The AM Forum

Does anyone on this forum have the computer-program capability of converting a file in Word format into Mac format? I have a Word file of 108 KB that needs converting to Mac.

The file that needs converting contains many math equations with Greek symbols. I know there are programs that convert Word to Mac, but some do not convert equations, instead simply omit them. I need the equations to be included, and converted without error.

Can anyone help me on this?

Walt, W2DU

If you have MS Word on your Mac, you should be able to open the file no problem in most cases. It may depend on which version was used to create the file and which version you are using.

Can you provide some details?

Thanks for the reply, Steve. I should have been more specific. I only have a PC with Windows 2000 Professional, but need to have someone convert the file to Mac.

CQ Magazine is publishing the 3rd ed of Reflections, but they use Mac for formatting the pages prior to converting to PDF for printing. Their present program for converting Word to Mac deletes the equations, and I don't want to ask them to buy a new program for this one chapter that contains many equations. Just hoping that someone here on the AMforum would have the capability of making the conversion.

Walt

Hmmm... If you want to send it to me, I can give it a shot.

That's great, Steve!

I'd prefer to send it via email if that's ok with you, but I'll first need your email address.

Right now it's my beddy-bye time, so once I have your address I'll send the file tomorrow, ok?

Thanks Steve,

Walt

Hi Walt,  If they can take a PDF file directly, I can create one from the PC WORD document.

73, Bill   N2BC

Thanks for the offer Bill, but they need the file in Mac to perform the page making. They would not be able to perform the page making in PDF. I can convert the Word file to PDF, but that wouldn't help either.

Thanks again, Bill,

Walt

Not sure if you already have the problem solved Walt, but in my school environment I could always find a converter pack at the Microsoft download center that seemed to handle compatibility between my PC version of Word and the word processors on the school's MAC equipped boxes. I suspect if you have the equation editor installed at both ends it should work. Looks like they have several different compatibility packs floating around, but this page might be a starting point:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cf196df0-70e5-4595-8a98-370278f40c57

Hello Bob,

Thanks for your response. I clicked the link you provided and subsequently downloaded the conversion program that's susposed to convert Word to Mac. However, there was no explanation of how to use the program--the instructions just said to use it in the normal way you use Microsoft Office. I can find nothing in my Office files that indicates how to use the converting file. Can you help further on this?

I have already emailed the Word file to be converted to Steve, HUZ, and he's going to attempt to convert my file tonight, but it would be nice if I could convert the file myself, that is if I can find out how to use the conversion file I just now downloaded.

Walt

The real question is what does "convert to Mac" mean?  There is not a single "Mac" format.  I presume there is some application they are using (OpenOffice, NeoOffice, MS Office for Mac, an Adobe product, whatever).  Also a variety of file formats -- such as ODF, Windows native formats,  and others.

What application did you use to generate the equations on Windows -- a version of LaTex (I'm guessing not), generic graphics, standard font symbols, etc.?

Grant/NQ5T

Responding to Bob and Grant,

Bob, I forgot to tell you the the name of the converting file I downloaded is 'Oconvpck.exe (the first letter is capatilized, not my error) I'm attaching a copy of it for your amusement(?). But since exe files are not permitted in this forum I've renamed it Oconvpck.jpg, which you'll have to rename again to install it. Once you install it perhaps you can discover how to use it--I can't.

Grant, thank you for your response. I entered the equations in Word, using the standard equation function and font symbols accessible from the task line on the top of the Word window.

Walt

I think Grant is looking for information like

What version of Word did you use?

What version of Word will CQ use?

If they aren't using Word on their Mac, what are they using?

For their ads, they say this: Printed by web offset. Please supply hi-res PDFs or digital ad files
(QuarkXpress or PageMaker, Macintosh preferred, no embedded photos).

I know whenever I do any ads  for them in Word, I can't use any unusual symbols or unique Word fonts. The first time I did that, all my fonts can out different then what I wanted.

Walt,

Try saving the file you have as "HTML" format, and see what it looks like in a browser, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. If the symbols render correctly in the HTML version, you can use that as a middleman format and go from there to Mac.

HTH.

Bill, W1AC

For Brian and Bill,

We were out to dinner when you both posted. In the meantime, son Rick, W8KHK, called after reading Bill's post, alerting me concerning saving the file in HTML format. Sorry Rick, the copy of my file you attached in HTML left the equations out. And Brian, I also saved the file in .txt, and again, the equations were absent.

Thank you all for trying, so now I'm waiting to see if Steve, HUZ, had any luck converting with his Mac machine.

Walt

Brian, thanks for posting the thumbnail of the pic. That brings up another problem that I've delayed asking Rick about. For more than a week now I've been unable to see an enlarged view of the thumbnail on any post. I get the error msg that my program cannot decipher that file. I haven't changed anything in my computer, so they must have made a change in the format at AMfone. Has anyone else been confronted with this problem?

Walt

Grant, I forgot to mention that I'm using Office 2003 for Word. I don't know what version they use at CQ.

Walt

I went back and compared the word file, as viewed in word, to the html file, as viewed in the browser.  All the equations rendered accurately.  So there may be a problem with your browser.  I can confirm the problem is not in the .htm file content. 

OK Rick, I'm going to send you a copy of the current Chapter 25 for you to convert to HTML to see if it still works.

