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Margin errors in Word 2013

I lost a word document a while ago but had saved it in .pdf format through Acrobat XI Pro. I opened that .pdf document and saved it as a "Word" document. Disaster. ALL text was converted to disconnected text boxes. I then tried saving the .pdf file (again through Acrobat) into an older "Word 97-2003" format. Good so far, regular flowing text from page to page, no text boxes. I then saved that document into "Word" format, which is Word 2013. Disaster again. This time I noticed that my margins were chaotic, not conforming to any pre-set format, they would not even conform to the existing, odd Custom Margin settings. When I select Custom Margins (using the current values) I get the same error message described next. In attempting to change the margins I get the margin-error-of-death message: "Settings you chose for the left and right margins, column spacing, or paragraph indents are too large for the page width in some sections." Word 2013 doesn't have the Ignore selection or Fix option, just the error message.

I have searched for answers online and only get typical "how to" instructions for setting margins in virgin documents and how to change margins in existing documents. I came across some advice about how page settings must match printer capabilities. I checked both printers I use and no problems there. I want typical margins of 1" left, top, and right and .75" bottom. No luck, ever.

Any thoughts other than trying magic? 

Have you tried just opening the PDF in Word 2013 to see how it would handle it?

As for the error message, that's likely a survival of an old bug. It helps to delete unnecessary section breaks, but the main thing to do is to open the Columns dialog and select the preset picture for One, which checks the "Equal column width" box. If you have multi-column sections, you may have to set them to a single column temporarily to get rid of the problem.

Microsoft MVP (Word) since 1999
Fairhope, Alabama USA
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Last updated October 5, 2021 Views 835 Applies to: