Having just completed rebuilding a 450-page Frame book that my client created by importing a Word doc, then round-tripping chunks of content between Frame and Word a couple of times, I'd second that. Word metadata can really munge up a Frame document. It got so bad that attempting to open a cross-reference in certain chapters would crash Frame every time, and it was impossible to print the book. Added bonus of rebuilding is we've *finally* gotten rid of the wretched 'missing font' messages. Skipped the step about saving to a text file, though-- just copied and pasted chunks from Word, choosing the Edit > Paste Special > Unformatted Text option.
Also, re Art's suggestion to bring in graphics that have been embedded in Word by saving to HTML, that creates a low-resolution .gif version of the graphic. I find the extra hassle of re-creating the graphics by copying and pasting from Word into Photoshop/Paint worth it due to the superior graphic quality. Tori Muir On 7/13/09 2:43 PM, "Alison Craig" <Alison.Craig at ultrasonix.com> wrote: > > As a novice Frame user, I am currently doing the same thing (taking a 350 page > Word manual and moving to FrameMaker 9). > > As a long time, highly skilled Word user, I know from experience that there is > a mountain of invisible crap in the Word doc - so my best advice is to not > import the Word document at all! > > Instead, save the Word doc as a text file, open the text file in something > like Notepad, then copy in the plain text and completely reformat the Frame > doc from scratch. This may be more work in the short term, but you'll create a > better template and avoid any hassles that importing Word files could cause > down the road. > > Yes, this means you have to deal with everything (graphics, master pages, etc) > from scratch. But it also gives you the chance to begin your Frame career with > a "best practices for FrameMaker" approach rather than a "I have to live with > Word-defined stuff even though I'm now working in Frame" approach. > > I have no doubt this is taking me longer, but I am more confident about the > results. > > Alison > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com > [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Art Campbell > Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 2:25 PM > To: Flato, Gillian > Cc: Framers List > Subject: Re: Importing a Word Doc into Frame v9.0 > > The procedures and best practices for importing Word files are still > the same as for earlier versions of Frame... > Usually, the best results are obtained by saving s RTF in Word and > opening that file... Graphics, if they're embedded in the Word file, > can be recreated by saving the Word as HTML, then they can be imported > by reference in Frame. > > Probably the most important thing she needs to master quickly is the > idea of using a book to manage more smaller files... > > Art Campbell > art.campbell at gmail.com > "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 > Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson > No disclaimers apply. > DoD 358 > > > > On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 4:57 PM, Flato, Gillian<gflato at nanometrics.com> > wrote: >> A cousin of mine is a complete novice on Frame. She is buying Frame v9.0 >> and importing a 300 page Word manual into it. (After editing the 1rst >> edition of the manual in Word, she said, never again). I have never seen >> Frame v9.0, I still use Frame v8.0. >> >> How does Frame v9.0 map Word Paragraph styles? Does it do a better job >> than Frame v8? What does she need to do first to ensure an easy and >> successful import? >> >> Any recommendations for some good online training classes for Frame >> v9.0? >> >> >> Thank you, >> >> >> >> <mailto:gflato at nanometrics.com> >> >> Gillian Flato >> >> Technical Writer (Software) >> >> nanometrics >> >> 1550 Buckeye Dr. >> >> Milpitas, CA. 95035 >> >> (408.545.6316 >> >> 7 ?408.232.5911 >> >> * gflato at nanometrics <mailto:gflato at nanometrics.com> .com >> <blocked::mailto:v at nanometrics.com> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> >> You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campbell at gmail.com. >> >> Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. >> >> To unsubscribe send a blank email to >> framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >> or visit >> http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com >> >> Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit >> http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >> > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as alison.craig at ultrasonix.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/alison.craig%40ultrasonix. > com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as tmuir at spot-on-creative.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/tmuir%40spot-on-creative.c > om > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.