Contents | Start | End | Previous: KB0127: Why does my page style stop working after the first chapter in ODT? | Next: KB0129: Why are there spurious page breaks in my Epub?
See also:
Creating OpenDocument files for print and PDF in the Jutoh manual
How do I use Jutoh with print on demand services?
ODT file opened directly in Microsoft Word causes PDF link problems
Normally, you can accomplish what you need to do, such as creating PDF files for print on demand services, by using LibreOffice or OpenOffice to open files created by Jutoh's ODT export facility.
Creating Word files is straightforward for simple files; export a DOC file from LibreOffice or OpenOffice, and open it in Word. Or, if you have a recent version of Word, open the ODT file directly. However for more complex files with page styles, bugs in OpenOffice/LibreOffice and Word become apparent. We will use the term LibreOffice in the following to stand in for both LibreOffice and OpenOffice since behaviour is similar in both programs.
Opening ODT in Word directly:
Problem: the advanced table of contents (inserted as a field) loses its title when updated. Workaround 1: insert the Table of Contents heading manually and apply a suitable style (usually TOC Heading). Workaround 2: open and save as DOC or DOCX in LibreOffice, then open in Word.
Problem: lists have an incorrect indent. Workaround 1: Select each list and reapply a list style, for example using the bullet button in the ribbon, pressing it twice to unformat and then reformat the list. Workaround 2: open and save as DOC or DOCX in LibreOffice, then open in Word.
Problem: headers lose their chapter numbers, if you inserted a chapter field in Jutoh. It may just say UPDATE ME. Workaround: edit the header by double-clicking it, and type the text, such as CHAPTER 1. You will need to do this for each chapter, unless you can find a way to insert a field that references the heading number.
Problem: the last line of the last paragraph is justified rather than left-aligned, making it hard to read. Workaround: Word needs a blank paragraph before a page break, even though LibreOffice doesn't. You can add suitable blank paragraphs to the ODT file using the configuration option Add blank paragraphs for Word, which is switched on by default.
Problem: links exported to PDF don't work. Workaround: open and save as DOC or DOCX in LibreOffice, then open in Word, or export PDF from LibreOffice directly.
Problem: Smashwords doesn't like the page breaks. Workaround: open and save as DOC or DOCX in LibreOffice, then open in Word (pending confirmation that this is a real problem and the workaround works).
Opening a DOC or DOCX file saved in LibreOffice:
Problem: spurious section markers are added by LibreOffice, causing breaks in strange places and poor justification in the preceding paragraph. You can delete them, but this will remove first-page heading and footer information. See Repairing sections below. You will also need to replace automatic chapter number references with text as mentioned above.
Problem: page numbers in headers and footers may not appear or may be numbered incorrectly. It's not clear if this related to interpreting different number styles, or a problem with page styles. Workaround 1: import the ODT directly in Word, since it's better at preserving page styles. Workaround 2: repair the sections yourself by editing the Page Setup and headers and footers as described below.
Problem: as for files directly opened in Word, the last line of the last paragraph is justified rather than left-aligned, making it hard to read. Workaround: Word needs a blank paragraph before a page break, even though LibreOffice doesn't. You can add suitable blank paragraphs to the ODT file using the configuration option Add blank paragraphs for Word, which is switched on by default.
If LibreOffice has inserted spurious sections causing strange page breaks and poor justification, you can remove them in Word as follows.
Switch on 'reveal formatting' (the paragraph marker button in the ribbon home tab).
Go to the top of the document, and click on Replace in the ribbon home tab.
Type ^b into the search field, and ^p into the replace field.
Press Find Next. If the found section break is marked with Section Break (Next Page), it's a legitimate break, so press Find Next again. If it is not marked with this label, click Replace and then Find Next.
Repeat until the end of the document.
Unfortunately this process also removes first-page header and footer information. To fix this, go to the first page of each chapter, click on the Page Layout ribbon tab, and click on the small arrow next to Page Setup. This shows the Page Setup dialog; here you can check Different first page. Press OK. Then correct the header and footer for each chapter by double-clicking on each header or footer and typing appropriate text.
Contents | Start | End | Previous: KB0127: Why does my page style stop working after the first chapter in ODT? | Next: KB0129: Why are there spurious page breaks in my Epub?