I have done all of these processes many times. No easy way - and yes - it is time consuming ----- Original Message ----- From: "Blair, Tom" <Tom.Blair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 11:06 AM Subject: [duxuser] Re: E-files > Hi George, > > Yes I think you are getting it although I'm not aware of any conversion > software companies here in the US. One hour for a plain text publication of > 100 pages with few tables is not bad, however textbooks are not plain text > by any means. Just open a new textbook to any page and what do you see? > Every page is what I call "busy". It has it all, graphics, pictures, various > fonts, tables, footnotes, URLs, two and three column text layouts, various > size headings, text in margins, bullets, text in boxes and circles, etc, > etc. I've tried cleaning various files by opening the file in Word, using > the textbook as a guide and page by page deleting and moving text here and > there. It can take half an hour to do one page sometimes. Then I save the > file as a .doc, .txt, .rtf, etc, to see which format gives the best results. > > > Duxbury does a good job in translating the text but the formatting is the > hard part and the most time consuming. It's actually more efficient to > contract it out to an agency or independent braillist to transcribe. If you > could send me, either privately or to the list, some names of 3rd Party > conversion software companies, I would appreciate it. > > Thanks, > Tom > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: George Bell > To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Sent: 9/12/2002 5:04 AM > Subject: [duxuser] Re: E-files > > Hi Tom, > > Now that I'm getting a better picture of things, I believe there could > be a possible (part) solution. > > I should perhaps explain first that as a Braille producer, (probably the > UK's largest commercial braille producer) we see files coming in in all > manner of formats. And obviously, we need to get these files into a > condition where they can be imported into DBT, preferable with as little > DBT editing as possible. > > In our case, he secret is to establish what software (and ideally the > version number) these files were originally produced in. > > For example, Quark and Adobe PageMaker are two very popular publishing > packages here in the UK. Both can save in various "mark-up" formats, > and naturally both have their nuances as to how the mark-up code ends > up. > > However, there is a wealth of 3rd Party conversion software available, > which doesn't cost and arm and a leg, and which is capable of converting > hundreds of different file formats to another format. > > As a general rule, we now aim to convert these files into Word format, > which in turn are relatively easy to import into DBT. > > I can't give you any hard and fast rules about the time it takes to > convert, but generally speaking, something like a Quark file of a 100 > page publication, comprising mostly of plain text and very few tables, > is in a clean condition in Word in less than one hour. > > George Bell > Techno-Vision Systems Ltd > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Blair, Tom [mailto:Tom.Blair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] > > Sent: 11 September 2002 18:46 > > To: 'duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx' > > Subject: [duxuser] Re: E-files > > > > > > Hi George, > > > > Actually, I think they do classify to a point. For example, > > PF at the end of > > the title means Publisher's File, TX means text file and so > > on. One of the > > problems is that they receive these files not only from > > publishers but from > > others, i.e. braille producing agencies, volunteers. > > > > Ideally they would have the personnel, which they don't, to > > somehow clean up > > these files for automatic translation. The tasks involved are > > overwhelming > > for any organization. Along with a standard there is supposed to be a > > central agency that will distribute the files so publishers > > will not have to > > contend with many different agencies and school districts. > > > > Tom > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: George Bell > > To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Sent: 9/11/2002 10:54 AM > > Subject: [duxuser] Re: E-files > > > > Hi Tom, > > > > > They told me that they were not responsible for the format of the > > file. > > > > I do not wish to disparage APH in any way, but I do feel this is a > > remark which perhaps was made by a member of staff not in full command > > of the facts. > > > > If these files are produced by volunteer transcribers, surely it would > > not be unreasonable for APH to politely request that some standards be > > adhered to for the common good? > > > > Alternatively, could APH not simply "categorise" or > > "classify" the file > > type of markup? > > > > It really sounds a pretty poor show that we have to wait for > > legislation > > to come into effect which forces a standard. > > > > George Bell > > Techno-Vision Systems Ltd > > * * * > > * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. > > * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with > > * unsubscribe > > * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also > > * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription > > * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive > > * is also located there. > > * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com > > * * * > > * * * > > * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. > > * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with > > * unsubscribe > > * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also > > * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription > > * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive > > * is also located there. > > * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com > > * * * > > > * * * > * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. > * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with > * unsubscribe > * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also > * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription > * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive > * is also located there. > * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com > * * * > * * * > * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. > * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with > * unsubscribe > * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also > * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription > * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive > * is also located there. > * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com > * * * > > * * * * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with * unsubscribe * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive * is also located there. * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com * * *