I just read that Office 2013 now includes PDF import and editing functionality, so that it converts the PDF automatically into a format that could be edited and saved as a .doc. I was wondering whether anyone has had a chance to play with this, and if so how well it handles academic papers written in Latex/Xelatex, especially with respect to footnotes, multiple languages or fonts, and citations/references (and math, though this isn't as important to me personally). It would be nice to get some sense of how well it works before considering upgrading to the 2013 suite, since I'm sure that will come with its own set of new UI, etc. headaches.
[Tex/LaTex] Office 2013 handling of (Xe)LaTex PDFs
conversionmsword
Related Solutions
You could use Writer2LaTeX:
Perhaps have a look at alternative ways: Converters from PC Textprocessors to LaTeX
I implemented this for a large R&D lab. We produced several hundred (if not thousand) documents per year, and the LaTeX Users' community there wanted to be able to produce documents using 'tex as well as WYSIWYG software.
The OP was right in that a well-defined workflow is essential. Part of this is the process, but you may also need to think about training and using a common repository, and how to implement corporate design.
Process
We implemented a process that allowed people to work in LaTeX and then switch to .docx for collaborators.
- Define a class file that contains the correct formatting, etc, using article, report or book classes. Include the minimum number of up-to-date packages in the class and add the
nag
package to make sure that you (and other users) can see that those packages are not deprecated. - Create a template showing how to use the class file
- Create an SVN (or git, or whatever) repository for the class and template files, and distribute the URL of the repository to LaTeX users
- Create documents using the lab-standard class file
- Convert the tex files to .docx using Pandoc, which works on Windows, Mac, and Linux
- Get edits and peer reviews done on the .docx
- Transfer edits from the .doc or .docx document back in to 'tex manually, and complete the PDF production in LaTeX.
- Tagging the document using Adobe Acrobat for Section 508 compliance (accessibility).
N.B. Using one of the web-based editors like sharelatex.com or overleaf.com can remove the need for 5-7, especially now that they have rather good review tools.
Challenges
There were a couple of challenges we had to face to get this adopted.
- Getting the editors and reviewers something that fit with their existing process, hence the use of the .docx format
- Figuring out how to get the same class file(s) to all users, hence the SVN repository
- Making sure people know how to use it, hence the template
- Figuring out tools that let people collaborate. But that's a whole other post!
508 Compliance / Structured PDFs
The one thing that is still causing trouble is 508-compliance. I have been working (slowly) on using the pdfcomment
package to add tooltips and modifying the accessibility
package so that documents are accessible. My test PDF documents sometimes pass automated testing in Adobe Acrobat...
Repository
I've put a set of demo documents in a Github repository which may be helpful.
Note re. Pandoc
3 Dec 2017: Originally I suggested the use of latex2rtf instead of Pandoc. I am now editting this answer to suggest Pandoc as I find Pandoc is kept up to date, works well, and I like the flexibility to choose from many more input and output file types.
Best Answer
I'm pretty impressed of the result actually and for reference, footnote and endnote it does a good job. Although footnote aren't translate as Word footnote. What the converter actually does to preserve the aspect of the paper is adding tabulation and other format characters. Also it does not handle accents for I tried with a report I wrote in French (yeah I'm a french canadian) and every accent were added in front of the letter in this manner " `e " a simple search and replace should do the job but with other small corrections it starts to become a lot, especially if you want to add large part of text. So it might not be as good as pdf directly compiled from LaTeX, but if you have to submit a report to your employer because the business only work with word it is a good way to translate PDF to
.doc
although it might need small change in the layout of the document (pagebreak need to be reinserted).PS: the summary will not update you have to change mannually the page number, but again if you do change so again it's more to create a
.doc
version of your document when.doc
are needed.PPS: I quite like Word 2013 it can be useful by adding shortcuts were needed and not adding more button in the Ui bar it's more efficient than other versions, it's handling more thing without having to search for the correct button for the circumstance, i.e. converting a PDF file is simply done by openning it with the open button.