Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2020 February 6

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February 6

Superimposing typed text onto a hand drawn map of Chatham, NJ, in 1782

I need to hand draw a sketch/map of the above location. It will be difficult to include all the place names in some sections because of lack of space. Is there a downloadable (preferably free) software package which will allow me to superimpose the typed text onto this hand drawn map (which will simply be drawn on a piece of A4 paper and then scanned into a jpeg document)? Please could replies be aimed at a 3-year old since my IT comprehension is very limited indeed (actual age 75 - yes, I know, the 3-year old would understand better)! Arbil44 (talk) 13:28, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Inkscape 87.112.46.88 (talk) 15:01, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Another approach is to use the web-based editor Smallpdf. Then you do not need to download and install any software. Using Smallpdf you can convert the jpeg file to a pdf file, edit it to add text, and convert the result back to jpeg. They have a free 14–day trial, which should be enough for your purposes. Disclaimer: I have never used Smallpdf, so I have no opinion about its practical usability. I have used Inkscape and found it awkward and slow; also, if you use a Mac, you need to install additional software (XQuartz) before you can use it.  --Lambiam 20:37, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your replies. I will definitely give Smallpdf a go. Arbil44 (talk) 22:42, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Anybody know about linking Excel and Word documents?

I have some tables in Excel which I'd like to incorporate into a Word document.
I'd like the document to automatically update if I update the spreadsheet.
I did a little research and discovered that there's a "linking" feature which should do just what I want: you copy cells in Excel, then use Paste Special when you paste them into the Word document, and the Paste Special dialog has a checkbox you can check to create a link.

The first time I tried this, it worked astonishingly well, even better than I expected: Having set up the link, I could go to the spreadsheet and update the value in a cell, then go back to Word, and the value there would update almost instantaneously. (I didn't even have to save the modified spreadsheet or anything.) Perfect! Almost magic!

Except... tragedy. After that first, pleasantly successful test, now it's not working so well. Half the time, "Paste Special" in Word is greyed out, and therefore won't let me create the link at all. Other times, it lets me create the link, but after not very long, changes stop propagating.

I have no idea if I'm doing something wrong, or if the feature is uselessly, nondeterministically buggy, or what.

I've tried this on two different Macs, using Word and Excel 2011 and 2017, and I'm seeing similarly inconsistent results with both.

Anybody have any experience with this? Any secrets you can impart? —Steve Summit (talk) 23:41, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

This features is supposed to work... and I have usually seen it work...

By any chance, are you linking documents that are non-local - in other words, stored on shared network file systems or something like that?

Microsoft's official help-page explains how to control when external reference links are updated - and they actually say that "you may run into performance issues..." and it may become "confusing and difficult to manage." Were I experienced in the ways of corporate-ese, I might presume that verbage is a gloss for "nondeterministically buggy..."

Nimur (talk) 16:28, 7 February 2020 (UTC)

@Nimur: Both spreadsheets are physically on the same, local machine. (Although part of the reason I said the feature worked "like magic" was that the first time I tried it, I think, the spreadsheet and/or the Word doc were brand-new and hadn't even been saved to files yet, and that was one of the times it *worked*. I should probably perform more experiments with files that have and haven't been saved, to see if that offers any clues.) —Steve Summit (talk) 12:45, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Just curious - is it possible that the Excel pieces that don't work are not in defined tables? When a table is formally defined in Excel, it's a much more robust arrangemnt; it's essentially a database and much more amenable to (at least) other forms of linking. For example, you can query from that table whereas you cannot for a plain Excel document. Even if that's not a specific pattern you've noticed, I would always recommend defining tables in Excel wherever possible. Matt Deres (talk) 19:02, 7 February 2020 (UTC)

@Matt Deres: Thanks for the suggestions abut tables, I'll give that a try. —Steve Summit (talk) 12:45, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

@Scs: Is your version pre-2007 or 2007-16? Maccore Henni _{Mii! Pictochat Mii!} 22:40, 7 February 2020 (UTC)

@Mac Henni: I've tried this on two different Macs, using Word and Excel 2011 and 2017, and I'm seeing similarly inconsistent results with both. —Steve Summit (talk) 12:45, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

@Scs: What version of macOS are you running? To figure it out, go to "Apple|About this Mac" and look in the middle of that dialog. You then might want to read this: [[1]]

@Mac Henni: One Mac is 10.13.2 High Sierra. The other one is at work so I'll have to check later. —Steve Summit (talk) 11:38, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

@Scs: Did you look at the article I linked? Your version of macOS might also be culprit. Maccore Henni _{Mii! Pictochat Mii!} 16:07, 11 February 2020 (UTC)