Using WordPerfect and Word

Microsoft Word provides converters and tools to help you make the transition from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word.

Converting from WordPerfect 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2

You can use the WordPerfect 5.x converter to open WordPerfect 5.x documents in Office Word 2003. You cannot save a Office Word 2003 document in WordPerfect 5.x format.

Note When you convert a document from WordPerfect 5.x to Office Word 2003, you can use the Font Substitution button on the Compatibility tab of the Options dialog box to specify the fonts to use.

Show Character formatting

All caps: Not supported.
Hidden: Not supported.
Strikethrough: Supported. WordPerfect strikeout becomes strikethrough formatting in Word. WordPerfect redlining becomes tracked changes in Word.
Underlining: Supported. Underlining format is preserved, but the type of underlining may be changed.
Spacing (condensed, expanded): Not supported.
Kerning: Supported.

Show Paragraph formatting

Alignment: Supported.
First-line indents: Supported.
Page break before: Not supported.
Space before/after paragraphs: Not supported.
Tab leaders: Supported. The dot, minus sign, and underscore tab leaders convert to the same in Word. All other WordPerfect tab leaders convert to dot leaders in Word.
Leading/baselines, lines/baselines: Not supported.
[Center]/[Flsh Rgt] codes: Supported. Center and Flush Right codes convert to center- and right-aligned tab stops.
Widow control: Supported.

Show Section formatting

Margins: Supported. Word margins are measured from the paper's edge to body text; WordPerfect margins are measured from the edge to the header. The conversion adjusts the margins as needed to preserve page layout. If you experience problems with margins (for example, if they are set outside the printable range in Word), click Page Setup (File menu), select the Margins tab, select the options you want, and then click OK. If margins need to be adjusted, Word prompts you to fix them.
Newspaper columns: Supported.
Parallel columns: Supported. Parallel columns convert to tables. If a parallel column layout contains a page-anchored box, the entire parallel column layout converts to newspaper columns.

Show Tables

Tables: Supported. Vertical merging of cells is not converted.
Table formulas/math: Not supported.
Decimal table cell alignment: Supported. Decimal table cell alignment is converted to right paragraph alignment.

Show Document formatting

Default tab stops: Supported.
Footnotes: Supported.
Gutter margins, paper size: Supported.

Show Other features

Comments: Not supported.
Outlining/paragraph numbers/Office Word 2003 lists: Supported. WordPerfect paragraph numbers convert to Word sequence fields by default.
Print merge commands: Supported. Word automatically converts WordPerfect secondary files to Word data source document format. Conditional print merge constructs and macros are lost when converting to Word.
Date/time stamps: Supported. Default formats only.
Subdocuments (INCLUDE field): Supported.
Equations: Not supported.
Extended characters: Supported. Not all extended characters are converted.
Text boxes/lines: Supported. Some text boxes and lines convert to Word drawing layer objects. Drawing layer objects are visible only in page layout view, in print preview, and when printed. Drawing layer objects do not appear in normal view.
Line draw: Supported. WordPerfect line draw characters are converted; however, Word line spacing causes gaps to appear between line draw characters on successive lines. To correct this problem for printing, set line spacing to the exact current font size in points. Choose Paragraph from the Format menu to change line spacing.
Macros: Not supported.
PRIVATE field codes: Supported. PRIVATE fields are inserted by the converter to preserve information needed to accurately save the file back to WordPerfect format. These fields should not be edited and have no effect on the document.
Styles: Supported. Styles containing paragraph formatting codes convert to paragraph styles. WordPerfect styles containing only character formatting convert to character styles in Word. Text contained in a style is converted as normal text.; Other features, such as tables, graphics, and so on, are retained in documents but are not given Word styles.

Converting from WordPerfect 6.x for Windows or DOS

You can use the WordPerfect 6.x converter to open WordPerfect 6.x documents in Office Word 2003. You cannot save a Office Word 2003 document in WordPerfect 6.x format.

Note If you're having trouble with the layout of a document you're converting from WordPerfect 6.x to Office Word 2003, try the following: Reopen the document in WordPerfect 6.x, press CTRL+END or scroll to the end of the document, and save the document again in WordPerfect 6.x format before opening it in Office Word 2003.

Show Character formatting

Strikeout and redlining: Supported. Strikeout becomes strikethrough formatting in Word; redlining becomes tracked changes in Word.
Kerning: Supported.
Word and letter spacing: Not supported.
Hidden text: Supported.

