (see Figure 5-5), and uncheck the "Check spelling as you type box (to turn off the red squiggles), the "Check grammar as you type" box (to turn off the green squiggles), or both. You can then check spelling and grammar manually at your convenience.

Figure 5-5. Word checks your spelling and grammar by default. Turn off either form of checking on the Spelling & Grammar tab of the Options dialog box.

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Tip: You can also suppress the red and green squiggles by checking the "Hide spelling errors in this document" and "Hide grammatical errors in this document" boxes. This removes the visual annoyance but is otherwise pointless, as your computer continues to waste processor cycles on checking spelling and grammar. If you want to get rid of the squiggles, it's better to leave these boxes unchecked and to uncheck the "Check spelling as you type" and "Check grammar as you type" boxes, thereby removing the burden of spelling and grammar checking from your computer.

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Spellcheck Your Documents in Your Preferred Way

The Annoyance:

I turned off the green squiggles, but the red squiggles are stacking up in my documentit's enough to distract me from writing new material.

The Fix:

Your first option is to turn off the red squiggles (the spelling queries) as well: choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and uncheck the "Check spelling as you type box. You can then check spelling whenever you want by clicking the Spelling and Grammar button on the Standard toolbar, pressing F7, or choosing Tools Spelling and Grammar. From there, you can work in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box (see Figure 5-6).

Figure 5-6. Use the Spelling and Grammar dialog box to check the spelling (and, if you choose, grammar) of your entire document at once. Create AutoCorrect entries for any typos you think you'll repeat. Click the Add to Dictionary button to add the queried word to the current dictionary and prevent Word from querying it again.

If you don't want to turn off the red squiggles, deal with them one at a time: right-click a word and choose the correct substitute from the pop-up menu (see Figure 5-7). Alternatively, use the AutoCorrect submenu to create an AutoCorrect entry for the word, which will fix the same problem automatically in the future. You can also choose the Ignore All option to prevent Word from querying the word again in this document, or you can choose Add to add the queried word to the current dictionary.

Figure 5-7. To check one spelling issue at a time, right-click the word and choose the appropriate option from the shortcut menu. If you think you might make this mistake again, create an AutoCorrect entry directly from the menu.

Watch Out for Mistakes Missed on Porpoise...

The Annoyance:

The spelling checker doesn't alert you to the possibility that a word may be the wrong word, even though it's spelled correctly. Purpose or porpoise? Mourning or morning? These mistakes make me look real dumb.

The Fix:

You said it. The spelling checker actually does catch a few correctly spelled problems of word choice and grammarfor example, it'll suggest "must have" instead of "must of" and "there are" instead of "their are," because these examples are always wrong. But beyond that, the spelling checker can't help you if you've got the wrong word. This is a job for a dictionary, a helpful colleague or friend, or a professional editor.

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Tip: If you don't have a dictionary on hand, check out Merriam-Webster Online (http://www.m-w.com).

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...and Missed on Purpose

The Annoyance:

But I spellchecked my document all the way through! How can you tell me it still has mistakes? Vile pedant!

The Fix:

You need to tweak the settings for the spelling checker. Choose Tools Options and click the Spelling & Grammar tab. See whether the "Ignore words in UPPERCASE box is checked. If you use uppercase much in your documents (for example, for headings), uncheck this box to make sure that the spelling checker checks the uppercase words as well.

The "Ignore words with numbers " option (which is also checked by default) can also leave typos in your documen5tsI mean, documents if you strike the number keys by mistak-e.

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Tip: If the spelling checker still fails to catch obvious mistakes, check the language formatting of the mistakes. If someone has applied the "Do not check spelling or grammar" option to the text, the spelling checker will glide right past it. Select the text, choose Tools Language Set Language, make sure the correct language is applied, and verify that the "Do not check spelling or grammar box is unchecked.

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Prevent Word from Spellchecking Code

The Annoyance:

I'm writing a programming paper, and Word is driving me nuts. I've added a bunch of terms to the custom dictionary, but each time I run the spelling checker, it queries almost everything in the blocks of code in the paper.

The Fix:

Apply the "Do not check spelling or grammar" option to your code. The best way to do this is to modify the style that you use for the code. Display the Modify Style dialog box for your code style, check the "Add to template" box, click the Format button, and choose Language from the pop-up menu. In the Language dialog box, check the "Do not check spelling or grammar" box and click the OK button to close each of the dialog boxes in turn.

Use Custom Dictionaries for Special Terms

The Annoyance:

I need to add a heap of special terms to the custom dictionary for my current project and then remove them when it's finished.

The Fix:

You can do this by adding words to the dictionary and then deleting them manually (as described in the next Annoyance, "Remove Mistakes from a Dictionary"). However, it's much easier to create a new custom dictionary for the project, add the words to it, and then stop using the dictionary (or remove it) when the project is over. Here's how to create new custom dictionaries:

1. Chose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and click the Custom Dictionaries button (the Dictionaries button in Word 2000). The Custom Dictionaries dialog box appears (see Figure 5-8).

