Paragraph Mark vs. Paragraph Character

Here is the scenario:  Client had Adobe reader not the Professional version.  They only had an Adobe version of a particular document and they wanted to take the text of that Adobe file and clean it up and style it in MS Word.

1.  The Adobe Document was one that was created from the desktop meaning that it was created while in MS Word and therefore it would be immediately searchable and text accessible.

2.  They selected the text of the PDF file and copied the text over to MS Word bringing it in using paste special and unformatted text.

3.  When the text came in, every line had a hard return that they wanted to get rid of using global replace.  I suggested that before they do a wholesale global of the hard returns, they should protect the legitimate ends of the paragraphs so that they can then concentrate on the remainder of the "unnecessary" hard returns that were brought over from the PDF file. With me so far?  They might have been better off just scanning the hard copy and saving the scan as a MS Word file then cleaning it up.

4.  In the current scenario, I suggested that they search for . (Period) and hard return and replace that with a character that would stick out and act as a temporary placeholder to represent all instances of "." and hard return (thus, the end of a paragraph).  I suggested using the ampersand symbol "&" as the placeholder symbol.  Yes, I could have made use of  the "wildcard" feature in MS Word but, I was not sure of exactly how to use it.  In fact the wild card would be quicker.

5.  They tried my suggestion and told me that no replacements were made.  They had confused Paragraph Mark vs. Paragraph Character.  When doing this particular global involving the period and hard return, you go to search and replace and search for . (Period) then you go to special and choose "Paragraph Mark"

6.  Replace with a character such as  "&" (ampersand) which will act as a place holder until you get rid of the extraneous and unnecessary hard returns by searching for hard return (paragraph mark) and replacing them with a regular space.

7.  Finally, when all of your unnecessary hard returns are gone, reverse the first global you did and that will put back your period and hard return at the end of each paragraph.

8.  Remember, Paragraph Mark refers to a "return symbol" or end of the paragraph while Paragraph Character "¶" refers to the actual paragraph symbol that is used in a document as part of a citation).  

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