Thesis format check in Lattuce — upload Word, fix layout, verify before you submit

Graduate students lose days to Word formatting — wrong margins on the cover page, Roman numerals in the preliminary section, double spacing that slipped back to single. You already wrote the thesis. The last mile is tedious and easy to miss.

Format mode in Lattuce Writer is a checklist-driven pass over your .docx file: upload your near-final Word document, see what fails, apply safe automatic fixes where the tool is confident, and keep a side-by-side preview so you can see what changed. It does not replace your supervisor, the graduate school, or a careful read in Word — it catches repeatable layout mistakes early.

Who this is for

If you are still writing chapters from sources and citations, start in Compose and export to Word later (sources to DOCX). Format mode is for the layout pass on an existing .docx.

Before you start

Format check runs in your Lattuce account at lattuce.app with your paper data — no separate formatting SaaS. For what is available today, see where you can use Lattuce.

How it works (overview)

1. Upload your thesis .docx and pick a checklist.
2. Run check — each rule reports pass, fail, manual, or unsupported.
3. Review the list — click a row to highlight the matching area in the preview when possible.
4. Apply fixes — safe layout patches (fonts, margins, spacing, some numbering) run on a copy; your upload stays as the original.
5. Verify — after fixes, Lattuce re-runs the checklist on the formatted copy and marks items fixed only when they truly passed.
6. Download original or formatted Word files for final review in Microsoft Word.

You always get two panes when a formatted copy exists: Original on the left, Formatted on the right, with optional sync scroll and highlight overlays for failures and changes.

Step-by-step

1 — Open Format mode

1. Open your paper from Library or Papers.
2. In the workspace mode tabs, choose Format (or open /papers/your-slug/format).
3. If you do not see Format in the tab bar, use More workspace modes — it is grouped with Compose, Read, and Revise.

2 — Choose checklist and upload

1. Under Checklist, select UM Thesis Formatting Checklist (BM/BI) (or the checklist your admin provides).
2. Click Upload DOCX and select your thesis file.
3. Wait for the job to finish — progress appears in the toolbar.

Lattuce stores your upload as the original copy for this paper. Re-upload if you replace the file with a newer draft.

3 — Run check (or re-check)

After upload, a check usually runs automatically. To scan again after you edit outside Lattuce:

1. Click Run check.
2. Read the summary in the checklist panel: pass · fail · fixed · manual.

Each row shows a short label tied to the faculty checklist (for example cover font size, main body double spacing, abstract word count).

4 — Understand the results

Section labels (cover, preliminary, main body) are inferred from headings and patterns in your document. Unusual thesis structures may mis-target a rule — treat odd results as a signal to open Word, not as a final verdict.

Preview highlights are approximate anchors in the rendered view. Always confirm critical fixes in Word before submission.

5 — Apply fixes

1. Click Apply fixes to patch the formatted copy (original upload unchanged).
2. Optional: Dry run previews what would change without writing the formatted file.
3. For single-section Word files (cover + title + preliminary + body in one section), Lattuce may show Section breaks recommended. Use Insert break on a row, or Re-shell to rebuild section breaks and margins from the committed UM checklist shell (.dotx) before style fixes run.
4. Right-click a failing checklist row or a highlighted paragraph in the preview → Apply or Dry run for that rule only (scoped apply).
5. After apply, a verify banner summarizes post-fix counts when verification ran.

Typical automatic fixes include:

• Section breaks where cover, title page, preliminary, and main body need separate Word sections (margins and Roman/decimal numbering).
• Times New Roman sizes on detected sections, margin corrections, double spacing on body paragraphs that failed the rule, and preliminary Roman numeral setup.

Items like signed declaration stay manual. APA citations are advisory only — Lattuce may flag APA-like or numeric citation shapes, but citations never auto-pass; references always need your eye.

6 — Compare and download

1. Turn on Sync scroll to move through original and formatted together.
2. Turn on Show changes on formatted to emphasize patched paragraphs.
3. Use Download original or Download formatted when you are ready to finish in Word.

Submit the file your school expects — usually the formatted copy after you agree with the changes, or your own merge in Word.

Two common workflows

Path A — Export from Lattuce, then format

1. Write and cite in Compose (literature review guide).
2. Export to Word when sections are approved.
3. Open the same paper in Format, upload the export (or a saved copy), run the checklist.

Path B — Word-first thesis, check in Lattuce

1. Keep writing in Word or Scrivener (Scrivener vs Lattuce).
2. When chapters are stable, upload the combined .docx to a Lattuce paper.
3. Run Format mode before graduate-school submission.

If you also need EN↔MS chapter translation, that is a separate collaborative workflow (thesis chapter translation) — Format mode does not translate text.

What Format mode does not do

• Replace Word — final pagination, odd section breaks, and print preview still belong in Word.
• Guarantee faculty approval — checklists mirror published rules; your school may update requirements.
• Fix citations completely — bibliography and APA nuance need human review.
• Edit your Lattuce Compose draft directly — it works on uploaded .docx files; merge formatted output back into your writing flow manually if needed.

Related reading

• Literature review with Lattuce — research and writing before export
• Sources to DOCX — full manuscript export path
• Scrivener vs Lattuce — when you draft outside Lattuce
• Translate a thesis chapter — bilingual segments, not layout
• Where you can use Lattuce today — cloud now; apps on the way