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Subject:Re: Converting Frame to editable format From:John -dot- Cornellier -at- PARIS -dot- IE -dot- PHILIPS -dot- COM Date:Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:26:28 +0200
Greetings from Paris (not Texas, the other one). I already sent this note
yesterday. It never came back from the TECHWR-L server (as did another one I
sent the same day) so I assume it got lost between me and the server. If on the
other hand it got lost between the server and me, I apologise. While I'm at it,
I ought to correct something I wrote yesterday: McAfee's excellent virus scanner
is not, as I wrote, shareware. You can download a _trial_ version which you can
test for a limited period.
+++++++++++++++++++
To convert from Frame & some Word to PDF, HLP, a form that is editable by the
client, and printed doc, I recommend the following procedure:
1. If you've never done HLP, get Doc2Help for Word 6 or 95. It's easy to learn &
is a good compromise between printed & online.
2. Set up a bulletproof template. Resist the urge to get fancy: Use default
styles and stick to Arial & Times.
3. Save your Frame files to RTF and then import them into Word.
4. Format the docs & set up HLP CT. Do not to deviate from your template. No
style overrides: If something doesn't work, fix the template.
5. Output to print, PDF, and HLP, and Bob's yer uncle. You can optionally set up
PDF hypertext jumps.
As for what you send your clients: DOC's good 'cause your clients already use
it. But you may need to send templates, fonts, & graphics in order for them to
work. As Tim said, why send them something pretty that they're going to change?
Send 'em raw text. RTF is good.
You wrote "going to RTF from PDF makes it editable, but you lose the graphics".
PDF is _not_ editable: That's its main raison d'etre, as they say in Texas. You
won't lose graphics.
Tim Altom rightly said that the editing tool is your centrepiece from which you
output everything else. He prefered Frame.
Frame is a heavy-duty industrial tool: Use it if your docs are very complex
and/or big and/or sophisticated. Otherwise use Word. Frame can't search for text
across chapters, has no outline mode, is harder to export to HLP, and lacks
Word's simple macro interface. (I'd like to hear from anyone who disagrees with
me on the preceding points.) I'm not saying I prefer Word in general. I use
both. It's a question of the right tool for the job.
John mailto:john -dot- cornellier -at- paris -dot- ie -dot- philips -dot- com
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