Applying Style settings from one document to other documents.

Question

I am confused about templates and styles.  I was provided a document by a standards body in word format so that I could model our documents and reports after with the formatting from this document.

One would think I could save the various document settings in a way that I could apply them to a new document but it is not working out this way at all.

The document they provided is over 100 pages long so what I was hoping to do is export or save the styles of this document so that I can apply them to my new document.

I tried to save selection as new quick style, but that does not seem to be what I want. On top of that when I go to my new document and try to apply that style it is not listed as an option.

Thanks for any direction or suggestions you can provide.

Answer 1

To transfer styles from one document to another, use the Organizer dialog.

There are two ways to open the Organizer:

• Press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S to open the Styles pane, click the Manage Styles button at the bottom of the pane (the third of the three similar buttons), and click the Import/Export button in the Manage Styles dialog;  OR
• On the View tab of the ribbon, click the Macros button (or press Alt+F8) and click the Organizer button in the Macros dialog; then click the Styles tab in the Organizer.

One side of the dialog shows the styles that are in whatever document was open at the time you started the Organizer. The other side shows the styles that are in a template, usually Normal.dotm.

On the template side, click the Close File button, which changes into an Open File button. Click it again and choose the other document involved in the copying.

Select the styles you want to copy (use the Ctrl or Shift key while clicking to select more than one simultaneously), and then click the Copy button in the center. The arrow on the button shows the direction the copying will use. If a style of the same name exists in the destination document, the copy will replace the old definition with the new one. You can continue copying until you have every style you need. Then click the Close button at the bottom of the dialog.

So far, all you've done is to copy the definitions of the styles from one document to the other. Now you have to apply the styles to the text in your document.

Answer 2

Thanks very much for the reply.   Your response was very clear and concise.