WordPerfect shortens the road to file conversion

Suppose you need to convert a batch of Microsoft® Word files to WordPerfect®. How do you go about doing it? Do you open the files in WordPerfect one at a time? Opening files individually works fine if you are converting only one or two files. It's very time consuming, however, if you need to convert multiple files. Do you create a macro? You could, but, again, you probably have better things to do.

The options listed above describe the long road to file conversion, but you will be happy to know that there is a shortcut.

WordPerfect has another option for converting multiple files simultaneously: the WordPerfect® Office Conversion Utility. It can convert various types of files, such as Microsoft® Word files, to one of five WordPerfect file formats.

You can also open multiple files using a Comma-separated values (csv) file. The csv file needs to contain a list of the files, including their directory structure. This allows you to organize the files before converting them. For example, the csv option is useful if you need to convert some, but not all files, or if you want to select some but not all subfolders. Without using a csv file, you would have to manually add the files found in the different folders.

If you chose the standard installation of WordPerfect Office, the WordPerfect Office Conversion Utility should be available by default. If it's not available, you can add it by modifying the installation. Remember the WordPerfect® Office Conversion Utility the next time you need to convert a batch of files. Why take the long road when there is a shortcut.

To install the WordPerfect® Office Conversion Utility

  1. Close any open applications.
  2. On the Windows taskbar, click Start } Settings } Control panel.
  3. Double-click the Add/Remove programs icon.
  4. Choose WordPerfect Office 11 from the Currently installed programs list.
  5. Click Change.
  6. In the InstallShield wizard, enable the Modify option, and click Next.
  7. In the list of features, open the WordPerfect Office 11 } Utilities category.
  8. Click the icon next to the WordPerfect Conversion Utility item, and click This feature will be installed on local hard drive.
  9. Click Next.
  10. Click Install.

To start the conversion utility

  • On the Windows taskbar, click Start } Programs } WordPerfect Office 11 } Utilities } Conversion utility.

To convert a multiple files to the WordPerfect® format

  1. Click Add.
  2. Choose the drive and folder where the files you want to convert are stored.
  3. Click Add all.
    If you want to convert the files in the folders within the folder, enable the Include subfolders check box.
  4. From the Convert to list box, choose a version of WordPerfect.
To convert an imported comma separated value (CSV) file into WordPerfect®
  1. Click Import.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Choose the drive and folder where the CSV file is stored.
  4. Click a file.
  5. Click Open.
  6. Click OK.



  7. From the Convert to list box, choose a version of WordPerfect.

Publishing WordPerfect® documents to PDF


Do you need to share your WordPerfect® documents with people who don't have WordPerfect? If you do, you have the option of publishing documents to Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF format is useful when you want to distribute documents that are meant only for viewing and printing.

When publishing to PDF, you can choose one of three preset styles. The style settings are designed to optimize the PDF document for a specific method of distribution. The style you choose should correspond with how you plan to distribute the file.



You can choose from three PDF styles.


For example, for most documents, you can choose the document distribution style because the settings are suitable for the average document. You can specify the Web style if you plan to post the file on a Web page; this optimizes the PDF file for viewing on the Web and it also reduces the file size. The editing style publishes the PDF file with all fonts and images at full resolution; this can be useful if you plan to edit the file using Adobe® Acrobat®.

The person receiving the PDF file can view or print it if they have Adobe® Reader® installed on their computer. If you want to view the PDF files you create before sending them to others, you also need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you don't have it, you can install it from WordPerfect Office 11 CD 2.

To publish the active document to PDF

1. Click File, Publish to PDF.

2. Click the General tab.

3. In the Export range area, enable one of the following options:
  • Full document — publishes the entire file
  • Current page — publishes the active page only
  • Pages — publishes a portion of the file
  • Selection — publishes selected text
4. From the PDF style list box, choose one of the following options:
  • PDF for document distribution
  • PDF for the Web
  • PDF for editing
5. In the Filename list box, click Browse.

