Edit text file in Word first?

owly · 03-13-2013, 11:53 AM

Is it better to edit text files in Word before Sigil or does that just end up giving you lots of code that'll need to be removed.

JSWolf · 03-13-2013, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owly

Is it better to edit text files in Word before Sigil or does that just end up giving you lots of code that'll need to be removed.

Word gives you this nice heap of bad code that you'll be spending time to get rid of.

What I suggest is a good text editor such as Notepad++ and use text markup/comments to denote your formatting so you can easily edit it in Sigil.

For example...
_some italic text_
*some bold text*
#insert picture here#
#center this next line#

Stuff like that. Then you can easily find where you need to do things and it will overall be easier to go from your text to an ePub in Sigil.

You don't have to write each section/chapter separately. Sigil can help with the splitting and you can rename the files so you know what's what by the filename.

Toxaris · 03-13-2013, 03:57 PM

Word can be used, but you need cleaning afterwards or use another way of exporting to HTML from Word instead of saved as filtered HTML.

meme · 03-13-2013, 04:07 PM

If you have a .txt file, then just open it in Sigil. Blank lines between lines of text will be treated as paragraph separators.

owly · 03-14-2013, 06:11 AM

I was experimenting with "Ivar- or the Skjuts-boy" which orginally comes from the Internet Archives though I downloaded it from Project Runeberg http://runeberg.org/ivar/ After having merged the files with TXTcollector I opened up the file in Bookview but became confused. There was Html code in the beginning and around headers, maybe someones codeing notes?

owly · 03-15-2013, 09:51 AM

Wohoo! I found a book that let you download the Html-files! Hopefully that will make things easier. All the Runeberg project books have a download link that supposedly lets you download the Html-files but this was the first one that actually did.

ib1 · 03-17-2013, 12:31 PM

chiming in-

All are welcome to advise on where im going wrong and what i might do.

i have a similar issue/ question. i am formatting my books before epublishing through an aggregator.

my intent is to get my file perfectly clean and simple.. so that when the aggregator converts to the other formats- there are no issues.

there are no graphics or font preferences or any formatting other than chapter headings.. simple simple.
ALL I WANT IS BARE BONES so as not to complicate any conversions.. no need for odd fonts or images or even indentation if thats an issue.

the files are clean when i send to the proofer but the proofer uses word so i get back a .doc

open in code view- i have absolutely no clue as to what im seeing. .. but theres a lot of duplicate code entries.

on one book i somehow had a stylesheet to check against after flight crew.. the check returned with a hundreds red error entries.. not of which i comprehend.

i have tried to put a stylesheet in and got lost-- so i am sheetless.. nor do i have any idea what stylesheet to use.

the file usually checks in flight crew with
(image/cover) "This resource is present in the OPF <manifest>, but it's not reachable (it's unused).
content.opf - The <language> element is missing.
content.opf - The <title> element is missing.

this is on the clean original txt file.. much worse from a .doc

ive read the threads i could find here and it seems that the gap lay somewhere between "use the tidy if you dont know code" and "read the user guide"
i used the tidy.. the .doc file still looks like a minefield compared to what it looked like when i opened from txt.

any help appreciated!!

edit: i guess what im hoping for is a cheat.. like opening the word file in notepad and cut and pasting into sigil to shake off the dirty..
but im just fantasizing.. no idea what might be plausible -- ALL of this is magic to me : )

Perkin · 03-17-2013, 07:29 PM

Open the proofread *.doc file in Word, Select-All (Ctrl+A) and Copy (Ctrl-C), open Notepad (or equivalent), & Paste (Ctrl+V) into blank file, this will paste just the text with NO formatting, save this as *.txt, then import that file into Sigil.

Then you can highlight each Chapter header and changer it to Header style, and place a Split marker before each new chapter point, and when youv've done all of the chapters, 'split at markers', in menu.

Then if you need you can any other formatting (italics/bold etc.)

teh603 · 03-17-2013, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ib1

edit: i guess what im hoping for is a cheat.. like opening the word file in notepad and cut and pasting into sigil to shake off the dirty..
but im just fantasizing.. no idea what might be plausible -- ALL of this is magic to me : )

That's actually one of the suggestions from the Smashwords Style Guide, actually. Copypasta the document into notepad, save, and then re-import the .txt.

Or you could do like I do, and write in a programmer's text editor like Geany, Kate, Jota or Jota+, or TextEdit.

alicepattinson · 03-17-2013, 11:12 PM

Yeah! If you're going to use some HTML or something use Notepad than word

Toxaris · 03-18-2013, 03:26 AM

Unfortunatly you will also loose formatting like italics and so on...

However, with regards to your other errors when importing a txt file. You need to enter the basic metadata like Title, Author and language. From memory this is in the tools menu or via the F9 key.

theducks · 03-18-2013, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Unfortunatly you will also loose formatting like italics and so on...

However, with regards to your other errors when importing a txt file. You need to enter the basic metadata like Title, Author and language. From memory this is in the tools menu or via the F9 key.

Memory Fault_ Bzzzt!

F8 Key brings up the Metadata Editor

ib1 · 03-18-2013, 09:42 AM

AWESOME!
Thanks to all!

and thanks, PERKIN, for speaking in a language that i can understand LOL.

all issues solved!

toxy-
i had no idea those errors were metadata-- very helpful to know.. invaluable!

glad to find this community.

teh603 · 03-19-2013, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Unfortunatly you will also loose formatting like italics and so on...

