Automatically delete a file after X days

Topic

New Reply

Is there a way to put a watermark in Word documents, so that it appears when the file is viewed on the screen? I’ve routinely used watermarks for printed draft documents, but it would be nice to be able to use them on electronically-distributed documents, too. I’ve been just adding the word DRAFT to page headers, but a watermark would be a better solution. Thanks.

P.S. Users should be careful when distributing electronic copies of Word documents. Some personal information (e.g., user name) or other confidential information (e.g., Track Changes) may remain embedded in the file. This could lead to later embarassment (or worse). There has been some discussion of this issue in Woody’s Office Watch over the years.

Reply | Quote

Replies

If the document is for viewing , and not for editing, then the best way may be to distribute a PDF version.
The PDF version would appear on screen as it would appear printed.

And, using PDF eliminates the Word stuff you don’t want others to see.

Reply | Quote

For someone like me who always changes the View to Normal if possible, the watermark wouldn’t be visible. Otherwise, you could put a graphic in the header. The steps and potential problems with those kinds of watermarks have been discussed here, although perhaps more ask how to remove them…

Question: how does this relate to the subject line of your message? Did you need the watermark to be “date sensitive”?

Reply | Quote

I also prefer working in the Normal view. That’s probably a holdover habit from the old days of Word 2.0 and ‘286 computers, when other views caused a real performance hit. As far as I know, the watermarks/backgrounds are only visible in Web Layout (or possibly Print Layout) view. This defeats the purpose of making sure that a recipient of an electronic Word document knows that it is a draft. The PDF solution is probably the best one, but I wanted to use a tool I already had, if possible.

I didn’t need a time-sensitive watermark. My post was to a thread on the Windows 98 board, responding to an enquiry about a “time bomb” function to automatically delete files after a specified time had expired. Kind of like the old Mission Impossible scenario: this file will destruct in 60 seconds. Someone suggested that watermarks would be a better solution to his problem; hence,my question. The context for all of this disappeared when my post got transferred to the Word board. Thank you to those who responded.

Reply | Quote