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Here's what I can tell you. I used both Word import and the table
feature often in a prior life, but in the interest of full disclosure,
I'll also admit I haven't worked with Quark daily in a couple of years,
and I don't have a Quark reference on my desktop at the moment. So a few
general comments and then I'll point you to some resources.
* Table or not, make sure the Word file you'll be exporting is as clean
as you can make it. Get rid of unused styles, extra spaces, hidden tabs,
and similar formatting crud before trying to bring anything over.
* Quark has been able to handle tables since the advent of the Table
Tool in QXP 5, and QXP 6 advanced that tool's somewhat basic
capabilities. As I recall, I spent some time tinkering at the table cell
level to get the formats that were underlying the table to show up once
I'd brought it to Quark. You may need to do some upfront style
definitions in Word, too. I would not be surprised if things were a
little more straightforward now that QXP 7 versions are available, and a
little digging should confirm whether this is so. In Quark's own words
re: ver 7: "In QuarkXPress 7, table features have been enhanced to
support splitting tables, running headers and footers, and transparency
controls that extend to individual cells and borders. With the
QuarkXPress 7 tables features, you can easily combine text and graphics
and benefit from tight integration with Microsoft Excel for both design-
and content-driven grids."
* I found the "Real World" and "Bible" series of Quark books very
helpful. Check http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-QuarkXPress/dp/0321350308/ref=pd_bbs_2/
105-2878600-0412452?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181662794&sr=1-2 for details on
David Blatner's update of his work for QXP 7. Blatner's version for QXP
6 has a significant discussion of tables.
* Anne-Marie "Her Geekness" Concepcion provides an excellent list of QXP
resources at: http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/quark.html.
* A post to the QXP list, a search of its archives, or both are probably
your best bets for the most current answers and/or the ones most
pertinent to your setup. Again, check out http://www.siclist.org/mailman/listinfo/quarkxpress. A search such as
the following may turn up another useful list or two to query: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1
&q=quarkxpress+list&spell=1.
* FYI, there's a detailed description of a process for bringing an Excel
table to QXP at http://www.quark.com/service/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6384, at http://www.creativepro.com/story/howto/22921.html?origin=story, and
another helpful article on imports, also focused on Excel, at http://www.senecadesign.com/designgeek/dgarchives/designgeek18.php#excel
tables. I realize we were talking about Word, but some of the process
should be transferable. Worst case, you could select the table in Word,
paste into Excel, and import the worksheet. Personally, I never had to
do that.
* Finally, you might also consider XTensions, such as the tool suites
that include table offerings from Gluon or onOne (QX-Tools) software.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Reffelt, Sheila [mailto:Sheila -dot- Reffelt -at- alcoa -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 9:44 AM
To: Pinkham, Jim; Raj Machhan; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: QuarkXPress 7 vs Adobe InDesign CS
I am currently a big fan of Quark.
I use it exclusively for publishing applications (instruction manuals
with graphics and product bulletins), so bias is obvious.
But tell me, Jim:
I have never been successful in "... bringing
in Word documents, including formatted tabular material,".
HOW DO YOU DO THAT???
Thanks.
Sheila
-----Original Message-----
From: Pinkham, Jim [mailto:Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 11:25 AM
To: Raj Machhan; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: QuarkXPress 7 vs Adobe InDesign CS
With the usual caveats of "depends upon your situation" and "your
mileage may vary," I think it's safe to say that both are strong
applications, and either one could likely handle such a task well,
depending on what you mean by "user guide." Depending on how long and
complex the documentation, Frame could be an obvious choice, too.
Quark is the older and more established desktop publishing program and
is widely used in newspaper and magazine publishing. Personally, it
would be my choice of the two, but that's tinged by the fact that I've
used Quark and not InDesign. Either can integrate well with Acrobat and
Illustrator within a workflow. Quark also does a decent job of bringing
in Word documents, including formatted tabular material, without a lot
of bumps. If you are already using other Adobe products, such as
Acrobat, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc., you may find the learning curve
less steep with InDesign because of similarities within the product
family.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Raj Machhan
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 9:09 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: QuarkXPress 7 vs Adobe InDesign CS
Hi,
Has anybody used QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign to create User Guides? I
gather these are primarily page layout applications with advanced design
and typesetting features. I need to make a choice between the two to
create a design-intensive User Guide. Can anybody tell me which one of
these is ideal for such a job?
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats
or printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista &
2007 Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com -dot-
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
