[thelist] Re: HTML from PageMaker

[Techwatcher]

First, find out which version of PageMaker they're running. If it's PageMaker 6.01, an HTML conversion module was included, but the
HTML is very old version -- pre-browser acceptance of CSS, I think. For relatively think-free automation, PDF is the easier way, and your
client should have received Acrobat Distiller (at least the "light" version) with the CD-ROM.

Otherwise, remember that PageMaker uses "stories" -- chunks of text that go together will all be in one story (however separated they
may look), assuming the author is competent. Now, each story can be exported into a number of other formats, including plain text. You
may want to rely on a template-like approach and just pull in the exported stories -- particularly if the newsletter has the same sort of
features every month (i.e.,  a calendar or events section, a feature, etc.). PageMaker also uses styles and had (has?) a developer's kit, so
it should be simple to pull out headings (as indicated by style), and translate to CSS. Once you translate it once, the following months
should be semi-automatic -- unless author of newsletter fails to use styles or changes them frequently.

Cheers --
Carol Stein

>    8. RE: Pagemaker -> HTML, PDF (Janet Green)

>
> Message: 7
> From: "Dan Romanchik" <dan at danromanchik.com>
> To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 15:37:09 -0400
> Subject: [thelist] Pagemaker -> HTML, PDF
> Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
>
> A potential wants to post their weekly newsletter online. They do all the
> layout in Pagemaker. Is there a way to take Pagemaker output and turn it
> into HTML? I've had some experience with HTML output from Quark and it's
> pretty abysmal
>
> Alternately, or in addition, they want to create and post a PDF file. I'm
> trying to dissuade them from doing this, though, as I think the file size
> will be just too big for normal downloading.
>
> Any thoughts on all this?
>
> Dan
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dan Romanchik - Web Developer
> dan at danromanchik.com, 734-930-6564
>
>
>
> --__--__--
>
> Message: 8
> Subject: RE: [thelist] Pagemaker -> HTML, PDF
> Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 14:56:29 -0500
> From: "Janet Green" <JGreen at desmoinesmetro.com>
> To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
> Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
>
> >>>Is there a way to take Pagemaker output and turn it
> into HTML? <<<
>
> As a hardcore Pagemaker user (version 6.5 for PC), I'm not familiar with any way to automatically generate HTML from a PM document.
I can guarantee that if there were, I would not use it, as I would have absolutely ZERO confidence that it would generate anything clean
and/or fully functional. (This is based on experience with WYSIWIG editors *and* MS Word's "HTML" function.)
>
> >>create and post a PDF file. I'm
> trying to dissuade them from doing this, though,<<<
>
> As for PDF's, I produce an 8-page tabloid-format newsprint publication each month, with a cover image that averages 50mb in size and
a back-page ad that averages another 20mb. While the finished publication file hovers around 80 mb, my finished PDF's average 3.5mb.
We've had very positive reaction to placing our publication online in this format; it quickly became one of our site's top five
most-downloaded files, despite its size.
>
> I don't know if this info helps... but, if your client doesn't want to pay for re-designing into HTML (understandable), I wouldn't fear the PDF
*too* much...


Cheers