Importing tables from Word to Pagemaker 7

[AGG]

I am hoping someone can help me. I am trying to import a table from word to pagemaker and it is not behaving. It is three columns wide and many long, and there are merged vertical columns throughout.
I am preparing a paper for publication so it needs to look good.

[AGG]

Hi, I started a new job as desktop publisher this week and its great!
Most of my work is going to be with pagemaker 7, so my plans to brush up on InDesign will have to wait. Can anyone recommend any online courses?
I will be working on research papers and an annual report. I'm working on lots of papers sent in from researchers in China at the moment, and importing them from word to pagemaker is not always as smooth as I'd wish.

[Steve Rindsberg]

I've always had the best luck with Word tables by doing this:

Make sure the file's saved
Select the table in Word
Choose Edit, Copy from the menu
Switch to the other app
Choose Edit, Paste Special

If you want to create a link to the file, click Link
Otherwise, choose Enhanced Metafile as the paste type

[ktinkel]

Originally Posted by AGG

Hi, I started a new job as desktop publisher this week and its great!

Most of my work is going to be with pagemaker 7, so my plans to brush up on InDesign will have to wait. Can anyone recommend any online courses?

I will be working on research papers and an annual report. I'm working on lots of papers sent in from researchers in China at the moment, and importing them from word to pagemaker is not always as smooth as I'd wish.

Welcome to the forum.

I am rusty on this — although I used PageMaker from version 1 through 7, I usually had only small tables and I formatted them in PageMaker (as tabbed text).

Are you using Adobe Table? If so, it should be picking up Word styles (although it might mangle them, you should be able to redefine them on your system). I say should, as I did not use it. But I have read that it does work.

Google on “PageMaker 7 Adobe Table” and you should find many courses, videos, and other learning tools, at a wide range of prices.

(I am going to move this thread to Print Design so more people will see it.)

[don Arnoldy]

Originally Posted by AGG

I'm working on lots of papers sent in from researchers in China at the moment, and importing them from word to pagemaker is not always as smooth as I'd wish.

Tables created using Word's Table function (instead of just tabbed text) will not import into anything. You will need to convert the tables to tabbed text and reformat them once they're in your page layout document.

--don

[AGG]

My problems may be that the documents originated in China and all the tables from this one person are importing in a distorted manner. I've done another paper today and it imported fine.

[iamback]

Originally Posted by don Arnoldy

Tables created using Word's Table function (instead of just tabbed text) will not import into anything.

Maybe not in all DTP programs, but they will import nicely in quite a few HTML editors, for instance. HomeSite used to have a visual mode (a buggy component made by Microsoft) which many people used precisely for that: importing tables.

Would DTP programs import HTML? If so, using an HTML program to import first might be a good workaround.

[annc]

Originally Posted by don Arnoldy

Tables created using Word's Table function (instead of just tabbed text) will not import into anything.

I import them into InDesign CS3 (and InDesign CS before I upgraded).

[pdboddy]

I have two questions. Do you have Acrobat in any form? And can Pagemaker import a PDF?

I regularly print and distill pdfs from Word files, and even the most poorly done tables come across accurately. If the answer is yes to both questions, it should help you out.

[Steve Rindsberg]

I'm not the one with the import problem, but PM doesn't import PDFs, unfortunately (or any other way for that matter).