Round-trip revisions via MS Word. Alternate methods?

[John Sgammato]

How do you go from FM to Word?
I find the Mif2Go RTF output is very good, especially if you set up your FM
template to minimize disruptions. Layout effects like sideheads and uneven
columns can get messy, but single columns with headers work out really
well, and x-ref links are preserved.


On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 9:20 AM, Harding, Dan <dharding at illinois.edu> wrote:

> Good morning,
>
> We have used the same authoring process for eons: Authors/editors work in
> MS Word, as well as preliminary indexing work. I then take the MS Word
> file, import into FM (unstructured) and do the final print-ready
> formatting, making things adhere to our publishing standards and tightening
> up consistency.
>
> As a process it work well... until it's time to revise the book for the
> next edition.
>
> Our authors and editors will ONLY work in MS Word. PDF comments/revisions
> will not work, as there frequently are extensive revisions including
> insertion of new sections (multiple pages) of content, as well as shuffling
> of content.
>
> When I export the final FM version back to MS Word for them to work on,
> the conversion is VERY crude and frequently requires extensive work on the
> post-conversion Word files for the editors to be able to work within the
> files.
>
> Then of course there's the reformatting from scratch in FM when the
> revisions are done (which actually is faster and more reliable than trying
> to reconcile changes in the MS Word version with the existing FM version).
>
> Is there a better way to perform the round-trip process given the MS Word
> requirement, and barring that, are there better ways/tools to get cleaner
> MS Word files from FM than exporting to RTF?
>
> Would making the change from unstructured to structured FM on my part help
> in this regard?
>
> Environment:
>
> Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise
> Framemaker 10 (unstructured) [NOTE: TCS 5 is on order but I have not
> received it yet.]
> Microsoft Office 2010
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Dan Harding
> University of Illinois Tax School
>
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