On Wed, 2 Feb 2011 15:42:29 +0100 Cezary Grabski <czarek at oferuje.pl> dijo:
>> if you don't use styles to make bold and italics >> character style changes, you shouldn't get exported styles to >> Scribus. I do printing and publication for a small academic journal where I have a similar problem - text files from various authors who use all kinds of weird formatting, and expect their formatting to appear in the journal. My solution was to make a Word template and an OOo template with only the styles that they will be allowed to use. They are required to base their article on the template. They are told that if they use any styles other than the styles in the template the styles will not appear in the journal. There are a couple of paragraphs of instructions which accompany the templates. The instructions explain further not to use certain formatting that I know might mess up the text. As for character styles, there are none in the template and I tell them that they must apply direct formatting for things like bold, italics, superscripts, subscripts, etc. And they are asked to submit a PDF along with the text file so I can be sure of what they think the layout is supposed to look like. The instructions are written in matter-of-fact style, neither condescending nor obsequious I also included instructions for graphics, explaining that the graphics need to be supplied separately, plus a bit of information about resolution, etc. And finally, there is a line with my e-mail and phone number in case an author cannot understand the instructions or feels the need to deviate from them. So far it has worked very well. No one has complained. I did have one author call me and beg me to allow him to create a particular style. It was easy to consent. And I have had a number of questions regarding graphic formats, as most don't even know the difference between raster and vector. I'd rather answer the phone or the e-mail and clear up the question than get an unusable graphic and then have to try to get hold of the author to get a better version. Most of the professors use Word, but it's easy to open their files in OOo and save as .odt. There are often tables, which I convert to tabbed text in OOo. Those who use OOo are delighted that I have provided an OOo template. Working with various authors can be a PITA, but I'm the publisher, so I have the right to make the rules. If you're only the designer and not the publisher you might need to get the printer or publisher to back you up. The important point I want to make is that authors are accustomed to publication requirements and expect them. Life is too short to let others make my life miserable.
