Creating Content with a Word Processor
- Content Format: Web pages are written in
HTML code. The file extension can be either .htm or .html.
However there are two other formats which can be displayed - these
are portable documat format (file extension .pdf) and image files. Image
files can be in JPEG (file extension .jpg), or GIF (file extension .gif).
- Your Word Processor (WP) and HTML: can produce
HTML files (if it meets the test of item 5 on the previous page) as well
as WP files. With most WPs, it is important to save the same file
version in both formats - the HTML file to upload and use, and the WP
file in order to read it back in at a later time to update it (because
you can not always read in the HTML file sucessfully, especially if the
page is complex). The range of formatting options is much more limited
in the web mode than in WP mode (no tabs, columns, or indents, but tables
are used a lot to format page appearance. You enter the web (HTML) mode
by either creating a web document or converting an HTML document into a
web document.
- Your Word Processor (WP) and PDF: In order to produce a
PDF file, you must have purchased a copy of Adobe Acrobat. (This is different
from the free Adobe Reader.) When you install Acrobat on your PC, you install
Acrobat PDFWriter as a pseudo printer (it shows up in your list of installed
printers) and it is used by your WP to produce an output file in PDF form
instead of producing a printed page on your printer. You have to tell your WP
to (a) use the Acrobat PDFWriter as your printer and (b) print to a file
instead of the printer port. The newer versions of Word and WordPerfect have
improved the automation of this process.
If you have a complex page (which includes equations, graphics, etc.) you
may find you have to experiment and include the intermediate step (hidden
in the process described in the previous paragraph). Since PDF is a particular
variation of a postscript printer file (with compression), you may have to
print a postscript (PS) printer file (file extension .ps) using a variety of
printer drivers (to find one that works for you) and then use Acrobat Distiller
(which comes with Acrobat PDFWriter in the Adobe Acrobat software package) to
convert the PS file to a PDF file. The PS file is much larger than the PDF file
because it is not compressed.
- Your Word Processor (WP) and Image Files: Image files, JPEG
or GIF, are handled in the same manner as usual in your WP. The main
difference is when you save a web page, all the image files are saved
in distinct subdirectories (chosen by your WP) - this can be very anoying
if you wish to locate all your images in an image subdirectory of your
own choosing. The two mentioned image formats are the most common. Several
other image formats (e.g. TIFF, BMP...) that can be used in traditional
word processing applications, are not recognized by web browsers.
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