Dad

Rick, I saved the file again to HTML. This time the equations came out, but some of them were overlayed on top of the text. Did this twice and it came out the same both times. Doesn't look good.

Dad

Yes, it appears to work with your latest chapter 25 file.  Screenshot of some of chapter 25, as viewed in Internet Exploder:  IE 7  Version 7.0.5730.13

While the html method may work to retain the equations, it may still be better to have Steve provide a native mac file to CQ for the book.  Big question is what program is CQ using, what version, what is really compatible?  Will need input from them to sort it out.

I use Mac OS and Window XP on the same computer, at the same time, with Parallels.
Have both MS Office/Word 2004 and the new Mac Pages counterpart.

Couldn't Walt just print out the document and save it as a PDF file?
That is the way I work with my graphics design guy, nothing gets lost in "translation".

Simple matter of selecting "print", then use the pdf menu on the lower left of the
print box screen.

Or am I missing something here?

I was able to open the file with the Apple word processor Pages. All the equations were there. I saved the file as a Pages document, and then exported it as a Word document and a PDF. All were sent to CQ. We'll see if they can deal with them. If they have any recent vintage Mac, the should be able to open the Pages doc. Not knowing what version of Word they have (assuming they have Word), it's a crap shoot.

BTW, Open Office opened the file too, but messed up all the equations. Many were just boxes.

Pagemaker is a pretty old product, so it doesn't surprise me that there are some problem. InDesign is Abobe's layout/publishing app now. Apparently you can import PDFs into Pagemaker, but only one page at a time.  

Yep.

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=21445.msg152824#msg152824

Hi Walt. It looks like the guys here have already solved the problem, but here is the quick answer to your question regarding the word conversion pack(s). After installing any of the converter packs, when you go to save a document, at the bottom of the save box, there is a little drop down menu labeled "Save as type". If you hit the down arrow, you will see all the possible formats other than the standard word format of *.doc that are available on your system. The converter packs add more formats to that list for you to choose from. Scroll down the list until you find the one that is compatible for your needs and save the document in that format. That's all there is to it. That being said, the link I posted looks like it might not have what you needed to resolve the compatibility problem you were faced with. As someone mentioned in the thread, Mac itself is an OS and not a file format. Somewhere at the Microsoft site is a converter pack that adds a number of formats used for publication with various products used with the Mac platform, and that would be good to have for the future. It's been 3 years since I had to work across OS platforms, so I'm afraid I don't have a quick link to give you!

Good luck!

Rob W1AEX

Looks like you've solved the problem, Steve !! Great !! And thank you for sending the files to CQ.

And thanks for your input, Bruce, I didn't know a machine could handle both Mac and XP simultaneously.

However, Bruce, giving CQ a PDF file wouldn't permit them to format the pages. I have all the new chapters in PDF, but they wouldn't help the CQ people.

Incidentally, for anyone who'd like to read Chapter 25 that will appear in the new 3rd edtion of Reflections, it's been on my web page for quite some time at www.w2du.com. Just click on 'Preview Chapters from Reflections 3.'

Walt

Rob, thanks again for your help. However, when using 'save as', and then pulling down the pull-down menu 'save as type', adding the new conversion file didn't add any new type to the menu, nor did it show any way to access the 'conversion' function. I'm still frustrated with that new file I downloaded today.

Walt

The recent crop of Macs can run Mac OS X, Windows and Unix, all at the same time. With the virtual machine software out there, PCs can run multiple OSes simultaneously too.

Hi Walt,

I believe that pack may have simply added format compatibility between the version of Word on your Win2K machine and versions of Word from Office 97 through Office 2003. That's not a bad thing, but it certainly didn't help you with what you needed done today, and it most likely did not add any new format capabilities that would show up in the "Save file as" drop down. If I stumble across the pack that helps with cross platform publishing formats I'll PM you with a link.

I'm going to need my slide rule and my daughter's old calculus book to understand your article Walt!

:O)

Rob

I want to thank all who participated in helping solve my problem, especially to Steve, who actually performed the conversion and sent the product to CQ. We won't know right away whether the machine at CQ can use Steve's product until it's tested there. We won't know until sometime next week, because Gail, K2RED, the managing editor is on vacation until then. She is performing the work on my book.

I hesitated earlier in attaching the file, Chapter 25 of Reflections 3, because I wasn't sure the equations would come out correctly. But since I've already shown you how to find the file on my web page with the equations shown correctly, I'm going to post the file as an attachment here, just to see if the equations will come out correctly.

Thanks again, guys,

Walt

Looks good in Word; hopefully it'll convert well to Mac OS.

That's not what I had in mind. I asked if the file would render correctly in a browser in order to find out if MS Word would convert the equations to HTML, but I assumed that everyone would understand that the next step was to open that file using Word for Mac, and thereby employ HTML as an "interchange" format.

Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

73,

Bill, W1AC

Bill, Rick picked up on your suggestion and emphasized it to me. So I saved the file in HTML as an interchange format as you suggested. All the equations came out ok, except that one came out on top of the text, even while using Internet Explorer, the same as it did using Microsoft Office.

On the other hand, Rick says it came out all ok on his machine, so maybe that'll work. Depends on whether the machine at CQ will handle it correctly.

Thank you Bill and Brian and all the others who helped solving my problem.

Walt