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android8 · Mar 16, 2004, 11:55 AM

Wasn't quite sure which forum to put this in....

Anyway...
I've just finished writing my dissertation. I wrote it in Word (with integrated Excel-charts and a couple of jpg's), but would like to convert the existing Word document to LaTeX (text in LaTex looks much better than text in Word). I don't have the time to learn LaTex right now, so if anyone of you could give me a pointer on how to move everything into LaTex, it would be much appreciated. Thx in advance

wataru · Mar 16, 2004, 12:54 PM

You're not going to magically get better results by autoconverting one format to another; you'd be much better off biting the bullet and learning LaTeX. That said, I'm pretty sure there's a way to do what you want, but I don't know for sure as I never use Word anymore. I'll post back here if I find a way.

The first places to check would be Gerben Weirder's i-Installer, or fink.

android8 · Mar 16, 2004, 02:06 PM

Thx for your reply wataru. I'll look into i-Installer and Fink.

Moonray · Mar 16, 2004, 04:18 PM

There is no method that wouldn't require some manual work. However here are some pointers:

texfaq_9.html

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wataru · Mar 17, 2004, 01:29 AM

Originally posted by android8:
Thx for your reply wataru. I'll look into i-Installer and Fink.

I just checked them both out, and it looks like neither have what you want. They both have a LaTeX to RTF filter, but nothing for going the other way.

m2bored · Mar 17, 2004, 01:36 AM

I am in the EXACT same situation as you...I really do not have the time to learn LaTeX right now...i will let you know if I find anything...

simifilm · Mar 17, 2004, 03:32 AM

As someone who has spent the last two months learning LaTeX, let me tell you: What you're looking for doesn't exist, and probably never will.

Millennium · Mar 17, 2004, 07:04 AM

Through a long string of conversions, you might be able to kinda-sorts get your dissertation into LaTeX format. There's an HTML -> LaTeX converter out there (and also one to go the other way), so if you export from Word to HTML, you could then convert it.

However, be warned: If this looks like a bad hack, that's because it is. The text will probably actually look worse if you do it this way. If your goal is to get better-looking text in LaTeX -an admirable goal, to be sure- you'll have to apply a significant amount of elbow grease. LaTeX stuff looks great, but those looks don't come without effort.

android8 · Mar 17, 2004, 12:23 PM

Thanks for all the replies...looks like I might have to bite the bullet and learn LaTex...

wataru · Mar 17, 2004, 02:58 PM

I think you've made a good choice. I actually enjoy using LaTeX, and it has been a great help in my academic career.

My suggestions to you are this:
1. Install teTeX from i-Installer. To actually write your stuff, use TeXShop. It has many nice features that will make it easier to use LaTeX.
2. Check out this site and this site. The latter is basically how I learned everything I know.
3. This site may also be helpful.

If you need to use 2-byte characters like Japanese or Chinese, you will need to use pTeX instead of teTeX. Instructions for getting pTeX are included in a readme with TeXShop; I use the Kiriki package.

Good luck. If you have questions, try that LiveJournal site, or post them here and hopefully someone can help.

android8 · Mar 17, 2004, 03:38 PM

Thank you very much for your advice wataru. I think I'll follow the "lessons" on the site you linked to...might just aswell get it right from the start. Phew...here goes nothing

m@ · Mar 19, 2004, 04:59 AM

If you have lots of excel tables, there is a macro for excel that someone wrote theat converts them into tex tables. http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help...chive/support/

i would recomend:

TexShop
Latex Equation Editor
xl2latex

save from word as plain text and paste into a latex document, then mark up the sections.

Incedently this is the way it is ment to be done. Write the thing first them make it look beautiful!

WJMoore · Mar 19, 2004, 07:31 AM

One of the reasons LaTeX documents usually look good (if you ignore the typesetting, which is hard to replicate in Word) it that it enforces fairly strict rules to make the document readable. Word does not which is why many Word docs look shocking. If you make a point of following the rules LaTeX imposes in Word (like styles and appropriate margins) you can actually make them look very respectable. Having said that though, I would highly recommend learning LaTeX if you can spare the time.