   Figure 5-8. Segregate different categories of terms into separate custom dictionaries that you can use only when you need them.

   
   

2. Click the New button to display the Create Custom Dictionary dialog box. Navigate to the folder in which you want to store the dictionary (the default is your %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof folder), type a descriptive name , and click the Save button. Dictionary files use the .dic extension.

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   Tip: See the upcoming Annoyance "Share a Dictionary with Other Users" for instructions on sharing a custom dictionary with other users of your computer or across a network. In this case, you'll need to store the dictionary in a shared folder, not in %userprofile%\Applicatio-n Data\Microsoft\Proof .

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3. Check the box for each dictionary that you want to use.

4. Click the dictionary to which you want to add new terms when checking spelling, and then click the Change Default button.

5. Add further dictionaries if necessary, or click the OK button in each dialog box to return to your document.

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Tip: If you've already created a dictionary file, or acquired one, you can add it to the list in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box by clicking the Add button. Use the Add Custom Dictionary dialog box to navigate to and select the dictionary file, and then click OK.

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Remove Mistakes from a Dictionary

The Annoyance:

I was clicking my way through a spellcheck to meet a deadline, and I accidentally added a couple of misspellings to the dictionary instead of making Word ignore them. How can I get these misspellings out of the dictionary so that Word doesn't keep accepting them?

The Fix:

Choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and click the Custom Dictionaries button (Dictionaries button in Word 2000). In the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, select the appropriate dictionary and click Modify to open a dialog box showing the contents of the dictionary. Scroll down to the word (or type the first few letters in the Word text box to scroll automatically to it), select the word, and click Delete. Repeat this maneuver to delete all the other misspellings in the dictionary, and then click the OK button in each of the three open dialog boxes to return to your document.

ADDING WORDS TO A CUSTOM DICTIONARY

You can also use the dictionary's dialog box (which you display by selecting it and clicking the Modify button in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box) to add words to a dictionary one by one, but doing so tends to take more effort than adding them when the spelling checker queries them in your documents.

If you need to add a whole list of terms to a dictionary, open the dictionary file in a text editor such as Notepad so that you can add the terms easily. Open a Windows Explorer window to the folder containing the dictionary and double-click the dictionary file to open it in Notepad (or your default text editor, if you have set a different one than Notepad). You can then type or paste in the words, one to a line. Save the dictionary file as usual, making sure that it retains its .dic extension.

Share a Dictionary with Other Users

The Annoyance:

I've added all the words I need to a custom dictionary. Now I need to share it with the other users of my computer so that we agree on our spelling.

The Fix:

You can do this by placing the dictionary in a shared folder. The best place is probably a subfolder in the Shared Documents folder, as files you place here are automatically shared with all users of the computer. But if you've set up another shared folder, you may choose to use that instead.

To move the dictionary from its current folder to the shared folder:

1. Remove the dictionary from the Custom Dictionaries list. Choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and click the Custom Dictionaries button (Dictionaries button in Word 2000). Select the dictionary and click the Remove button. (This removes the dictionary from Words list but doesn't delete it.) Leave the Custom Dictionaries dialog box open.

2. Use Windows Explorer or your preferred file-management application to navigate to the folder where you stored your custom dictionary (the default is your %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof folder), and move it to the shared folder.

3. Switch back to Word, click the Add button in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, and add the dictionary from its new location.

If you're on a network, you can share a dictionary among two or more computers by placing the dictionary in a shared folder. Unless two or more users happen to add a word to or delete a word from the dictionary at precisely the same moment, there should be no problem with sharing the dictionary.

Create a Custom Dictionary Quickly

The Annoyance:

Adding words to a custom dictionary one by one is fine for casual use, but I've got a whole list of terms that I'd like to lump into a custom dictionary all at once. Isn't there a faster way?

The Fix:

Indeed there is. A dictionary file is just a text file saved with the .dic extension that contains a list of acceptable words, one to a line. You can create a new dictionary file using a text editor such as Notepad, WordPad, or Word itself. For example:

1. Choose Start All Programs Accessories Notepad. Notepad opens with a new text document.

2. Choose File Save, and then navigate to the folder in which you want to save the dictionary file.

3. . Then click the Save button.

4. Load the custom dictionary in Word, as described in "Use Custom Dictionaries for Special Terms," earlier in this chapter.

Solve the "Custom Dictionary Is Full" Error

The Annoyance:

When I try to add a word to my custom dictionary, Word tells me the custom dictionary is full.

The Fix:

There are three possible causes for this error: the custom dictionary file has reached its maximum size (64 KB), the custom dictionary file is corrupted, or your spelling-checker files are corrupted.

