In Microsoft Word, I need more precision when setting tab stops and
when adjusting column widths of a table.

Lately, it seems that the horizontal ruler will let me set tab stops
only at certain increments (e.g. 1/8 inch).  The same is true for
column widths.

Is there some way to tell Word that I want finer precision?

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Request for Question Clarification by hummer-ga on 13 Feb 2006 16:45 PST

Hi rambler,

See if any of the suggestions at the following link help you
(especially the "...Alt key in combination with any of the first three
Ctrl and Shift tricks..")

Sizing rows and columns in Word
http://www.ismckenzie.com/2005/10/sizing_rows_and_columns_in_wor.html

Will look forward to hearing from you,
hummer

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Clarification of Question by rambler-ga on 14 Feb 2006 07:37 PST

Perfect, post your answer!

Dear rambler,

Thanks for the great news and for giving me the opportunity to post my
answer. Here it is again to make it official.

Sizing rows and columns in Word
http://www.ismckenzie.com/2005/10/sizing_rows_and_columns_in_wor.html

Happy sizing,
hummer

The exact answer I needed! (While resizing table columns or moving tab
settings, just hold down the ALT key to get fine precision.)

Sure-
Click inside your table
Go up to the Menu Bar on the top and click on the Table Menu
From the Table Menu Click on Properties.
You can set your colum widths just like you set page margins, by numbers. 
Select the Column Tab.

Menu bar\Table\Properties\The box/window titled Table Properties\Table Tab
Near the bottom click on options button, here you can set how much
spacing there should be within your cells. Think of it a cell margins.
I usually use 0.04

You can set Tabs numreically as well, within a Table or just in regualry text.

To set Tabs in a Table Select your columns, 
Go to the Menu Bar way up on Top Select Format
Select Tabs
In the tabs Box first box on the left, type in 0.25" and then click on
the Set Button. If you want to remove tabe stops jsut select it form
the ones you ahve set and click Clear.

Pretty easy for those of us who know but very frustrating if you are
not aware of the features.

Good Luck to you and I congratulate you for wanting to keep learning
and not just throwing up your hands and giving up. Good For You!!!

I greatly appreciate your comments, but I was hoping to find a way to
drag things on the horizontal ruler with a little more precision.

For example, when I'm working in a table, the horizontal ruler shows
things that look like little 'grids' (4 x 4 dots), each one
representing the left or right side of a column.  I can still use my
mouse to grab one of those little 'grids' and slide it left or right
in order to adjust the width of the column, but I can only do so in
large increments (like 1/8 inch).

Unless my mind is failing me, there used to be smaller increments
(maybe 1/16 inch).

How can I tell Word to give me finer precision?  I really don't want
to go to Table Properties and guess at a number for column width.

Thank you, rambler, for the nice rating and tip, and also for the
precise wording of the solution :)   Sincerely, hummer