Text Acquisition - Getting Text into Page Layout Software
Browse tips and tutorials for getting your text into your page layout software. Learn how to import or place plain text files, RTF files, tagged text, and other formats from an editor or word processor into a desktop publishing application.
What is Text - Types of Text Used in Desktop Publishing
We all know what text is, right? It's the characters, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that we read. But text comes in many forms and getting text into the right format for our page layout applications is a crucial part of desktop publishing.
ASCII or Plain Text Files
ASCII or plain text files have no formatting and can be easily exchanged between platforms and used by almost any program.
RTF Rich Text Format
Before PDF, Rich Text Format was the most portable file format used to exchange files cross-platform while still retaining all or much of its formatting. It is still a viable option for some types of files.
Tab Delimited Files for Tables, Spreadsheets
Tabular data retains a certain amount of formatting when transferred using Tab Delimited Files.
Tab Delimited Files Step-by-Step
Step-by-step, how to get tab delimited files into page layout software.
Tagged Text Files
Tagged text is one way to exchange files between programs when you need to import or export text with formatting.
Tagged Text Examples
Compare snippets of tagged text from three different applications. It's fairly easy to see the codes specifying the fonts.
Ask Andy - Placing Existing Content into DTP Packages
Having trouble getting your Word tables to look right in QuarkXPress? Ask Andy has tips and solutions for getting tables, spreadsheets, graphs, etc. into PageMaker, QuarkXPress, or other programs.