Avoid Layout Changes on Different Computers
The Problem:
I created my report at home and formatted it to look great, with the graphics and page breaks in just the right places. But when I opened it at work, the layout had changed. All that work wasted!
The Solution:
The problem is most likely that you're using different printer drivers on your home computer and work computer. If you need to ensure that a document's layout is exactly the same on two computers, use the same printer driver on both computers. If you need to be able to lay out the document at home and print it at work, check which printer driver your work computer is using, install that driver on your home computer too, and set that printer as the default printer while you create and work on the document. It doesn't matter if you don't have the printer, as long as you don't try to print the document to it.
Tip: To set a printer as the default, choose Start
Printers and Faxes, right-click the printer, and choose "Set as Default Printer" from the shortcut menu.
If you need to ensure that a document's layout stays the same on computers on which you can't install printer drivers, your best bet is to save the document in PDF format. You'll need Adobe Acrobat or an application with similar capabilities (such as Jaws PDF Creator, available at http://www.jawspdf.com, or GhostWord, available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ghostword and other sources) to create the file, but people will then be able to view it exactly as you intended on most major operating systems.
Tip: If creating a PDF isn't an option, you can avoid some potential changes in your documents by not using double tabs (set suitable tab stops instead) and hard page breaks (use the paragraph layout options instead). Your documents will still tend to look slightly different on different computers, though.