convert FROM pdf

[Teresa]

I need to convert four 100-page user manuals into my company’s publication
style. The manuals are only available in PDF (no source files), and I need to
make them into Word files in order to make changes/additions, and add my
company’s publication styles. I will then convert them back to PDFs, and
eventually might have to convert them into online Help with WebWorks
ePublisher Pro.

Believe me when I say that any little glitch in the Word documents will
create oodles of trouble for me if it is picked up in ePublisher Pro. So I
want to make this conversion to the company styles as CLEAN as possible.

Please give me your opinion for a clean conversion from PDF to Word.

Here is what I am thinking:
Use Adobe Acrobat 8 and Save As a Text (Plain) .txt file.
Open a blank Word document and import the company styles.
Copy/paste from the .txt file into the new Word document, and then apply
styles.

I talk, but really I don’t know how to “import the company styles.†How do I
do this?

I’m nervous to use Acrobat 8 and Save As a Word .doc file because there
might be hidden junk that, even though I will fix the formatting, might trip
me up in the conversion to online Help.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[Lene Fredborg]

In addition to text, I suppose the manuals include illustrations (drawings,
screen dumps, etc.). If you save the PDF files as .txt files, you will lose
all such content.

I think I would do the following for each manual:

1. Save the PDF document as a .doc file.

2. Create a new Word document based on Word template that contains all the
company's publishing styles (I suppose you have a Word template with the
relevant styles, page setup, etc.).

3. Select Insert > File and insert the file you converted from PDF to .doc
(or copy and paste the content).

4. Reformat the entire document. To a great extent, you should be able to
use Find and Replace to search for a style and replace it with the
appropriate company style (via More > Format > Style). When working, turn on
formatting marks (Ctrl+Shift+8) to make sure that you can see everything
found in the document.

You will also need to carefully correct numbering, headers/footers, etc. It
may be helpful to check the use of styles in Normal view with Tools > Options

Style area width set to an appropriate amount so that you can see the style

names applied to all paragraphs (however, in case of tables, the style names
are not shown).

You can use Ctrl+Spacebar to remove any direct character formatting from
selected text. You can use Ctrl+Q to remove any direct paragraph formatting
from selected text.

5. When finished, delete any irrelevant styles left over from the converted
PDF file.

Make backup copies regularly so that you have a version to revert to just in
case…

Note that you can copy styles from one Word document/template to another via
Tools > Templates and Add-Ins > Organizer if needed.

Maybe you could make a test with a few pages first in order to find out
whether the result in ePublisher Pro is OK.

---
Regards
Lene Fredborg
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[JoAnn Paules]

There's no real good way to go from .pdf to Word. It's going to be a PITA.
Chances are the original manual was done in Word. Since you would have
obtained permission from the company to copy their manual, they should be
willing to send you the original documents.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

 

[Teresa]

Hi JoAnn - Yes, my company purchased the company that made the product and
the manuals, so everything is legal. Unfortunately, there are no source files
that I know of.

There's no real good way to go from .pdf to Word. It's going to be a PITA.
Chances are the original manual was done in Word. Since you would have
obtained permission from the company to copy their manual, they should be
willing to send you the original documents.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

I need to convert four 100-page user manuals into my company’s publication
style. The manuals are only available in PDF (no source files), and I need
to
make them into Word files in order to make changes/additions, and add my
company’s publication styles. I will then convert them back to PDFs, and
eventually might have to convert them into online Help with WebWorks
ePublisher Pro.

Believe me when I say that any little glitch in the Word documents will
create oodles of trouble for me if it is picked up in ePublisher Pro. So I
want to make this conversion to the company styles as CLEAN as possible.

Please give me your opinion for a clean conversion from PDF to Word.

Here is what I am thinking:
Use Adobe Acrobat 8 and Save As a Text (Plain) .txt file.
Open a blank Word document and import the company styles.
Copy/paste from the .txt file into the new Word document, and then apply
styles.

I talk, but really I don’t know how to “import the company styles.†How do
I
do this?

I’m nervous to use Acrobat 8 and Save As a Word .doc file because there
might be hidden junk that, even though I will fix the formatting, might
trip
me up in the conversion to online Help.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[Teresa]

Lene, thank you so much for this detailed and quick answer. I will try your
method.

Again, thanks.

 

[JoAnn Paules]

That su...........well, you know. Obviously there *were* source files at one
time but that doesn't help you now. I hate to tell you this but I suspect
you've got a long job ahead of you.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

Hi JoAnn - Yes, my company purchased the company that made the product and
the manuals, so everything is legal. Unfortunately, there are no source
files
that I know of.

There's no real good way to go from .pdf to Word. It's going to be a
PITA.
Chances are the original manual was done in Word. Since you would have
obtained permission from the company to copy their manual, they should be
willing to send you the original documents.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375

I need to convert four 100-page user manuals into my company’s
publication
style. The manuals are only available in PDF (no source files), and I
need
to
make them into Word files in order to make changes/additions, and add
my
company’s publication styles. I will then convert them back to PDFs,
and
eventually might have to convert them into online Help with WebWorks
ePublisher Pro.

Believe me when I say that any little glitch in the Word documents will
create oodles of trouble for me if it is picked up in ePublisher Pro.
So I
want to make this conversion to the company styles as CLEAN as
possible.

Please give me your opinion for a clean conversion from PDF to Word.

Here is what I am thinking:
Use Adobe Acrobat 8 and Save As a Text (Plain) .txt file.
Open a blank Word document and import the company styles.
Copy/paste from the .txt file into the new Word document, and then
apply
styles.

I talk, but really I don’t know how to “import the company styles.†How
do
I
do this?

I’m nervous to use Acrobat 8 and Save As a Word .doc file because there
might be hidden junk that, even though I will fix the formatting, might
trip
me up in the conversion to online Help.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[Graham Mayor]

PDF was never intended to be backword convertible. If it doesn't work
(saving PDF in Acrobat to DOC or TXT is somewhat hit and miss) then you will
have to consider OCR conversion options. Abbyy Finereader is as good as you
can get from this type of software.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Teresa]

Lene, I've run into a snag with my styles.

When I go to Tools > Templates and Add-Ins > Organizer, I see my template is
in C:\Documents and Settings\<previous tech writer's name>\Application
Data\Microsoft\Templates\. This file path is not on my computer.

The previous tech writer used an old computer that I still have in my cube,
and sure enough, the template is in that directory on the old computer. I
copied the template file onto my new computer, but that filepath is not in my
new computer. (I'm looking in the directories under my name, not the previous
tech writer's.) There is no Application Data directory anywhere on it, as far
as I can tell, and a search doesn't see it, either. Where should I put the
template so I can access it with the Organizer?

Thanks very much,
Teresa

 

[Graham Mayor]

The Application Data folder and its sub folders are probably set as hidden
files on your PC. You can change this from Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder
Options.
Chances are that the folder in question is accessible once you reveal it.
The folder locations for your profile are shown in Word at tools > options >
file locations. Document templates go in User Templates or sub-folders of
that location and global Startup templates go in the Startup folder.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Teresa]

Thanks, Graham. It worked.

I LOVE THIS USER GROUP!