Scrivener Export to Mellel

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strickvl
Got the styles thing figured out
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Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by strickvl »

I've just started using Mellel and I'm trying to figure out the optimum settings for export from Scrivener to Mellel.

I assume someone here has been through this (esp for large documents) already. Maybe you could help me out and post some settings screenshots or write them up here?

Much appreciated...
Lüsh
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Lüsh »

We have some problems… see viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2794 for the biggest issue. I would love to have a Scrivener to Mellel ease :)
Eyal Redler
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Eyal Redler »

Please be more specific regarding issues with importing RTF documents created by Scrivener. This will increase the chance of fixes coming on Mellel 3.3.4 or 3.3.5
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Declan
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Declan »

I think that one of the most significant issues is that there is no way for mellel to impose paragraph styles on similarly formatted texts. I have tried to describe this in the thread linked by another contributor.

Let me try again:
One would like to be able to import text which has certain characteristics (font, size, spacing etc.) from scrivener (or elsewhere), select all text with those characteristics, and change it all to a Mellel paragraph style, such as Normal.
Then one would like to be able to select all text with certain margin settings, and different line spacing, and designate that with a Mellel paragraph style, called Indented Quotation, for example.
Then one might like to choose all the paragraphs with the same font, spacing and size characteristics as the first group, and impose a Mellel paragraph style called Normal after Quotation.
Then, one would like to choose all text with 10 pt (for example) and impose the Mellel paragraph style Footnote, for example.

Then, even better, one would like to choose all text with Bold and 15pt text and designate that as Autotitle, Subtitles (for example), which would bring in the Paragraph and Character styles.

And so on....

What one currently has to do is choose the paragraphs (or 2 or 3 together) and impose Normal onto it. Repeating the same for each paragraph is very tiresome, but Mellel doesn't seem to have a way to select similarly formatted text, and then to apply a given paragraph style to it.

I wonder if anyone can explain this any better?

Declan
Eyal Redler
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Eyal Redler »

Thanks for elaborating this.
We need better tools for handling these issues and we are working on some things in that direction but I think these issues are not actually specific to Scrivener but are more general for getting text into Mellel and making it nice and clean easily.
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Declan
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Declan »

Yes, I think that's correct. Nothing very specific to Scrivener. But the Scrivener-Mellel workflow is probably widespread, since Scrivener is very good at planning longer manuscripts, and Mellel very good at taming them.

Best wishes,
Declan
nicka
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by nicka »

In principle the way to do this is to use the Paragraph tab of Replace Styles. In practice that's inconvenient, verging on useless, because the dialogue is modal and you can't see which paragraphs are going to be affected while you are in it. So the task is to choose between several items that are called something like "Par Style Left to Right +1" on the basis of some cryptic information about line spacing or margins on the right of the drawer. On top of this, there's no way of automating the procedure.

Possible fixes: Find and Replace that can search on ad hoc paragraph styling and impose paragraph styles, as Word and Nisus have. This would be particularly useful, because then we could make a Find Set that would deal with body text, various heading levels, block quotations etc. all in one go.

A 'Select all text in this style' function, like Nisus and Pages have. Then the procedure would be: put the insertion point in one heading, click 'Select all like this', then impose a paragraph style.

Least ambitious: a small improvement that would make 'Replace styles' useable. Show in real time which text will be affected by highlighting it in the main document window.
Eyal Redler
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Eyal Redler »

I agree. Replace styles really needs loving care.
I also agree that the ideal way would be to allow searching and applying paragraph attributes in find sets, to allow automating the whole thing.
Eyal Redler
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Declan
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Declan »

I applaud these conclusions, and look forward to whatever might emerge.
Thanks,

Declan
SDempsey
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by SDempsey »

A 'Select all text in this style' function, like Nisus and Pages have. Then the procedure would be: put the insertion point in one heading, click 'Select all like this', then impose a paragraph style.
I like this option.
macsailor
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by macsailor »

SDempsey wrote:
A 'Select all text in this style' function, like Nisus and Pages have. Then the procedure would be: put the insertion point in one heading, click 'Select all like this', then impose a paragraph style.
I like this option.
Second that.
Peter Edwardsson
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Truth is not always popular, but it is always right.
Declan
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Declan »

Of course, if we really wanted to go for gold, we might suggest the option of imposing not just paragraph styles, but also Auto-titles.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to tell Mellel that everything in a certain font is a certain type of heading? If that were possible one could hop from Scrivener (or similar software) to Mellel even more quickly. Certain text would be selected using formatting, and then specified as an Auto-title, which in turn would impose the relevant Paragraph and Character Styles. From there to Table of Contents...

Not to get too ambitious, but if the feature is to be designed, it'd be nice if it could also stretch to the level of Auto-titles in some future version.

Declan
rpcameron
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by rpcameron »

Declan wrote:Of course, if we really wanted to go for gold, we might suggest the option of imposing not just paragraph styles, but also Auto-titles.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to tell Mellel that everything in a certain font is a certain type of heading? If that were possible one could hop from Scrivener (or similar software) to Mellel even more quickly. Certain text would be selected using formatting, and then specified as an Auto-title, which in turn would impose the relevant Paragraph and Character Styles. From there to Table of Contents...

Not to get too ambitious, but if the feature is to be designed, it'd be nice if it could also stretch to the level of Auto-titles in some future version.
Scrivener can export OPML, and Mellel imports OPML ... Therefore, shouldn't you be able to export your document structured that way, and have it imported into a structure with Auto-Titles?

(I haven't tried this, but isn't that sort of the point of a structured format like OPML ...)
— Robert Cameron
Declan
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by Declan »

True enough, but footnotes are lost.

Declan
nicka
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Re: Scrivener Export to Mellel

Post by nicka »

Comments too, presumably.
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