TIPS AND TRICKS
Drawing Lines on Forms
by Loui Tucker

 

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You've designed a form that has lines that look like this:

Name:                                                                                                              

Address:                                                                                                          
City, State Zip:                                                                                                 

When you type on the lines, however, you get this:

Name:         John Jones                                                                                 

Address:    111 W. Main Street                                                                     
City, State Zip:     San Jose, CA 95121                                                        

Or you get this:

Name:         John Jones                                                                                 
                                                              
Address:    111 W. Main Street                                                                     
                                                                            
City, State Zip:     San Jose, CA 95121                                                        

                                                                    

Additional problems arise when you have to change the margins of your form!

Here's the better way to draw a line that you can type on:


In Word Perfect:
After you type the word on the left that you want, turn on underlining, type a couple of spaces (they will be underlined) and then put in a Hard Flush Right. Depending on the level of Word Perfect you have, this might be as simple as Alt+F7. If that does not give you a Hard Flush Right, look under Format - Line - Flush Right. That will draw the rest of the line to the margin, You can then type on the line without moving the line over or seeing the text without underlining.

In MS Word:
First, click Tools - Options - Compatibility. Slide down that list in the box and check "Draw underline on trailing spaces." Back in your document, type the word on the left that you want, turn on underlining, and type a couple of spaces (they will be underlined). Up on the Ruler (Click View - Ruler if the Ruler is not showing), create a tab at the right margin. Now when you press the Tab key, the rest of the line will appear. You can type on the line without moving the line over or seeing the text without underlining.

 


Tips and Tricks by Loui Tucker
Supporting Word Perfect, Word, Timeslips, Abacus, TimeMatters
and many other software packages used in today's law offices.
www.louitucker.com