Show Paragraph formatting

[Center]/[Flsh Rgt] codes: Supported. Center and Flush Right codes convert to center- and right-aligned tabs.
Back tabs: Supported. Back tabs that are preceded by text are not converted.
Default tabs: Supported. Trailing default tabs at the ends of lines are not converted.
Tab leaders: Supported. Dot, minus sign, and underscore tab leaders are converted to the same tab leaders in Word. All other tab leaders become dot leaders in Word.
Keep Text Together properties: Supported.
Leading adjustment between lines/baselines: Not supported.
Paragraph margins: Supported. Paragraph margins are converted to left and right paragraph indents in Word.
Spacing between paragraphs: Supported. Spacing between paragraphs becomes Spacing After paragraph format in Word.
Styles: Supported. Styles containing paragraph formatting codes convert to paragraph styles. WordPerfect styles containing only character formatting convert to character styles in Word. Text contained in a style is converted as normal text.

Show Section formatting

Margins: Supported. WordPerfect margins are measured from the top and bottom edge of the page to the top of the header and bottom of the footer, respectively. Word margins are measured from the paper's edge to body text. The conversion adjusts the margins to preserve page layout. If margins do not convert correctly, click Page Setup on the File menu, click the Margins tab, select the options you want, and then click OK.
Parallel columns: Supported. Parallel columns convert to tables.

Show Tables

Table vertical cell merge and cell alignment: Supported.

Show Document settings

Footnotes: Supported. Custom footnote marks are converted to automatically numbered marks. If the numbering format of notes is changed in a document, the notes numbered with the new format are converted as custom notes.

Show Other features

Comments: Supported. Word does not retain comments in headers, footers, footnotes, and endnotes.
Outlining/paragraph numbers/counters: Supported. All are converted to numbers in Word.
Master documents and subdocuments: Supported.
Equations: Supported. Equations are converted as editable equation objects. Equation fields are not converted.
Text boxes/lines: Supported. Some text boxes and lines convert to Word drawing layer objects. Drawing layer objects are visible only in page layout view, print preview, and when printed.; Graphics boxes that are anchored to a page or paragraph, have wrap-around text, and are located in tables, parallel columns, or headers/footers are converted to boxes with wrap through in Word. In most cases, these boxes become drawing layer objects in Word.; Graphics lines become solid lines. Text that is tight-wrapped around a graphic becomes square-wrapped.
Macros: Not supported.
Advance: Supported. Advance codes are converted to ADVANCE fields in Word. Advance codes that move text upward on a page cannot be fully emulated in Word.
Bookmarks: Supported.
Borders and fill (for column and page): Not supported.
Captions: Not supported.
Chapter and volume numbers: Not supported.
Cross-references and hypertext links: Not supported. They are retained as plain text in Word.
Drop caps: Not supported.
Indexes and lists: Not supported. Indexes and lists are retained as plain text in Word.
Insert Filename: Supported.
Labels and barcodes: Not supported. Text of labels is retained in Word.
Line numbers: Not supported.
Merge codes: Not supported. Merge constructs and macros are lost when converting to Word.
Page features (center page, page binding, and subdivide pages): Supported. Center page and page binding are supported.
Watermarks: Supported.
WordPerfect characters: Supported. If the WordPerfect fonts containing the characters are available on the system, all the characters are converted. If one or more of these fonts are not available, some characters may not be converted.

Tools and Tips

WordPerfect Help

You can use the WordPerfect Help feature to receive instructions or demonstrations for Word procedures when you press the equivalent WordPerfect shortcut keystrokes. For example, to learn more about printing in Word, press SHIFT+F7.

WordPerfect navigation keys

You can use the WordPerfect Navigation feature in Word to change the function of certain keys to WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS equivalents. For example, to position the insertion point to the left side of the screen, press HOME+LEFT ARROW.

Show Turn on or off WordPerfect Help or navigation keys

On the Help menu, click WordPerfect Help.
Click Options.
Select the options you want.

To print this topic, press CTRL+P.