However, with regards to your other errors when importing a txt file. You need to enter the basic metadata like Title, Author and language. From memory this is in the tools menu or via the F9 key.

That's what you have proofreading for.

Turtle91 · 03-19-2013, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teh603

That's what you have proofreading for.

True, but I would rather spend my proof reading time catching other mistakes than trying to remember what needed to be italicized/bolded.

It's much easier and faster to use toxaris' macro (or your own) to clean a word doc and then copy/paste into sigil or another text editor.

03-13-2013, 11:53 AM	#1
owly Guru Posts: 729 Karma: 3822612 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Paperwhite 2, Kobo Aura H2O	Edit text file in Word first? Is it better to edit text files in Word before Sigil or does that just end up giving you lots of code that'll need to be removed.

03-17-2013, 12:31 PM	#7
ib1 noob Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2013 Device: nook. kindel	the newest noob chiming in- All are welcome to advise on where im going wrong and what i might do. i have a similar issue/ question. i am formatting my books before epublishing through an aggregator. my intent is to get my file perfectly clean and simple.. so that when the aggregator converts to the other formats- there are no issues. there are no graphics or font preferences or any formatting other than chapter headings.. simple simple. ALL I WANT IS BARE BONES so as not to complicate any conversions.. no need for odd fonts or images or even indentation if thats an issue. the files are clean when i send to the proofer but the proofer uses word so i get back a .doc open in code view- i have absolutely no clue as to what im seeing. .. but theres a lot of duplicate code entries. on one book i somehow had a stylesheet to check against after flight crew.. the check returned with a hundreds red error entries.. not of which i comprehend. i have tried to put a stylesheet in and got lost-- so i am sheetless.. nor do i have any idea what stylesheet to use. the file usually checks in flight crew with (image/cover) "This resource is present in the OPF <manifest>, but it's not reachable (it's unused). content.opf - The <language> element is missing. content.opf - The <title> element is missing. this is on the clean original txt file.. much worse from a .doc ive read the threads i could find here and it seems that the gap lay somewhere between "use the tidy if you dont know code" and "read the user guide" i used the tidy.. the .doc file still looks like a minefield compared to what it looked like when i opened from txt. any help appreciated!! edit: i guess what im hoping for is a cheat.. like opening the word file in notepad and cut and pasting into sigil to shake off the dirty.. but im just fantasizing.. no idea what might be plausible -- ALL of this is magic to me : ) Last edited by ib1; 03-17-2013 at 07:19 PM.

03-18-2013, 09:42 AM	#13
ib1 noob Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2013 Device: nook. kindel	AWESOME! Thanks to all! and thanks, PERKIN, for speaking in a language that i can understand LOL. all issues solved! toxy- i had no idea those errors were metadata-- very helpful to know.. invaluable! glad to find this community. Last edited by ib1; 03-18-2013 at 09:45 AM.

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03-13-2013, 03:57 PM	#3
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Word can be used, but you need cleaning afterwards or use another way of exporting to HTML from Word instead of saved as filtered HTML.

03-13-2013, 04:07 PM	#4
meme Sigil developer Posts: 1,275 Karma: 1101600 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle PW, K4 NT, K3, Kobo Touch	If you have a .txt file, then just open it in Sigil. Blank lines between lines of text will be treated as paragraph separators.

03-14-2013, 06:11 AM	#5
owly Guru Posts: 729 Karma: 3822612 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Paperwhite 2, Kobo Aura H2O	I was experimenting with "Ivar- or the Skjuts-boy" which orginally comes from the Internet Archives though I downloaded it from Project Runeberg http://runeberg.org/ivar/ After having merged the files with TXTcollector I opened up the file in Bookview but became confused. There was Html code in the beginning and around headers, maybe someones codeing notes?

03-15-2013, 09:51 AM	#6
owly Guru Posts: 729 Karma: 3822612 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Sweden Device: Paperwhite 2, Kobo Aura H2O	Wohoo! I found a book that let you download the Html-files! Hopefully that will make things easier. All the Runeberg project books have a download link that supposedly lets you download the Html-files but this was the first one that actually did.

03-17-2013, 07:29 PM	#8
Perkin Guru Posts: 655 Karma: 64171 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Kent, England, Sol 3, ZZ9 plural Z Alpha Device: Sony PRS-300, Kobo Aura HD, iPad (Marvin)	Open the proofread .doc file in Word, Select-All (Ctrl+A) and Copy (Ctrl-C), open Notepad (or equivalent), & Paste (Ctrl+V) into blank file, this will paste just the text with NO formatting, save this as .txt, then import that file into Sigil. Then you can highlight each Chapter header and changer it to Header style, and place a Split marker before each new chapter point, and when youv've done all of the chapters, 'split at markers', in menu. Then if you need you can any other formatting (italics/bold etc.)

03-17-2013, 11:12 PM	#10
alicepattinson Banned Posts: 142 Karma: 2564052 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Kindle Fire	Yeah! If you're going to use some HTML or something use Notepad than word

03-18-2013, 03:26 AM	#11
Toxaris Wizard Posts: 4,520 Karma: 121692313 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Heemskerk, NL Device: PRS-T1, Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura	Unfortunatly you will also loose formatting like italics and so on... However, with regards to your other errors when importing a txt file. You need to enter the basic metadata like Title, Author and language. From memory this is in the tools menu or via the F9 key.