Styles?

[Sarmat89]

Both Word 2007+ and OpenOffice 3.x+ always use styles when you change the formatting. It is no longer needed to invent and apply styles manually.

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

Both Word 2007+ and OpenOffice 3.x+ always use styles when you change the formatting. It is no longer needed to invent and apply styles manually.

What? Where did you come up with such information?

Direct Formatting still plagues the innards of these files. Very few people (<1%) learn to "Paste As Unformatted Text" + properly apply Styles to their documents.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DNSB

How good is the import of an odt file using the Sigil plugin at this time. When I tried it a while back (2017 time frame), I found the default CSS required quite a bit of massaging to be useful for me.

As the creator of the DOCXImport plugin (which LibreOffice can save to), I can assure you that absolutely nothing has changed in that regard. A styles to CSS map is required. But once a user/author develops a standard for styling their documents, there will be little to do--with text-based novels anyway.

If you're referring to one of the other odt-specific plugins, I'll let their authors speak for those.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As the creator of the DOCXImport plugin (which LibreOffice can save to), I can assure you that absolutely nothing has changed in that regard. A styles to CSS map is required. But once a user/author develops a standard for styling their documents, there will be little to do--with text-based novels anyway.

If you're referring to one of the other odt-specific plugins, I'll let their authors speak for those.

As far as I recall, the ODTImport plugin for Sigil was created by Doitsu. For the few ODT files I tested with it, the need for defining style translations in the config.xml and epub.css to match what the creator of the ODT files wanted was a bit of pain to set up. To rub salt in, about 5 minutes after I finished the setup, she switched to MS Office since she was given a free license.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As the creator of the DOCXImport plugin (which LibreOffice can save to), I can assure you that absolutely nothing has changed in that regard. A styles to CSS map is required. But once a user/author develops a standard for styling their documents, there will be little to do--with text-based novels anyway.

If you're referring to one of the other odt-specific plugins, I'll let their authors speak for those.

I've used Sigil but not that plugin. How do I add it on Linux?
Currently I'm on V 1.1.0 using QT 5.12.8. On starting it offered an upgrade and clicking that loaded
https://sigil-ebook.com/sigil/download/
Except it doesn't exactly have a download for Linux. The version I have was from the Linux Mint 20.1 GUI Package Manager and hasn't been updated. However I have several programs I use that are direct installed from websites though on the Package Manager.

Edit: I see I have zero plugins and "Add Plugin" opens the file browser.

Edit 2: Can the docx plugin map image styles to user defined CSS so I have height: auto and width: whatever% or vice versa for portrait shape images? Currently I have to edit all CSS for images when I use that Program What Must Not Be Named here.

Edit 3: Found the list of plugins, downloaded and installed DOCXImport and CSSFromFonts.

[roger64]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As far as I recall, the ODTImport plugin for Sigil was created by Doitsu. For the few ODT files I tested with it, the need for defining style translations in the config.xml and epub.css to match what the creator of the ODT files wanted was a bit of pain to set up.

This plugin uses a Java program named "writer2xhtml". According to the author (Henrik Just), the only rule to take into account is GIGA (garbage in, garbage out).

If your odt file uses proper styles, it will be very precisely converted.

"defining style translations" on this regard is a useless step. There is no need for it.

If you send me by MP a clean odt file (styles!), I can do a try for you. The result will be customized because of the use of my own settings (additional style-sheet, fonts, etc.)

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Currently I have to edit all CSS for images when I use that Program What Must Not Be Named here.

It's not like that. It's not a competition thing at all. I just don't like it when suggestions for questions asked in the Sigil forum are to do X with calibre. I don't mind it when something is asked that can't be done with Sigil, but otherwise, I wish to assume a user asked a question in the Sigil forum because they're looking for a Sigil answer. Seems reasonable enough to me.

Once Sigil-centric solutions have been exhausted without any joy, feel free to mention that what they want can be done with calibre.