First, find out where the dictionary is located (unless you already know). Choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and click the Custom Dictionaries button (Dictionaries button in Word 2000). Select the dictionary and view the "Full path readout to see which folder it's in. Open a Windows Explorer window to that folder.

Check the dictionary file's size (for example, choose View Details and look at the Size column). If its 64 KB or more, it's too big for Word to add any more words, but you can still add more words by using Notepad, WordPad, or another application. If you want to be able to add words to the dictionary from Word, you must reduce the dictionary's size by removing some words. Your best bet is to split the dictionary into two or more custom dictionaries based on theme. Alternatively, create a new custom dictionary and set it as your default dictionary, so that Word adds new words to it instead of to the previous custom dictionary.

If your dictionary file is smaller than 64 KB, it may be corrupted. You may not be able to tell whether it's corrupted, though, so the next step is to create a new dictionary anyway:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window to the folder containing your custom dictionary. Rename your dictionary file, changing its .dic extension to a .txt extension, and then double-click it to open it in Notepad.

2. Right-click in the Windows Explorer window and choose New Text Document to create a new text document. Type the name of your possibly corrupted dictionary (with the .dic extension) and press Enter to apply the name. Press Enter again to open the new dictionary file in another Notepad window.

3. Copy the contents of the old dictionary file (with the .txt extension) to the new dictionary, omitting any parts that show obvious signs of degeneration (such as gibberish characters instead of recognizable words).

4. Save the new dictionary file, and close both Notepad windows.

Now check to see if Word can add new words to your custom dictionary. If not, your spelling-checker files are probably corrupted. To replace them with pristine versions:

1. Open a Windows Explorer window to your %programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof folder.

2. Delete the files msspell3.dll and mssp3en.lex .

3. Open your CD drive, insert your Office CD, hold down the Shift key (to prevent the installation routine from starting), close the drive, and then release the Shift key.

4. Start Word, type a deliberate misspelling, and start a spelling check. Word will prompt you to install the spelling- and grammar-checking features (see Figure 5-9). Click the Yes button, and the Windows Installer will install them.

Figure 5-9. The "custom dictionary is full" error message may mean that your spelling files are corrupted. If so, make Word reinstall them.

Protect Your Custom Dictionary

The Annoyance:

Word seems to have deleted almost all the words I've been painstakingly adding to my custom dictionary. Help!

The Fix:

This behavior is enough to drive even reasonable people up the wall. It occurs when the word you add to the custom dictionary takes the dictionary over its size limit of 64 KB. To get the dictionary's size down, Word deletes most of the dictionary's existing contentwithout even telling you.

To avoid this problem, keep backups of your custom dictionaries together with backups of all your key files. (See "Move Word to Another Computer" in Chapter 1 for details on which files to save.) Check the size of your custom dictionaries regularly and prune or split any that are nearing the 64 KB line of death.

Unstick the Spelling Checker

The Annoyance:

Every now and then, the spelling checker has trouble with a particular word and checks it repeatedly until I cancel the spelling check.

The Fix:

This normally happens only when you click the Change All button in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box, the queried word isn't in the main dictionary or a custom dictionary, and the document contains multiple instances of the word.

The easiest solution is to cancel the spelling check and use Replace (Edit Replace) to replace all the instances of the offending word. Alternatively, if the word is correct, add it to the main dictionary or a custom dictionary.

Create an Exclusion Dictionary

The Annoyance:

Gasp of horror ! I just handed out a document about Pubic Health in Cincinnati! Now, where's the Resume Wizard?

The Fix:

The Resume Wizard is on the Other Documents tab of the Templates dialog box (in Word 2003 and Word XP) or the New dialog box (in Word 2000). Best of luck to you.

"Pubic" is, of course, spelled just fine, but you probably don't want to use it in most of your documentsand certainly not when you meant to type "public." To prevent this from happening again, you need to tell Word that you want it to query instances of this word, even though the spelling is fine. To do so, you create an exclusion dictionary : a list of the terms that you want to exclude from Word's spelling dictionaries. Here's how:

1. Determine the name for the exclusion dictionary. It must have the same name as your main dictionary, but with the .exc (exclusion) extension instead of the .lex (lexicon) extension. The name of the dictionary depends on the language you're using in Office. For American English, the main dictionary file is named mssp3en.lex , so the exclusion dictionary must be named mssp3en.exc . If you're not sure which dictionary you're using, choose Start Search and search for mssp3*.lex files. The last two or three letters indicate the language: mssp3fr.lex for French, mssp3es.lex for Spanish, and so on.

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   Tip: There are two differences if you're using Office 97. First, the dictionary file will be Version 2 rather than Version 3 (for example, mssp2en.lex rather than mssp3en.lex ). Second, you must save the exclusion dictionary in the same folder as the dictionary file, rather than in your own Proof folder, so it applies to all users of the computer.

