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What document editor should I use for a really long document?
I'm editing a document, about 500 pages and growing. I would make it a pdf, but like I said, it is growing. I've tried openoffice, but it crashes when it tries to even open a document that long. I tried Word 2007, and...it works, but barely. I have a fairly fast computer (core2duo, 2gb ram). What document editor, online or offline is best for editing long documents? I would like to keep it as one document rather than splitting it up so I may search it easily.
I've already tried google docs, zoho and thinkfree. They all have document size limits.
I've already tried google docs, zoho and thinkfree. They all have document size limits.
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I suppose it depends on the final destination. You could try to use LaTeX. It's not a document editor, per se, but more of a document mark-up. You could use any kind of functional code editor (Notepad+, gEdit, TextWrangler) to edit it as a text document, and process it into a DVI file or a PDF when you want to see a final version.
LaTeX is pretty powerful. It's often used for writing documents as complex as mathematics textbooks (because it has an amazingly powerful and in-depth mathematics markup).
LaTeX is pretty powerful. It's often used for writing documents as complex as mathematics textbooks (because it has an amazingly powerful and in-depth mathematics markup).
Have you tried Word 95? I used it to edit a 700+ document and it worked fine for me. Do you have an old / slow computer?
Do you mean win95 document format, or do you mean the actual program? I didn't think about if a particular doc-type would be more efficient. Problem with win95(program) is that it's dated. As in, I'd have to pay for legacy software which I already have a newer version of. I'm not quite to that level of need yet...
Also, I already said my computer is fairly fast. I'll admit it's not blazing, but to put in comparison it would be able to run vista just fine.
Also, I already said my computer is fairly fast. I'll admit it's not blazing, but to put in comparison it would be able to run vista just fine.
Sorry I must have glanced over the fast party.
My company is publishing several 500+ books this year and we are currently using Word 95 with no real issues.
The only other program we have used to layout our books is Quark, but that doesn't really help you.
The only other thing I can advise is as someone stated already, break up the document in chapter / volumes.
Hope this helps.
My company is publishing several 500+ books this year and we are currently using Word 95 with no real issues.
The only other program we have used to layout our books is Quark, but that doesn't really help you.
The only other thing I can advise is as someone stated already, break up the document in chapter / volumes.
Hope this helps.
Check out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211489/en-us for limits in Word. If your doc is more than 32mb, you might run into problems. Also, there are different limits between the new .docx format and the older .doc compatibility format.
Are you on Vista? If so, C2D + 2GB of RAM is almost a bare minimum configuration. Not sure how much resources Word 2007 needs to open your doc on top of Vista, but it might make sense to up the RAM to 4GB. After all, RAM is cheap...
Are you on Vista? If so, C2D + 2GB of RAM is almost a bare minimum configuration. Not sure how much resources Word 2007 needs to open your doc on top of Vista, but it might make sense to up the RAM to 4GB. After all, RAM is cheap...
Im on XP home and often switch between Office 2007 and OpenOffice. The thing is, according to the task manager, it isn't a lack of processor or ram. All programs just seem to stall and then crash when I attempt to make them handle that much text.
How large (in MB) is your doc? And is it .docx or .doc?
Right now it isn't a document at all. I'm I'm gathering data from many many sources, and as I copy info into the document it crashes. I've tried .doc and .odt using Openoffice, I believe I only tried .docx using Word '07
The largest I got the document size to before it crashed (and corrupted) was only 2mb. Seems small, but apparently the amount of text gives it issues.
The largest I got the document size to before it crashed (and corrupted) was only 2mb. Seems small, but apparently the amount of text gives it issues.
why don't you divide your document into different documents? and then later combine them in pdf? try it. probably word should work.
If you have $530 lying around you could buy an Intel X25-M solid state disk to replace your hard drive and that might speed things up considerably. Before you do that, unfortunately with Vista you probably do need to upgrade to 4GB of RAM before you can rule out a lack of RAM as causing an issue with such large documents (task manager may be showing you virtual memory, and MS Word is actually using the pagefile which could be causing the delay).
OK, assuming you don't have the kind of cash burning a hole in your pocket.
You may be able to continue in Word. I used to do legal word processing and with the versions of Word I was using back then, properly styling etc. could remove an awful lot of extra blank paragraphs, spaces etc. and make the document much more stable. But without any special skills or effort I found this list of things to reduce the size (make a backup copy first):
Compress Pictures
Go to File > Save As > Tools > Compress Pictures, tick "compress pictures" and "delete cropped areas of pictures".
Turn off "Fast Save"
Under Tools > Options > Save > Save Options, untick "Allow fast saves".
Remove preview picture
Under File > Properties > Summary, untick "Save Preview Picture". This saves a small amount of space
Save in Microsoft Word 95 format
If you have only a plain English Word document without any pictures or advanced features, you can reduce the file size by half if you use this advice.
Under the Save As option, select "Word 6.0/95 (*.doc)". You may get a security warning but it is generally safe to save the file.
Warning: This format will create gibberish with non-English documents, will cause any unsupported features to be lost and greatly increase the file size if you have pictures.
There are a few more, see the link.
OK, assuming you don't have the kind of cash burning a hole in your pocket.
You may be able to continue in Word. I used to do legal word processing and with the versions of Word I was using back then, properly styling etc. could remove an awful lot of extra blank paragraphs, spaces etc. and make the document much more stable. But without any special skills or effort I found this list of things to reduce the size (make a backup copy first):
Compress Pictures
Go to File > Save As > Tools > Compress Pictures, tick "compress pictures" and "delete cropped areas of pictures".
Turn off "Fast Save"
Under Tools > Options > Save > Save Options, untick "Allow fast saves".
Remove preview picture
Under File > Properties > Summary, untick "Save Preview Picture". This saves a small amount of space
Save in Microsoft Word 95 format
If you have only a plain English Word document without any pictures or advanced features, you can reduce the file size by half if you use this advice.
Under the Save As option, select "Word 6.0/95 (*.doc)". You may get a security warning but it is generally safe to save the file.
Warning: This format will create gibberish with non-English documents, will cause any unsupported features to be lost and greatly increase the file size if you have pictures.
There are a few more, see the link.
I create computer software manuals. The only word processor I have ever found that can handle a document of that size without crashing is WordPerfect.
BUT only version 9 or earlier. The later versions are no better than MS Word.
BUT only version 9 or earlier. The later versions are no better than MS Word.
By the way. I just had an other thought. Take a look at "Help and Manual" It stores the text in a database and assembles the manual only when printing.
It should be virtually unlimited AND it can create the document as a web site or as a Windows help file.
See:
http://www.ec-software.com/
It should be virtually unlimited AND it can create the document as a web site or as a Windows help file.
See:
http://www.ec-software.com/
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