_____/ On Wed 23 Nov 2005 13:31:15 GMT, [Helge Hafting] wrote : \_____
Bonhôte, André wrote:
Hi!
I am completely new to this list, and even newer to LyX. I used to
work with LaTeX some years ago, but now I find LyX easier to work
with.
It is easier and often quicker too, i.e. it gives you the product more
rapidly. The 'entry barrier' is also lower, which makes
LaTeX/DVI/PostScript/PDF accessible to a wider audience.
My goal is to create technical documentation in a consitent manner.
We have some CI guidelines I will have to follow, like a bitmap on
top and one on the bottom of each page. There, the questions begin:
1 - Is it possible to add a header/footer which is really at the
edge of the page? If yes, are there examples around I could steal
from?
You can definitely move outside the margins, although you may have to
use some
latex commands to get there. You can use commands like
\hspace{2cm} or \hspace{-3mm} to go right and left, respectively. And you
can \vspace*{-3cm} to go up (or down) in similiar ways.
Additionally, you can embed background image in all of your pages so that
templating with graphics becomes easily-doable. Contact me off-list if you
want an example LyX file.
If you need to put a complicated layout outside the margins, use
hspace and vspace to get to the upper left corner, then place a box
(\makebox{} or similiar of desired size. That way, you effectively get
new margins until the end of the box command.)
You don't always need hspace/vspace either, a box extends through the
right and lower margins if you make it big enough, and through the upper
if you use \raisebox.
2 - Currently I am copy/pasting stuff from old word docs to LyX. I
am using the koma book document layout right now. Is it possible to
change it later easily to my *own* one?
Yes. After creating your own layout (which is some work), changing into
it is easy. Simply set the document layout to be "your" layout instead of
koma-script book. To avoid transition problems, don't use any koma-script
paragraph type that you don't plan on supporting in your new layout.
(Such unsupported text will revert to "standard" when you switch.)
Be sure to preserve as much of the semantic structure as you can. Moving
from one layout to another (e.g. book to article) can result in 'unas-
signed' elements of text.
3 - copy/pasting of tables doesn't work here (Mac OS X) as
explained in the wiki. What's the best overall strategy to convert
from Word to LyX?
I am not sure there is an easy way to convert tables. Of course you can
load word docs into openoffice and save as latex, then try to get the
latex into lyx. Sometimes it is ok, sometimes not.
OpenOffice is what I thought of as well. Its conversions are often fairly
powerful tools. If you find no Word/Writer->LaTeX route, try to find an
intermediate format that makes it possible to migrate tables at ease,
without lossiness.
I'd really like to use LyX from now on. I have already infected some
of my collegues here, but it's easier to make active publicity when
I have a nice company template to work with.
Good luck! :-)
Helge Hafting
You need only get your favourite template/s working once. I have used
variants of the same LyX document for years. It always evolves, of course,
but as you accumulate more files, you accumulate more examples that you
can quickly pull 'of the sleeves', then re-use or hack. As time goes on,
anything you wish to do with LyX can be implemented trivially, even if it
involves some TeX, which you can merely copy and paste from past docu-
ments.
Lastly, read Helge's reply carefully as some valuable points have been raised.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | YaSTall SuSE to figure out the magic
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