Formatting Techniques for Large Text/Graphics Documents

These methods describe techniques learned in the process of writing and formatting my dissertation which included many graphics from various sources. Windows software used: MS Word 2003, Adobe Acrobat 7, Illustrator CS2, Photoshop CS2, Arcmap 9.1, SPSS, MS Excel 2003. Many of these methods apply to Macintosh as well, though the commands may be slightly different.

Tips for working with graphics in large documents in Word 2003

Learn to use Auto Captioning

This is a lifesaver if you have more than a handful of figures or tables. The command is under Insert > Reference... > Caption. The captions will update if you move them around, and if you use Cross-references (Insert > Reference > Cross-reference...) these will update as well. An example of a cross reference is the following "As shown in Figure 3-21" where Figure 3-21 is a live field that updates if Figure 3-21 becomes 3-22 for example. You must select the document (or portions of it) and click "Update Fields..." (F9) to keep the numbering current.