Quotes - Smart Quotes

[Puma]

In Word, one of the auto-formatting options is to replace quote marks with smart quote marks (to me quotes appear to be straight and smart quotes are curly). I have all the auto-format options turned off, but somehow that option got changed part way through my revision process and now I have a mish-mash of straight and curly quote marks. I want them all the same. But, when I try to make them uniform by only asking Word to change all the quotes to smart quotes, it also changes my double spaced manuscript to single spaced.

Is there a way to do this without having to go through the spacing issue and then back again? Thanks for any help. Puma

[Kryianna]

I personally do a find-and-replace to get rid of the smart quotes...I'd love to know of an easier way to do that, though.

[DeleyanLee]

Check your format-->style and see if "automatically update" is checked. If it is, then it'll automatically change tons of stuff when you're only trying to do one thing.

Highly annoying feature. I always turn it off.

And, honestly, I just do a "find and replace all" when I'm cleaning up my quotation marks and apostrophes. Takes care of it in a search for each.

[Puma]

Okay - both of you Kryianna and Deleyanlee sound like you have an option of which you use. If I have the auto features turned off I get straight quotes, but if I mark it I can change straight quotes to smart quotes - I don't see how I can go the other way (or that I have a find and replace option of changing the smart quotes to straight quotes). Can you tell me how you're getting both types of quote marks. Thanks a bunch. Puma

[heyjude]

Anyone? (Slight whimper) Please? Help me... I mean, Puma, with this problem. I'm so frustrated by this! How do you find and replace? Putting " into the search box just nets me an "A".

Thanks!

[Medievalist]

You can do it in several stages.

1. Look up the character for the open and closed, double and single, quotes.
2. Replace each of them with the straight version.

Alternatively, send me the file and I'll do it--I have special tools.

[Dale Emery]

0. Make a copy of your document, in case something goes wrong.
1. Select one of the smart quotes.
2. Press Ctrl-H
3. Notice that there's a quotation mark in the "find what" box (that's the reason for selecting one first: so that it shows up in the "find what" box).
4. In the "replace with" box, type a quotation mark.
5. Click "replace all"

In Word 2007, that will replace all smart quotes (open and closed) with straight quotes (assuming you've turned off the "replace straight quotes with smart quotes" option). If you're using a different version of Word, I don't know whether the behavior will be the same.

You may have to do the same with single quotes.

Dale

[heyjude]

I tried this and it changed a few, but only a few. In the last couple of minutes I've realized there's something seriously screwy with this document. It's a ms written in .doc and imported to .docx, not sure if that matters. It shouldn't, but something's wrong.

But, having said that, I tried this with a document created entirely in .docx and it only changed a few there too.

Grrr... thanks, so much, for these quick suggestions. I'm going to give up for tonight. I'll try again fresh tomorrow!

[heyjude]

Oh, also Dale Emery, instead of a quotation mark in the find what box there's a parenthetical mark, like this: ( . If that looks like I'm frowning, I am. :cry: Any thoughts on why that would happen?

Thank you!

[Dale Emery]

Oh, also Dale Emery, instead of a quotation mark in the find what box there's a parenthetical mark, like this: ( . If that looks like I'm frowning, I am. :cry: Any thoughts on why that would happen?

If that were to happen to me, I'd do what you've probably already done: Double- and triple-check what I'd selected.

If you're double-sure you're selecting exactly one quotation mark and nothing else, I can't think of why that would happen. Sorry :(

Dale

[giusti]

This is why I don't use Word....

If getting them all straight ends up working using Find and Replace, you could probably also do it vice-versa. You would just have to search for [Space here]" and replace it with “. And for curling the other way, search "[space here] and replace with ”. It may miss a few, but I've generally found this method to work.

-giusti