Techie Question .... Sort of ....

Is there a way to use MS Word to measure how many column inches a story is? I've heard numerous different ways: 30/35/40 words = 1 inch, but I'm curious if there is something more scientific or what my fellow hacks use.

 

Length x width x height

 

It really depends on the font and type. I know at an old shop we were using 100 words = 3.5 inches as our formula.

 

depends on your paper's type size, font, column width, kerning? they still call it kerning?

 

Set up a template in Word where the columns are the same width as the columns in your paper. You can probably squeeze three columns of copy onto one page. Then use the rulers on the side of the page. Just subtract however many inches you use for headline, deck and byline. Not really a difficult process.

Or you could just write your stories in Quark.

 

Just as easy ... write 1,000 words, send it in to your desk. Have them tell you how long the story is. And then do some math and make yourself a list. 1,000 words = 20 inches; 900 words = 18 inches; 800 = 16; etc.

 

All good points. I probably should have mentioned I do a ton of stringing and I didn't take into account that different papes have different settings. Thanks for the insight.

 

pffftt, well... yeah. If you want to do it the easy way....