Workflow for importing from Google docs

[MarkusKr]

I am writing in google docs and have quite a few documents. They have the correct paragraph style such as Heading 1, Normal etc. It would be nice to have that preserved.

• If I download as docx and place it into AP, all styles will change name to lower case. "Heading 1" in google docs becomes "heading 1" in AP. I only have a trial of Word installed so it bugs me senseless. But I think I can see that the names of the styles are "Heading 1" etc. So I have to delete all wrongly named styles and assign everything manually.
• If I download as odt (libre office write) I can see that the style names are preserved. I can in libre office save as docx. When I import that into AP, the names of the styles is preserved. But (and a big but it is), all styles are overwritten with the formatting of the document. Text content already created in AP is changed to match the imported document.
• If I copy paste from google docs to AP, I only get plain text.

Can someone suggest a good workflow to handle this?

The best solution would be some kind of import that preserved the styles. The next best would be some mapping of paragraph styles. Like this: Replace "heading 1" with the existing "Heading 1" and delete "heading 1".

Edited May 13, 2020 by MarkusKr

[Old Bruce]

3 hours ago, MarkusKr said:

all styles are overwritten with the formatting of the document.

I am unsure of what is happening. Do you have a Publisher Document with Heading 1 defined and being changed to the OpenOffice .docx Heading 1? Let us say Heading 1 in Publisher uses Times Roman as the font and OpenOffice uses Gill Sans as the font in its Heading 1. What font is then used after importing the .docx file?

As a way of working I would set up my styles in Google Docs with names like GD Heading 1 and then in Publisher I would have Heading 1 then do a find and replace searching for GD Heading 1 and replacing with Heading 1 in Publisher.

[wonderings]

Best option would be to start your project in Publisher. If you are going to write it all in Google Docs why not just export as PDF and place that in Publisher if you are just doing layout stuff with it?

I always have our clients do this if they are creating anything in a word processor. Save as PDF, send it over and we will print. With it PDF I do not have to worry about fonts or formatting changes. 

[Old Bruce]

Just now, wonderings said:

Best option would be to start your project in Publisher. If you are going to write it all in Google Docs why not just export as PDF and place that in Publisher if you are just doing layout stuff with it?

I always have our clients do this if they are creating anything in a word processor. Save as PDF, send it over and we will print. With it PDF I do not have to worry about fonts or formatting changes. 

NO.

If I were to send you a PDF containing fonts you do not have on your machine you would most likely change your tune. I am also a lousy typist so my PDF would be riddled with mis-spellings which you would need to correct. And what happens if I want the page size changed? Or a photo added/changed?

If you have never run into the myriad hassles of working with client supplied PDFs then you must've been a sainted bodhisattva in your past life to have built up such good karma.

[wonderings]

12 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

NO.

If I were to send you a PDF containing fonts you do not have on your machine you would most likely change your tune. I am also a lousy typist so my PDF would be riddled with mis-spellings which you would need to correct. And what happens if I want the page size changed? Or a photo added/changed?

If you have never run into the myriad hassles of working with client supplied PDFs then you must've been a sainted bodhisattva in your past life to have built up such good karma.

I work in print and have for many years. I deal with this all the time. Yes Publisher will probably give you massive headaches as it wants to make the file editable. Indesign, well I rarely ever have issues... actually cannot remember the last time I had a PDF file made from a word processor that I was not able to make work with little to no effort. Still not sure why you would do any formatting in one program and hope it all translate well to another which is why I would go the PDF route if using Indesign. With Publisher I would not attempt it. 

[Old Bruce]

12 minutes ago, wonderings said:

Still not sure why you would do any formatting in one program and hope it all translate well to another

You and I agree on this.

13 minutes ago, wonderings said:

With Publisher I would not attempt it. 

Okay, we are on the same page here too.

[MarkusKr]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

I am unsure of what is happening. Do you have a Publisher Document with Heading 1 defined and being changed to the OpenOffice .docx Heading 1? Let us say Heading 1 in Publisher uses Times Roman as the font and OpenOffice uses Gill Sans as the font in its Heading 1. What font is then used after importing the .docx file?

It is overridden from the open office document, so Gill Sans.

 

Quote

As a way of working I would set up my styles in Google Docs with names like GD Heading 1 and then in Publisher I would have Heading 1 then do a find and replace searching for GD Heading 1 and replacing with Heading 1 in Publisher.

I have searched for how to replace styles. Is it possible? That would be an ok solution.

[MarkusKr]

1 hour ago, wonderings said:

Best option would be to start your project in Publisher.

I work on multiple computers depending on where I am and if my son uses the beefy computer for fortnight or not. So it is nice to be able to sit anywhere and write. But I guess that would also be ok.

Can I have multiple installations of AP with only one license? EDIT: Sorry for asking. I see that I can.

Edited May 13, 2020 by MarkusKr

[Old Bruce]

5 minutes ago, MarkusKr said:

Can I have multiple installations of AP with only one license?

Yes, provided they are the same OS. Mac + Mac works, Windows + Mac won't. And you have to be the primary user, so have a chat with your son about the amount of time spent with Fortnight. (whatever the colourful expression that is)

[wonderings]

8 minutes ago, MarkusKr said:

I work on multiple computers depending on where I am and if my son uses the beefy computer for fortnight or not. So it is nice to be able to sit anywhere and write. But I guess that would also be ok.

Can I have multiple installations of AP with only one license? EDIT: Sorry for asking. I see that I can.

Yes you can, as long as it is the same OS version. Ideally this is the best way. You are basically collaborating with yourself on different computers. This never works well or is efficient for anyone doing this using different software. 

[Old Bruce]

11 minutes ago, MarkusKr said:

It is overridden from the open office document, so Gill Sans.

...

I have searched for how to replace styles. Is it possible? That would be an ok solution.

Go to find and replace and you'll see a little gear/cog icon

[MarkusKr]

Thanks, SOLVED