I'm a clerk looking to automate a specific work process in Microsoft Word. We often type letters designed for different sheet sizes, but here's the catch: for A5 letters, we actually use an A4 landscape sheet with two columns, where the left column's content is a duplicate of the right. At the end of the day, I need to extract these letters into a single bulk document, using section breaks to accommodate the varied sizes. The big challenge is ensuring that when I extract from the A4 landscape with two columns, I only get the content from one column since both are the same. It's been really tough to implement this, especially the A5 conversion from A4 landscape. Has anyone dealt with this issue before? I'd appreciate any help or tips!
3 Answers
Have you considered using C# instead of Python? Microsoft provides better support for their products, especially with their OpenXML SDK. Honestly, working with Word can be a nightmare sometimes. You might find it easier to start from an Excel document and generate Word files based on that.
Thanks to your suggestion, I switched to C# and OpenXML SDK! It made a world of difference. Really appreciate the help!
Is there no way to just use A5 settings and print double on A4 when you print? That way, you'd get a single copy of the A5 document, which might be what you're looking for in terms of archiving at the end of the day.
Learning some back-end coding could be beneficial. Microsoft has APIs for their products that allow for quite a lot of customization. Plus, there's a wealth of resources online—YouTube tutorials and code snippets can be lifesavers! But if you're really stuck, hiring a skilled coder might be the best option.
That's true! But using the Office object model can be really tricky; it can feel a bit clunky at times. I wouldn't recommend macros—they’re hard to trust over the long run. Maybe looking for a Python library that can help extract those letters would be a better bet.
That actually sounds like a smart approach! Python has great tools for Excel, and if you can eventually output in a format like RTF, it could be much simpler to handle—still Word-compatible but less of a hassle.