As to your second image-related question: are you talking about Word/docx styles applied to images? I was unaware you could apply text styles to images (with Word/LibreOffice). If you're talking about adding generic style classes to the resulting img tag that could be later styled, that might be easily doable. But the parsing of images within the plugin to generate "smart" CSS class attributes is probably not in the cards. All styles come from the docx text styles and are mapped to css classes by the user provided map.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

As to your second image-related question: are you talking about Word/docx styles applied to images? I was unaware you could apply text styles to images (with Word/LibreOffice). If you're talking about adding generic style classes to the resulting img tag that could be later styled, that might be easily doable. But the parsing of images within the plugin to generate "smart" CSS class attributes is probably not in the cards. All styles come from the docx text styles and are mapped to css classes by the user provided map.

I am writing about Styles for Images. But not Paragraph (Text) Styles. Obviously if an image is
in <p style="stuff"> <img style="otherstuff"> etc </p> the outer text CSS applies, such as center.

LO Writer "Styles and Formatting" navigator un-docked has styles for:

1. Paragraph
2. Character
3. Frame
4. Page
5. List
6. Table

These are six icons that would be more logically tabs.

Frame (3) includes Graphics / Images styles as well as Formula and other stuff.

If you click on an Image two additional toolbars appear (note I only have the the main menu on the editor window, so all tool bars/windows are floating.
Right Click on an Image you get Image Properties via context menu. Under "Type" you can set the Size and Anchor (there are 10 option tabs). For docs, ebooks and PDFs I always anchor As character.
I usually have each image in a separate paragraph that's Caption style (Center). An actual caption would be a new paragraph.
If it's a selection of small images, then they are in the same paragraph and I'd make them the same height. On import to Calibre as Docx to epub, really annoyingly I only get the H & V pixels in the CSS. Setting a percent of paragraph or such doesn't work.
The default Graphics Style in the main Style browser (when 3rd icon Frame is selected or an image is selected) obviously ought to be where each Style of image is configured via a New Style when it needs one.
I have to say it's complicated and I may be doing it wrong. However the style/properties are exported, I checked with Word XP, Word 2003 (WINE others are on VMs) and Word 2007. Naturally reading in a docx saved by LO Writer messes up styles as it's a conversion. Also obviously the pixel size and anchor mode is correctly turned into HTML and CSS by Calibre.

I'm a bit ferverish right now, but when better I'll try figuring how to set up the CSS maps for your plug in. Maybe I can copy CSS and HTML stuff from epubs made from LO Writer odts Saved As docx. Most documents for epub use the same template & styles. The docs to be exported as PDFs have loads of page styles, headers, footers, different margins and fonts for the same content. Also footnotes / references are done differently for epub and PDF.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's not like that. It's not a competition thing at all. I just don't like it when suggestions for questions asked in the Sigil forum are to do X with calibre.

I know it's not a competition. I was obliquely apologising for earlier silly comment.

[DiapDealer]

Gotcha. Sorry. I just didn't want anyone thinking Calibre was taboo around here.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by roger64

This plugin uses a Java program named "writer2xhtml". According to the author (Henrik Just), the only rule to take into account is GIGA (garbage in, garbage out).

If your odt file uses proper styles, it will be very precisely converted.

"defining style translations" on this regard is a useless step. There is no need for it.

If you send me by MP a clean odt file (styles!), I can do a try for you. The result will be customized because of the use of my own settings (additional style-sheet, fonts, etc.)

No need. That was the only person I had send me odt files and I had managed to get the setup to work before they switched to MSWord so I no longer needed to import odt files.

[roger64]

OK. Up to you.

It also good to know that LO allows to export directly from odt to ePub format.

You'll get a correct code, a fine display, even with complex files, as long as you use styles. For my taste however, from somebody who uses the ePub format to fine tune the display, this code is a too complex to easily deal with.

But it's just a matter of taste.

[Sarmat89]

The LO Epub export is just a repack of its XHTML export, the lack of the whitespace included.

[roger64]

Originally Posted by Sarmat89

.../..., the lack of the whitespace included.

As far as I can see, this "casual" last remark, is unfounded for the current LO export... I have proof of it with a complex ePub converted just two days ago.

[DiapDealer]

Sarmat's numerous one-sentence declarations are rarely the useful (let alone accurate) epiphanies they believe them to be.