Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!usc!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!sxs144
From: SXS144@psuvm.psu.edu (subramanian sivaramakrishnan)
Newsgroups: comp.fonts
Subject: Re: Changing Fonts in Microsoft Word
Message-ID: <90330.115832SXS144@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: 26 Nov 90 16:58:32 GMT
References: <90328.221839SXS144@psuvm.psu.edu> <40137@ut-emx.uucp>
Organization: Penn State University
Lines: 50



In article <40137@ut-emx.uucp>, clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong) says:

>I suspect that subbu's problem comes from using spaces, rather than tabs,
>to align tabular material. Use tabs. That's why it's called tabular, in
>fact. Spaces will only print correctly if you're using a monospaced font
>such as Monaco or Courier, and the VAST majority of fonts on the Mac are
>proportionally spaced. Things may (or may not) look okay on screen with
>prop. fonts, but they certainly won't print correctly if you use spaces
>instead of tabs.


 Kathy, thanks a lot for your response. The problem I had described in my
 earlier posting was in spite of using tabs. To confirm, I tried out a
 sample table using TABS and not spaces and then changing the font from
 Courier to Helvetica (not changing the font size). Here's what I did :

 I keyed this in (in Courier) :

    Pricing               -    Mark-up, Competitive
    Distribution          -    One-level, two-level


 Then, I changed the font to Helvetica, and this is what it looked like
 in the print-out :

    Pricing               -    Mark-up, Competitive
    Distribution     -    One-level, two-level


 Apparently, the problem is due to proportional spacing of the characters.
 FYI, in line 2 of the table, I used one tab between `Distribution' and
 the hyphen. In line 1, I had to use two tabs after `Pricing' to have the
 hyphen in line with that of line 2 (I sure sound confusing !). And then,
 when the font was changed, the formatting got messed up (By the way, this
 is MS Word on the IBM PC and not the MAC, if that makes any difference).

 What surprises me is that though Distribution is a much longer word than
 Pricing, the hyphen is actually drawn towards the left rather than being
 pushed to the right.

 Can you think of a solution to this ?  If you have the time, you may want
 to try out the sample table I used on MS Word to see how the formatting
 gets messed up, in spite of using tabs.

 Thanks in advance.


 subbu