Page count using WORD

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  • Page count using WORD

    Has anyone encountered this? Using Word 95, my script is 108 pages long but if I bring my script into Word 97 or higher the page count leaps to 133. A whole 25 pages! I was thinking of upgrading my home PC (the one with 95) but not after this. 25 pages! That's almost a whole act.

    Oh yeah, I'm new here by the way. Uhm...so how're you?

  • #2
    First - plug in "courier" instead of "Courier new" or in some cases "CourierPS"

    If that don't work, have alook at your setting for page layout. When I went to these new company printers they fugged my layout and I had to reformat some of my scripts.


    And by the by - welcome aboard...

    Meltdown

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    • #3
      We get some variation of this question about fonts and page length about once every two weeks, if not more often.

      If you are using Word97, try setting all your paragraph styles to a line spacing of exactly 12 points, using <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START-->any<!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END--> Courier font. Click on FORMAT, then STYLES, and then edit the appropriate paragraph style(s).

      I do not know about Word95 (never had it), but Word97 spaces the font Courier New (by default) at about 5.2 lines per inch, if I am remembering correctly. Setting your line spacing at 12 points will give about 6 lines per inch, even with Courier New, and that is the old typewriter standard. Your script length will be normal again.

      If you have any problems doing this, send me an email. I am very familiar with this whole issue.

      (EDIT: Thank God for the "edit" function of the EZ-Board system. I always seem to forget something. If your Word97 paragraphs do not have "styles," then they are all "normal," and these cannot be edited as "styles." However, you can edit the line spacing by clicking on FORMAT, then PARAGRAPH, and setting the line spacing to 12 points.)

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      • #4
        Hey thanks fellas.

        I changed the setting like you suggested, Comicbent. Seems to have to worked. Actually, it worked better because now I'm down to 102 pages. Thank god because this is the just the first draft and I got lots of room to play. Writing is re-writing, as they say.

        Thanks again,

        Hughie

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        • #5
          Someone earlier posted to this board a suggestion that I have tried with a healthy amount of success.

          Write your screenplay in Word. Then download the demo version of Final Draft (free, 'save' feature disabled but 'print' feature still there) and copy and paste your script into it. See how many pages it comes out at. Print from there.

          Personally, I'm a college student and can't afford Final Draft. But I can afford the free demo to see what my script looks like. =) Now if only I could afford a printer..

          My two cents, give or take inflation.

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          • #6
            <!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr> <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> MaraMaye:<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Write your screenplay in Word. Then download the demo version of Final Draft (free, 'save' feature disabled but 'print' feature still there) and copy and paste your script into it. See how many pages it comes out at. Print from there.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END-->
            Please understand, though, that it is the font that makes the difference in the page length in Final Draft. If the demo version of Final Draft provides the "Courier Final Draft" font, and you use it, then the page length will be "normal." However, if you use "Courier New" in Final Draft, the page count will be greatly increased.

            You can also use the "Courier Final Draft" font in Word, and you do not have to set the line spacing to 12 point.

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            • #7
              ComicBent,
              Thanks a million! I tried to download those other fonts someone mentioned months ago, but they didn't work with Word 2000 - your formatting suggestion did, AND it cut 7 pages from my 107-page script!

              The best thing is that you can bold the whole script and the page length stays the same!

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              • #8
                I do not have Word 2000 (I am still using Word 97), but I would expect the newer version to work with the other fonts, if you are referring to Courier10 BT and Dark Courier. These are both quality fonts. Courier10 BT is a Bitstream font, and Dark Courier is from Hewlett-Packard. I am assuming that you are using a Windows operating system. I have no idea how things work with a Macintosh.

                This whole area of fonts and desktop publishing is a personal interest of mine. If you happen to read this, please post a description of what the problem was exactly. Poor display? Would not print? Could not install?

                Anyway, I am glad that changing the line spacing worked for you.

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                • #9
                  Comicbent,

                  I didn't have a problem with the font, just the leading, which your advice helped fix.

                  But since you mentioned desktop publishing I thought I'd mention that I actually write using QuarkXpress, a page layout program (I transfer the script over to Word so that I can bring it to work and print it off when no one is looking).

                  I've never used a screenwriting program so my advice may be sketchy here but IMHO QuarkXpress works great. Mostly because you can move off the page and make little text boxes beside the pages, almost like Post-it notes. Or say, rewrite a scene in a text box and line it up beside the original and compare the two. You can also create "index cards" to work out the structure. Or add graphics to it (you know, that one cool photo you found in a magazine that seems to embody or inspire the idea for your story).

                  The only snag is that Quark is damn expensive. But if you can get a bootleg from a friend who works in print media (like I did) then do it. It's a fun toy to play with. Hell, you can even make a lobby card or poster for your screenplay.

                  Over and out.

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                  • #10
                    I am familiar with QuarkXpress, but have never used it. I know that it is a top-notch publishing program. I own and use Adobe FrameMaker, which is another professional-level desktop publisher. It is great for long, text-oriented documents that are very complex, with lots of paragraph levels and automatic numbering. It is not designed to do some of the interesting things that you mentioned, like creating a box and rewriting a scene. Quark is much more graphics-based.

                    To get back to the topic of screenwriting ... I have used FrameMaker for creating screenplay text, but I prefer to write in Word 97 or Final Draft. What I like about using Word for basic writing is the "Track Changes" feature, which produces, as you edit, a strikeout of one color and an insertion of the new text in a different color. Then you can go back and accept or reject the changes. Being a compulsive editor of my own work, I am in "hog heaven" with this feature.

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                    • #11
                      I have yet to use the 'revision' thingy in Word but I can see how it would help. Did you read the MEMENTO script? The script revisions are logged at the beginning as being colour coded. Kinda cool.

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                      • #12
                        wow, thanks

                        Comic, I tried your suggestion to use exactly 12 point line spacing in Word, and it worked like a charm. It cut my 130 page script to 111.

                        I wish you would have posted this before I sent it out, hehe.

                        Sperry

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                        • #13
                          Re: wow, thanks

                          Now if you happen to be working in word 200 and using the new HP ( liek the 8000DN) printers, you'll find that the conversion from any of the courier fonts will not change page count - what you have to do is going into the paragraph dropdown box and set "single spacing" at .875 - with with compress just like going from courier new to courier...

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