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2. In Word, choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and then click the Custom Dictionaries button (Dictionaries button in Word 2000) to display the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

3. ), and click the Save button.

4. Select the new dictionary in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, and click the Modify button to open the dialog box for modifying the dictionary. Type the first word that you want to add and press Enter (or click the Add button). When you've finished adding words, click the OK button to close each of the three open dialog boxes.

5. Restart Word to make it read your exclusion dictionary. Type one of the excluded words to double-check it's working correctly.

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Tip: After you've added a word to an exclusion dictionary, you can't return it to use by using the Add to Dictionary command during a spelling check; you must edit the exclusion dictionary and remove the word manually.

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Turn Off Grammar Checking

The Annoyance:

No matter what I write, Word's grammar checker finds something wrongor potentially wrong. I don't think my English is that bad.

The Fix:

If it bugs you, turn off the grammar checker. Choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and uncheck both the "Check grammar as you type box and the "Check grammar with spelling" box. The former controls whether the grammar checker runs in the background the whole time you work, looking for words and phrases it can put squiggles under. The latter controls whether the grammar checker rides along when you run a spelling check.

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Tip: You can also turn on or off grammar checking during spelling checks by checking or unchecking the "Check grammar" box in the Spelling and Grammar dialog box. This box toggles the setting of the "Check grammar with spelling" box on the Spelling & Grammar tab of the Options dialog box.

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Automated spellchecking is a great boon, because spelling is one of the things a computer can get right almost all the time. But English grammar includes so many rules, exceptions, and pitfalls that suggestions from Word's grammar checker are often confusing (if not plain wrong), while properly constructed sentences of gibberish pass the check with flying colors.

If you know your grammar needs help, consult a colleague or (better) an editor.

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Tip: If you can't face turning off the grammar checker altogether, customize its behavior. First, choose Tools Options, click the Spelling & Grammar tab, and choose "Grammar Only instead of "Grammar & Style" in the "Writing style" drop-down list. That will cut down a swath of grammatical grievances. Then click the Settings button to display the Grammar Settings dialog box (see Figure 5-10) and choose the settings that suit you.

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Figure 5-10. If you use the grammar checker, customize its settings to suit your preferences and reduce avoidable queries.

Make Sense of Word's Readability Statistics

The Annoyance:

I know I can turn off the readability statistics by unchecking the "Show readability statistics" box on the Spelling & Grammar tab of the Options dialog box, but I think I would find them interestingif I only knew what they meant.

The Fix:

The information in the Readability Statistics dialog box (see Figure 5-11) is largely useless, but it can have a cult appeal , especially if you're trying to straighten out someone else's report.

Figure 5-11. Readability statistics provide crude metrics of how your document is composed . Trust your own judgmentor, better, that of your editor.

The readouts in the Counts areaWords, Characters, Paragraphs, and Sentencesare straightforward enough. The readouts in the Averages areaSentences per Paragraph, Words per Sentence , and Characters per Wordare simply computed from those counts. The averages can help you identify if your sentences or paragraphs are too long or your proportion of 50-cent words too high, but bear in mind that a suitable style will depend on your material and your audience. If you're writing an advanced biochemistry tract , you'll probably need all the long words you can shoehorn into your sentences.

Anyway, you're probably wondering more about the readouts in the Readability area:

• Passive sentences are sentences that use passive verbs rather than active verbs. For example, "Jack was painted by Jane" is passive, whereas "Jane painted Jack" is active. Passive sentences are widely thoughtI mean, many experts think that passive sentences make writing less dynamic and appealing.

• Flesch Reading Ease is a measure of the relative difficulty of reading a sentence. The scale runs from 0 (incomprehensible) to 100 (easy to understand). If a document intended for mass consumption scores below 70, it probably needs revision.

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  Tip: Word XP and Word 2003 use different rules than Word 2000 to calculate Flesch Reading Ease and may produce lower scores for the same sentence than Word 2000 does.

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• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level provides the U.S. school grade level at which a typical student would be able to read the text. For example, 7.0 represents the seventh grade. To ensure that a document is as comprehensible as possible, aim for a score around 7.0 or 8.0.

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Tip: Both Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level are calculated on the average number of words per sentence and the average number of syllables per word.

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Upgrade the Thesaurus

The Annoyance:

Word's Thesaurus feature is so lame. If it were a horse, I'd have to shoot it.

The Fix:

Get out the captive bolt, then. The only fix is to use a better thesaurus. For a quick fix, turn to the Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus (http://www.m-w.com). For a more comprehensive and local solution, check out the free WordWeb (http://wordweb. info ) or the $19 WordWeb Pro, a powerful dictionary, thesaurus, and word-finding program.