Tailoring cut and paste from Word to Dreamweaver 8

Question

Hi,
I've been converting several Word documents, written by
authors at multiple institutions, to HTML using Dreamweaver 8.
My apologies for the length of this post. If there's a full
description of the process of converting from Word to HTML using
Dreamweaver, please point it out. Otherwise, here are some
questions.
1. Is there a way to specify how graphics are named? I'm
comparing this process with the File, Get Photos process in
Photoshop Elements, which allows the user to specify a renaming
convention on the fly.
2. For some of the graphics, multiple files are created,
sometimes with different file extensions (both GIF and JPG show
up), and sometimes with additions to the file names (0001, 0002).
These multiple files seem to have smaller file sizes.
RLS correction Aug 17, 2006: This is not really what
happened. In one large file, multiple copy-n-paste operations
resulted in graphics files with similar, but different, names.
3. I'm looking for a batch rename facility. I can open the
graphics files in the Files panel and rename by pressing F2, and
request via update option (on the General tab of Edit, Preferences)
that the referencing file(s) be updated. But this is slow when you
have more than just a couple to do. The batch rename facility I
wish for would both rename the files and update files that link to
them.
4. In Microsoft Word, when I do File, Save for Web (or File,
Save for Web (filtered) -- not sure of the spelling), I can click
the Tools button in the Save dialog box and select from a bunch of
different settings, including dpi etc. for graphics. Which such
setting(s) are used by Dreamweaver? I'm using the copy-n-paste
method because the File, Import method does not complete on my
machine.
5. Are there recommended steps to clean up Word first? For
example, Microsoft says that Word documents can be saved as RTF,
then re-opened, to clear up damage (see Microsoft Knowledgebase
article 826864). I found, for example, that creating internal links
in Word is faster than creating doing the same in Dreamweaver). And
I found that I should avoid the Dreamweaver option that preserves
styles. I want very simple output -- no forms, etc.
6. Is there a way to compare outputs? Adobe mentions that
leaving off the final paragraph mark in Word can cause some
formatting to be lost. I'd like to do a paragraph-by-paragraph
comparison (I know that 's ambiguous because list items are treated
as paragraphs in Word but not in HTML.)
7. To meet the request of a client, I want to preserve
highlighting in the resulting HTML (yes, I know, i'd be using the
<font> tag, but only so that the authors can quickly find
last-minute changes for review). I'd clean those <font> tags
out before going live. Can I fine-tune the HTML conversion process?
Again, my apologies for the number of questions. Partial
answers are most welcome.
Bob Stromberg
Greenwich, NY

Answer 1

Basically, unless there's already an extension available to
do all you want,
well, you'll have to hire someone to write you an extension.
"Bob Stromberg" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
> I've been converting several Word documents, written by
authors at
> multiple
> institutions, to HTML using Dreamweaver 8.
>
> My apologies for the length of this post. If there's a
full description
> of
> the process of converting from Word to HTML using
Dreamweaver, please
> point it
> out. Otherwise, here are some questions.
>
> 1. Is there a way to specify how graphics are named? I'm
comparing this
> process with the File, Get Photos process in Photoshop
Elements, which
> allows
> the user to specify a renaming convention on the fly.
>
> 2. For some of the graphics, multiple files are created,
sometimes with
> different file extensions (both GIF and JPG show up),
and sometimes with
> additions to the file names (0001, 0002). These multiple
files seem to
> have
> smaller file sizes.
>
> 3. I'm looking for a batch rename facility. I can open
the graphics files
> in
> the Files panel and rename by pressing F2, and request
via update option
> (on
> the General tab of Edit, Preferences) that the
referencing file(s) be
> updated.
> But this is slow when you have more than just a couple
to do. The batch
> rename
> facility I wish for would both rename the files and
update files that link
> to
> them.
>
> 4. In Microsoft Word, when I do File, Save for Web (or
File, Save for Web
> (filtered) -- not sure of the spelling), I can click the
Tools button in
> the
> Save dialog box and select from a bunch of different
settings, including
> dpi
> etc. for graphics. Which such setting(s) are used by
Dreamweaver? I'm
> using
> the copy-n-paste method because the File, Import method
does not complete
> on my
> machine.
>
> 5. Are there recommended steps to clean up Word first?
For example,
> Microsoft
> says that Word documents can be saved as RTF, then
re-opened, to clear up
> damage (see Microsoft Knowledgebase article 826864). I
found, for
> example,
> that creating internal links in Word is faster than
creating doing the
> same in
> Dreamweaver). And I found that I should avoid the
Dreamweaver option that
> preserves styles. I want very simple output -- no forms,
etc.
>
> 6. Is there a way to compare outputs? Adobe mentions
that leaving off the
> final paragraph mark in Word can cause some formatting
to be lost. I'd
> like to
> do a paragraph-by-paragraph comparison (I know that 's
ambiguous because
> list
> items are treated as paragraphs in Word but not in
HTML.)
>
> 7. To meet the request of a client, I want to preserve
highlighting in the
> resulting HTML (yes, I know, i'd be using the
<font> tag, but only so that
> the
> authors can quickly find last-minute changes for
review). I'd clean those
> <font> tags out before going live. Can I fine-tune
the HTML conversion
> process?
>
> Again, my apologies for the number of questions. Partial
answers are most
> welcome.
>
> Bob Stromberg
> Greenwich, NY
>
>