WordPerfect command	WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS shortcut keys	Microsoft Word shortcut keys
Align Center	SHIFT+F6, SHIFT+F8, 1, 3, 2	CTRL+E to center text in a paragraph
Bold	F6, CTRL+F8, 2, 1	CTRL+B
Font	CTRL+F8	CTRL+D
Block	ALT+F4	SHIFT+ arrow key
Comment	CTRL+F5, 4, 2	ALT+CTRL+M
Date Code	SHIFT+F5, 2	ALT+SHIFT+D
Reveal Codes	ALT+F3	SHIFT+F1, click
Delete Word	CTRL+BACKSPACE	CTRL+BACKSPACE CTRL+DELETE
Delete to End of Line	CTRL+END	SHIFT+END, DELETE
Delete to End of Page	CTRL+PAGE DOWN	SHIFT+DOWN ARROW (to end of page), DELETE
Delete to Left Word Boundary	HOME+BACKSPACE	CTRL+BACKSPACE
Delete to Right Word Boundary	HOME+DELETE	CTRL+DELETE
Delete Block	ALT+F4+DELETE	F8, arrow key, DELETE
Double Underline	CTRL+F8, 2, 3	CTRL+SHIFT+D
Endnote	CTRL+F7, 2, 1	ALT+CTRL+D
Exit	F7	ALT+F4
Flush Right	ALT+F6	Right tab to right align text on a single line CTRL+R to right align text in a paragraph
Footnote	CTRL+F7, 1, 1	ALT+CTRL+F
Help	F3	F1
Indent	F4	CTRL+M
Italic	CTRL+F8, 2, 4	CTRL+I
Justify Center	SHIFT+F8, 1, 3, 2	CTRL+E
Justify Full	SHIFT+F8, 1, 3, 4	CTRL+J
Justify Left	SHIFT+F8, 1, 3, 1	CTRL+L
Justify Right	SHIFT+F8, 1, 3, 3	CTRL+R
Margin Release	SHIFT+TAB	CTRL+T (hanging indent)
Mark Index Entry	ALT+F5, 3	ALT+SHIFT+X
Mark Table of Authorities Entry	ALT+F5, 4	ALT+SHIFT+I
Mark Table of Contents Entry	ALT+F5, 5, 1	ALT+SHIFT+O
Print	SHIFT+F7	CTRL+P
Replace	ALT+F2	CTRL+H
Retrieve File	SHIFT+F10	CTRL+O (Open command)
Save	F10	CTRL+S
Save As	CTRL+F5, 3	F12
Search (backward)	SHIFT+F2	CTRL+F
Search (forward)	F2	CTRL+F
Small Caps	CTRL+F8, 2, 7	CTRL+SHIFT+K
Spell	CTRL+F2	F7
Subscript	CTRL+F8, 1, 2	CTRL+EQUAL SIGN
Superscript	CTRL+F8, 1, 1	CTRL+SHIFT+PLUS SIGN
Switch Document	SHIFT+F3	CTRL+F6
Thesaurus	ALT+F1	SHIFT+F7
Underline	F8, CTRL+F8, 2, 2	CTRL+U
Undo	F1	CTRL+Z
View Document	SHIFT+F7, 6	CTRL+F2 (Print Preview command)

Block text: The equivalent of blocking text in WordPerfect is selecting text in Word. If you prefer to be prompted before deleting, use the WordPerfect navigation keys.
Protect blocks of text: To control how text flows or stays together in Word, use commands on the Line and Page Breaks tab of the Paragraph dialog box (Format menu, Paragraph command).
Customize how Word handles converted documents: You can customize how Word handles converted documents by using the options on the Compatibility tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu, Options command).
Convert specialized WordPerfect fonts: The Microsoft Office 97 Resource Kit includes specialized fonts to improve the conversion of characters— such as graphics created with line draw or equations— so that they appear and print more smoothly in Microsoft Word.
Generate tables of contents, indexes, and tables of authorities: Click where you want to insert these items, and then use the Index and Tables command (point to Reference on the Insert menu).
Use legal features: Word provides features that might be helpful for legal documents. Two examples are the Pleading Wizard and support of automatic numbering in paragraph text.; For more information about legal features, search on the keyword legal in Word help.
Use graphics features similar to line draw: Word can convert text-based line draw characters from WordPerfect to a TrueType Linedraw font in a Word document. Word also provides rich graphics features, including 3-D shapes, page borders, document backgrounds, textured fills, and graphical text.
Use formulas and math: You can work with formulas in tables by clicking in a table and then using the Formula command (Table menu).; You can create equations by using the Field command (Insert menu) or by using Equation Editor (Insert menu, Object command, Microsoft Equation 3.0).
Create various types of indents (similar to using the F4 command): In Word, you can create indents in which all lines in a paragraph are indented to the right or to the left. You can also create indents in which the first line is indented more or less than the lines below it. For more information, search on the keyword indenting in the Word help.
Create form letters or use merge codes: Use the Mail Merge task pane (Tools menu, Letters and Mailings command, Mail Merge) to create form letters, mailing labels, and envelopes using information that you supply or create. Your data can come from WordPerfect, Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Outlook Personal Address Books, and other sources, as well as tab-delimited text, and you can use conditional queries to merge the data.
Insert charts: You can use Microsoft Graph or Microsoft Excel to insert charts. You can use chart data from a Word table, a datasheet in Microsoft Graph, or a worksheet in Microsoft Excel.
Redline text: You can use the Strikethrough check box in the Font dialog box (Format menu, Font command, Font tab) to apply a similar effect to selected text. Several other text effects, such as shadow, emboss, engrave, and animated text, are also available in this dialog box.