A reader needs help sorting out some issues with a newsletter he’s trying to edit.
“My computer club puts out a 10-page newsletter every month. Our editor drops the reports I send to him in a template he uses on his Mac computer. Here’s the problem. Due to disabilities, he is unable to make any corrections, so I converted his document to Word so I could make the bazillions of corrects.
Here are the problems:
I am using Word 2016
I am not an editor by any stretch of the imagination
I have to look up how to do anything out of the ordinary, which is very time-consuming
I save the document after making corrections, but when I email them for proofing and sending out, the documents change. I save them as docx. The club president, Don, says when he gets it looks great. When he added something and emailed it back to me, it’s all wonky again.
Graphics I’ve used are shifted all over, etc. It’s a mess.
Could you please tell me what I’m doing wrong? Our beautiful newsletter is a mess! I’ve attached it and would greatly appreciate any help. I’m pulling my hair out and frustrated beyond words.”
The issue is probably related to the fact that he’s editing the document in a different program than the one you’re using. Also, it can be pretty easy to shuffle documents around in a Word document.
My suggestion is that you save your document as a PDF. Just click on Save a copy and choose .pdf from the file options.
Have your collaborator write down the changes and send them to you and you can change them in the original Word document and send back to him in PDF form. A .pdf file should look the same no matter where it is opened.
I don’t know how if he’s sending the newsletter as an attachment or building it in an actual newsletter program. I build the newsletter for Tech Tips in the newsletter builder for Mailchimp – the service I use for sending newsletters. It’s specifically designed for sending newsletters.