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Subject:Re: Frame to Word (summary) From:Linda Moore <lmoore -at- ONRAMP -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 20 Oct 1995 11:14:57 -0500
Cathy,
At our last FrameMaker meeting, Sarah Clayton, the Dallas Frame Technology
Manager told us about a new software package that converts Word documents to
Frame and Frame documents to Word. The name of this package is Word for
Word which retails for $ 149. According to Sarah, it is available through
local resellers such as CompUSA, Software Spectrum, etc.
The word of mouth is that this is a good conversion package but since I have
not bought it or used it, I have no personal knowledge.
If you decide to go this route, please let me know what you think of this
software package.
Linda
>I received a fair number of responses about whether you can take a Frame
>document and turn into something a Word user can customize, and concluded
>that there is no easy, seamless way of doing this. Frame is the best
>software for formatted, heavily cross-referenced, multi-chapter hard copy.
>Word is the best software for wide distribution, acceptable to any number of
>publishing tools. When you need to do both, you run into trouble.
>The only way to go from Frame to Word, apparently, is to convert the Frame
>document to RTF, then load it into Word. The problem here, I guess, is that
>you lose all formatting and graphics. For graphics, someone recommended that
>they all be stored in a format acceptable to both Frame and Word, then
>loaded into each program separately. I suppose that a Word style sheet could
>be developped that sort of mimics the look of the Frame document.
>It seems that I would definitely be adding an extra task to my documentation
>projects: In addition to online help and hardcopy manuals, I'd have to
>produce an electronic version of the hardcopy manual acceptable to OEMs who
>use Word or other desktop publishers. Is it worth it to be rid of the
>frustration Word causes me in its tendency to crash, its limited page layout
>capabilities, its archaic index functions, its poor revision feature? I
>haven't quite decided.
>Other alternatives suggested to me were the use of Ventura Publisher (which
>I hope has improved of late, because I used to hate it), and asking OEMs if
>they could accept either Frame or Acrobat files (since Frame converts easily
>to Acrobat, I hear). I will investigate those options.
>Thanks to all those who responded.
>Cathy McNair
><cmcnair -at- spicer -dot- com>