6. Choose the drive and folder where you want to save the file.

7. Type the filename in the Filename box.

8. Click Save.

To install Adobe® Reader®

1. Insert WordPerfect Office 11 CD 2 into the CD drive. If the Setup wizard does not start automatically, proceed to step 2; otherwise, proceed to step 6.

2. Click Start on the Windows® taskbar, and click Run.

3. Type D:SETUP, where D is the letter that corresponds to the CD drive.

4. Double-click ExploreCD.exe.

5. Double-click intro.exe.

6. In the WordPerfect Office 11 CD 2 dialog box, click Adobe Acrobat Reader.

7. Follow the instructions in the Adobe Reader setup program.

Using the Conversion Utility

The process of converting documents from other file formats has improved with each new release of WordPerfect. In version 11, there is a brand new conversion utility that will batch convert documents in other formats, so you don't have to do them one at a time. The list of formats is too long to include here, but suffice it to say that every known version of Microsoft Word is there as well as RTF, HTML, DIF, StarOffice, ANSI/ASCII, and WP for Mac. You can even convert CSV (comma separated value) files.

To start the conversion utility, click Start, (All) Programs, WordPerfect Office 11, Utilities, Conversion Utility. The first step is to select the files that you want to convert, so click the Add button. Choose the drive and folder where the files are stored. Select the file, then click Add, or, if you want to convert all of the files in this folder, click Add all.

Once you've built the list, select the version of WordPerfect that you want to convert the files to in the Convert to drop-down list. Notice that you can convert to DOS and Macintosh file formats. There are some options that you can set with regards to duplicate file names. Otherwise, choose OK to start the conversion.

If you wish to view and change the file name options, click the Options button. In the Conversion Options dialog box, you can opt to create a log file of the conversion process. I find this extremely helpful when I'm converting a large number of files and I want to verify that the process went smoothly.

By default, the utility will save the converted files to the same folder. If you prefer, you can have the files saved in a different folder. You can also save a copy of the converted file as a CSV file, which could be used as an alternate if the conversion process doesn't go as well as you had hoped. Enable the Create a conversion file option, specify a drive and folder where you want to save the CSV file, then choose Save.

If you want more information on any of the conversion options, or if you want to view a complete list of file formats that can be converted with the utility, click the Help button to access the help topics.

Using WordPerfect® Classic mode

WordPerfect® Classic mode lets you work in the familiar visual environment of Corel® WordPerfect® 5.1 and use its keystrokes.

The WordPerfect Classic mode environment emulates that of Corel WordPerfect 5.1 by modifying the WordPerfect environment. For example, in WordPerfect Classic mode some elements, such as the toolbars, property bar, horizontal scrollbar, and ruler, are not displayed by default; the page display shows document text in a window with minimal white space in the margins; the document color is blue; and the displayed text is gray, although it still prints black-on-white unless otherwise specified.

Before you can start working in the WordPerfect Classic mode environment, you must install it and enable it. If you want to perform functions using keystrokes that are based on Corel WordPerfect 5.1, you need to enable the Classic mode keyboard.

To install WordPerfect® Classic mode

  1. Close any open applications.
  2. On the Windows® taskbar, click Start, Settings, Control panel.
  3. Double-click the Add/Remove programs icon.
  4. Choose WordPerfect Office 11 from the Currently installed programs list.
  5. Click Change.
  6. In the InstallShield® wizard, enable the Modify option, and click Next.
  7. In the list of features, open the WordPerfect Office 11, WordPerfect category.
  8. Click the icon next to the WordPerfect Classic mode item, and click This feature will be installed on local hard drive.
  9. Click Next.
  10. Click Install.

To enable the Classic mode environment

  1. In WordPerfect, click Tools, Settings, Display.
  2. Click the Document tab.
  3. Enable the Classic mode (WP 5.1) check box.

