If you need to send a document as an e-mail attachment but want to make sure the recipients can't modify it, you have two options. One is to save the file as Read Only. To do this in Word 97, select File-Save As-Options, and then put a check in the Read-only recommended box; in Word 2000, choose File-Save As, select Tools-General Options in the Save dialogue box, and click the Read-only recommended box. Alternatively, you can make the files Read Only by right-clicking their icons within a Windows folder, selecting Properties, and clicking the Read-only box.

Unfortunately, determined power users will find it fairly easy to undo this operation and gain full edit rights to your document. My work-around is simple: convert your document to a picture format that can't be edited easily but can still be opened and viewed. This tip works in Word 97 and 2000, as well as in WordPerfect 9, but not in WordPerfect 8. Follow these steps to create a more secure document:

1. If the document is only one page long, press <Ctrl>-A to select all of it. If the document is longer than a page, you must select its contents by highlighting one page at a time because, when pasted as an image (step 5), only one page is pasted.

2. Select Edit-Copy or press <Ctrl>-C to copy the document to the clipboard.

3. Select File-New to create a new, blank document.

4. Select Edit-Paste Special to access additional options for reproducing the page.

5. In the 'As' list of the Paste Special dialogue box, choose Picture if you use Word or Picture (Metafile) if you use WordPerfect, and then click OK.

6. If you are working with a multipage document, press <Ctrl>-<Enter> to create a fresh page in the new document. Select the next page in the original document and copy it to the clipboard before switching to the new document. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each original page.

7. Select File-Save As and save the new document with a new file name. In Word, be sure to save the file in either Word 97 or Word 2000 format. (If you save it in Word 6.0/95, the contents won't be visible to the recipients.) Send this new file, rather than the original.

Note: The new document file, composed of graphical images, will be larger than the original text document. The graphics are in Windows Metafile format, so they won't be excessively large for e-mailing. If the size still worries you, zip the file before you send it.

Caution: Though files created in this way aren't easy to change, they can be altered in any editor application capable of working with WMF files (including Word itself, as well as Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop and others) So you shouldn't think of these documents as completely secure.

George Campbell