If the documents you're receiving through DocShuttle are unreadable (lots of rectangles and weird characters), then one of two things is happening:
- The Encryption Passwords don't match, or
- The transcriptionist is using Word 2007 and you've got Word 2003 (or earlier).
Encryption Password
Most of the time, when a document file is garbled, it's because the Encryption Passwords in the DocShuttle Dictator receiving the file and the DocShuttle Transcriptionist that sent the file do not match. Every DocShuttle user in the system must have a matching Encryption Password.
To change the Encryption Password, open DocShuttle, click on the Tools menu, and select Settings. The Encryption Password box is in the lower, right-hand corner of the screen.
Once it has been verified that the Encryption Passwords match, the DocShuttle Transcriptionist user will need to re-upload the documents, and the DocShuttle Dictator user will need to re-download the documents.
Word 2007 and Earlier Versions
With the introduction of Word 2007 with Windows Vista, Microsoft created a new type of document file: .docx (older versions of Word created .doc files). These kinds of files are unreadable in older versions of Word, and opening a .docx file in Word 2003 (or previous) will show lots of weird characters.
There are two ways to fix this issue:
- Download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack (available at www.microsoft.com) and install it onto every computer that is using an older version of Word. It's free, and it's probably something you'll need to do anyway if you have an older version of Word.
- Or, you can have the transcriptionist save the files in an older version in Word 2007. To do this, click on the Save menu in Word, and select "Save As...". Then change the format to .doc for Word 2003 or older.
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