To enable the Classic mode keyboard

  1. In WordPerfect, click Tools, Settings, Customize.
  2. Click the Keyboards tab.
  3. Choose from the Available keyboards list.
  4. Click Select.

Installing Additional Templates

Templates are great timesavers. Imagine a collection of professionally designed documents–ready to use–all you have to do is fill in the blanks. That's what a template is. You can save hours of formatting if you take advantage of WordPerfect's templates.

A small collection of templates is installed when you install WordPerfect. You can see the list by choosing File, New From Project. Make sure WordPerfect appears in the drop-down list. Additional templates are available in a free download. Although the templates were written for WordPerfect 10, they will work just fine in WordPerfect 11.

The templates can be downloaded from OfficeCommunity.com in the Download Gallery section. To download a template or project zip file from OfficeCommunity.com, click the [download] link. When you are prompted, save the file to the \wordperfect office 11 emplate folder under the \program files tree.

You can also download them from Corel's FTP site at ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/WordPerfect/wpwin/10/english/templates. To download a template, click the name of the template you are interested in. This opens that template's folder on the FTP server. Within each template's folder is a file named Template and Project - Read Me.htm. This file contains detailed information about installing the templates in WordPerfect.

There are some other extras on the ftp site. First, there is a Zip file called WP 10 Temp that contains all the template files so that you can download the whole collection at one time. Second, within each template category folder is a README file with instructions for installing. Third, there is a thumbnail folder in each category, containing a GIF file that shows you what each created project form might look like.

If you download a Zip file, extract the template files (.wpt and .ast) to the \wordperfect office 11 emplate folder under the \program files tree. Now, you're ready to add them into WordPerfect.

To install downloaded templates:
  1. Choose File, New from Project to open the PerfectExpert dialog box.
  2. Click the Options button, and then select Refresh Projects from the list. Click Yes to confirm.
On my system, the downloaded templates were stored in a WordPerfect 10 category, so if you don't see the new templates in the list, open the drop-down list of categories and select WordPerfect 10.

When you open one of the WordPerfect 10 templates, you may see a message stating that the PerfectExpert resource file couldn't be found. It's only a warning and you can ignore it.

Creating a Sheet of Identical Labels

You may already know how to use the Merge feature to create labels for a mass mailing, but did you know you can create a sheet of identical labels as well? You can print your own return address labels, business cards, or any other kind of label that you use often, with this method.

To create a sheet of identical labels:
  1. Choose Format, Labels and select the label form. Create the first label.
  2. Choose Tools, Merge.
  3. Choose Form Document, Create Form Document, Use File in Active Window.
  4. If the Associate Form and Data dialog box appears, choose No Association. Otherwise, choose Data Source, None in the Merge dialog box.
  5. Choose Options, then type the number of labels on the page in the Number of Copies for Each Record text box.
  6. Choose Merge.
The resulting document will contain a number of identical labels. If you flubbed the number of labels, don't worry. Just close this document, without saving, and try the merge again. When you are finished, save the label form for the next time you want to print these labels.

Protecting a File from Accidental Modification


Most of us have "form" documents that we open and use to create a new document. Businesses usually have a collection of form letters so the correspondence leaving the company has a consistent appearance and tone. The trick is to remember to immediately save the new document under a new name, so the changes aren't accidentally saved to the "form" document. If you forget, you can easily save your changes, and alter the original.

There is a better way. You can designate a file to be "read-only". When you open a read-only file, you won't be allowed to save your changes to the original, so you have to save your changes to a new file. It is impossible to accidentally modify a file that has been set to read-only.

To designate a file as read-only, you must have saved the file to disk. You cannot have a copy of the file open in a WordPerfect window.
  1. Choose File, Open.
  2. Navigate to the file that you want to designate as read-only.
  3. Right-click the file and choose Properties.
  4. Place a check mark in the Read-only check box in the Attributes section.
  5. Choose OK.
To make changes to this original file, you'll have to reverse the process and remove the Read-only attribute. Be sure you set it back after you've finalized the new form document.