Microsoft KB Archive/157086

= WD97: Limitations of Converting from Word Format to HTML =

Article ID: 157086

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q157086





SUMMARY
When you save a Microsoft Word document as HTML, Word displays the Web page similar to the way it will appear in a Web browser. Formatting and other items that are not supported by HTML or the Web page authoring environment are removed from the file.



MORE INFORMATION
The following table shows the elements that Word changes or removes upon conversion.   Element           Word to HTML   Comments ---

Comments         See Comment    Comments you insert with the Comments command on the Insert menu are removed. After saving the document in HTML format, however, you can enter comments and apply the Comments style. The comments will not appear when the Web page is displayed by a Web browser.

Font sizes       See Comment    Fonts are mapped to the closest HTML size available, which ranges from size 1 to 7. These numbers are not point sizes but are used as instructions for font sizes by Web browsers. Word displays the fonts in sizes ranging from 9 to 36.

Emboss, shadow,  No             These character formats are lost, but engrave, all                    all text is retained. caps, small caps, double strikethrough, and outline text effects

Bold,            Yes            Some special underline effects, such as   strikethrough,                   dotted underlines, are converted to a   italic, and                      single underline, and some underline underline                       effects aren't converted. effects

Animated text    See Comment    Animations are lost, but the text is                                    retained. For an animated effect, insert scrolling text into your page in                                   the Web page authoring environment.

Graphics         See Comment    Graphics, such as pictures and clip art, are converted to GIF (.gif) format, unless the graphics are already in JPEG (.jpg) format. Drawing objects, such as text boxes and shapes, are not converted. Lines are converted to horizontal rules.

Tabs             Yes            Tabs are converted to the HTML tab character, represented in HTML source as &#9;. Tabs may appear as spaces in                                   some web browsers, so you may want to                                    use indents or a table instead.

Fields           See Comment    Field results are converted to text; field codes are removed. For instance, if you insert a DATE field, the text of                                   the date converts, but the date will not continue to update.

Tables of        See Comment    The information is converted, but contents,                       indexes and tables of contents, tables of                       figures, and authorities can't be   authorities,                     updated automatically after conversion and indexes                     because they are based on field codes. The table of contents displays asterisks in place of the page numbers; these asterisks are hyperlinks that the reader can click to navigate through the Web page. You can replace the asterisks with text that you want to                                   have displayed for the hyperlinks.

Drop caps        No             Drop caps are removed. In the Web page authoring environment, you can increase the size of one letter by selecting it                                   and then clicking Increase Font Size. Or, you can use a graphic image in                                   place of the letter.

Frames           No             The frame and the text or objects contained in the frame are lost when the document is saved as HTML.

Drawing objects  No             Drawing objects are not retained. You (AutoShapes,                    can use drawing tools in the Web page   WordArt, text                    authoring environment by inserting Word   effects, text                    Picture Objects. The object is   boxes, and                       converted to GIF format.   Shadows)

Equations,       See Comment    These items are converted to GIF charts, and                     images. The appearance is retained, but other OLE                       you won't be able to update these objects                         items.

Tables           Yes            Tables are converted, although settings that aren't supported in the Web page authoring environment are lost. Colored and variable width borders are not retained.

Table widths     See Comment    By default, tables are converted with a                                    fixed width. To convert a table with a                                   percentage width (so that the table is                                    sized relative to the browser window), set the option PercentageTableWidth=1 in the following Windows 95 Registry location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Text Converters\Export\HTML\OptionsShared Tools\Text Converters\Export\HTML\Options

Highlighting     No             Highlighting is lost.

Revision marks   No             Changes entered with the track changes feature are retained, but the revision marks are removed.

Page numbering   No             Because an HTML document is considered a single Web page, regardless of its length, page numbering is removed.

Margins          No             To control the layout of your page, you can use a table.

Borders around   No             You can place borders around a table, paragraphs and                  and you can use horizontal lines to   words                            help emphasize or separate parts of                                    your Web page.

Page borders     No             There isn't an HTML equivalent for a                                    page border. You can make your pages more attractive by adding a background using the Background command on the Format menu. You can also place borders around a table, and you can use horizontal lines to help emphasize or                                   separate parts of your Web page.

Headers and      No             There aren't equivalents for headers footers                         and footers in HTML.

Footnotes and    No   endnotes

Newspaper        No             For a multicolumn effect, use tables. columns

Styles           See Comment    User-defined styles are converted to                                    direct formatting, provided the formatting is supported in HTML. For instance, if you convert a style that includes bold and shadow formatting, bold formatting is retained as a direct formatting, but shadow formatting is                                   lost.

Hyperlink TARGETS No            Hyperlink Targets allow users to                                    populate a single frame with a new HTML document. Because of Word's limitation on                                   converting frames, Word also strips out the TARGET tag in HTML Documents.

Smart Quotes     See Comment    Smart quotes are replaced with straight quotes when you save and reopen (convert) the HTML document.

Additional query words: 8.0 converting conversion converts converted transferring transfers transferred import export hypertext markup language

Keywords: kbconversion kbfaq kbinfo KB157086

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