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From Word Processing to Desktop Publishing

Whether your current documentation software is Microsoft Word, WordPro, AmiPro, PageMaker, or something entirely different, some or all of the text you have already developed, proofread, and edited can be converted or recovered for use in your new FrameMaker document library.

Remind yourself of why you changed software. Was it that:

• Your documents were growing longer and unstable in the old application?
• More writers and technical experts were to be involved in maintaining them?
• You had text common to several documents and wanted to ensure consistency?
• You needed a consistent look and feel?
• You were preparing to reuse part or all of your documents in a single source publishing effort?
• Your documents were required in SGML?
• Your old software was no longer supported by its vendor?

Retyping the text of existing documents should be the last choice in your transition to FrameMaker. Retyping is time consuming, expensive, and inevitably introduces new errors.

Develop your document requirements

This could have been titled "Know where you're going before you leave home." Developing explicit lists of your requirements for document look and feel will enable you or a consultant to prepare the templates efficiently and effectively. Some changes are easier to make than others, but revisions are possible. FrameMaker's tags, formats, and page layouts can be modified and shared between documents. Duplicating the look of your old documents is possible, but this is an opportunity to update the look and feel of your publications while preparing to use the text more flexibly.

Arrange for training

Paragraph tags are not optional in FrameMaker, but your staff may have very successfully produced good-looking word processor documents with admirable content without ever conquering styles. Focused, customized training can bring your staff up to speed with the new tools quickly.

Who is that eager consultant?

It's great for a consultant to have experience in PageMaker and QuarkExpress, but that may not help when you need FrameMaker templates! PageMaker and QuarkExpress are powerful applications for design-intensive documents such as brochures and magazines. The strategies and philosophies that make for expertise in the design-oriented tools may be troublesome when it's time to provide a relatively strict and stable set of templates. Although it's possible to do many brilliant and creative things in FrameMaker, you will probably benefit from creativity with your new publishing tool, rather than struggling against its organization. (See the white paper on developing dual use content.)

(Personal note: There is nothing quite as amazing as a FrameMaker workbook written by a PageMaker expert--trying valiantly to make FrameMaker do what PageMaker does, and never getting the point of FrameMaker's strengths.)

Where is the documentation for the template?

If the new template uses the same tags as your old template, and you never intend to hire a new writer, there may be no need for documenting the template itself. Otherwise, tables listing the paragraph and character tags, user variables, condition tags, cross reference formats and table formats along with their intended use will contribute to efficient and consistent use of the template components. The alternative is for each template user to figure it out on his own, possibly overlooking the intended component and certainly creating inconsistencies.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water

Don't shut down and discard your old systems until you have given due consideration to the transition. There are several possibilities for cleaning up old files and saving them in different formats so that they can be opened or imported in FrameMaker. At the very least, most word processing systems offer the option of saving as text, which can be opened or imported by FrameMaker.

Don't feel you have to do it all yourself

Each platform (UNIX, Macintosh, and Windows) offers some advantages in dealing with file conversions. If your staff writer has no time for file conversion and formatting, consider an outside service without prejudice as to the platform the service will use. One of the many strengths of FrameMaker is the cross-platform compatibility of the files.

Your files are perfect

FrameMaker has filters for several versions of Word, Word Perfect, and other word processors as well as text. If the old document files were developed with the best practices available in the word processors, little or no cleanup may be necessary. Congratulations.

Cleaning up the old files--a Word example

If mere mortals have followed common practice in Word files, you may find empty paragraphs to provide space between blocks of text, and every paragraph has the Normal style, with many asterisks indicating format overrides. Instead of preparing custom tab stops, some or all of the writers may have used multiple tabs. Determined souls may have used spaces instead of tabs to develop columnar text. Paragraph numbering is inconsistent.

First, you must be quite familiar with the organization of your old documents. It might be helpful to have a print version available. Rote application of the table below can result in disaster.

Preparing a sample document for conversion

What you see in Word	What to do in Word	Why bother
Empty paragraphs	Use the Replace command to find two special characters for end of paragraph and replace them with one. Repeat as needed.	Word ignores empty paragraphs. FrameMaker gives each paragraph the full formatting, including paragraph numbering, assigned to its tag. Space between paragraphs is designed into the tag. FrameMaker table of contents is based on paragraph tags--empty ones produce page numbers with no text in the table of contents.
Multiple tabs instead of custom tabs	Use the Replace command to find two special characters for tab and replace them with one. Repeat if needed.	FrameMaker's tab stops are absolute, not relative like Word's. Extra tabs will disrupt efforts to convert columnar text to tables.
Multiple spaces instead of tabs	Depending on the length of the document, you may wish to use the Replace command, locating multiple spaces and replacing them with fewer, or use the Alt key to make a vertical selection through spaced-out text, then delete the spaces or press Tab.	Spaces don't work for positioning columnar text with proportional fonts.
Numbered paragraphs	Select the text and remove the numbering. Warning: Removing the number delete numerical entries in tables.	Paragraph numbers are automatic in FrameMaker. Retaining Word's numbers will produce two sets in the converted document.

How is the actual conversion accomplished?

There are several options for converting your prepared file to FrameMaker. Here are three possibilities:

• Start FrameMaker and select the File menu, then Open. Locate your prepared file. Select the Open button, confirm the filter to be used, select the Convert button and wait for the conversion to be completed. Save your new FrameMaker file.
• Start FrameMaker. Open an empty example of your new template. Choose the File menu, then Import File. Locate the prepared file. Select the Copy into document radio button, confirm the filter, and select the Import button. Wait for the import to be completed. Save your new file.
• Start FrameMaker. Open an empty example of your new template. Choose the File menu, then Import File. Locate the prepared file. Select the Import by reference radio button, confirm the filter, and select the Import button. Wait for the import to be completed. Save your new file.

With the document text in FrameMaker, you may proceed to apply tags as needed, and a rules table if conversion to SGML is required.

What is preserved when files are converted?

Key features of the Word document preserved in the conversion include:

• Text
• Word styles as paragraph tags
• Index markers
• Some graphic formats

If you have questions about template development, training, or preparation for document library conversion, contact Scriptorium Publishing at 919-481-2701 or sales@scriptorium.com

Copyright © 1997-2000 Scriptorium Publishing Services, Inc. All rights reserved.
Last modified April 22, 2004 .