WD97: Limitations of Converting from Word Format to HTML

ID: Q157086


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows


SUMMARY

When you save a Microsoft Word document as HTML, Word displays the Web page similar to the way it will appear in a Web browser. Formatting and other items that are not supported by HTML or the Web page authoring environment are removed from the file.


MORE INFORMATION

The following table shows the elements that Word changes or removes upon conversion.


   Element           Word to HTML   Comments
   -------           ------------   --------

   Comments          See Comment    Comments you insert with the Comments
                                    command on the Insert menu are removed.
                                    After saving the document in HTML
                                    format, however, you can enter comments
                                    and apply the Comments style. The
                                    comments will not appear when the Web
                                    page is displayed by a Web browser.

   Font sizes        See Comment    Fonts are mapped to the closest HTML
                                    size available, which ranges from size
                                    1 to 7.
                                    These numbers are not point sizes but
                                    are used as instructions for font sizes
                                    by Web browsers. Word displays the
                                    fonts in sizes ranging from 9 to 36.

   Emboss, shadow,   No             These character formats are lost, but
   engrave, all                     all text is retained.
   caps, small
   caps, double
   strikethrough,
   and outline
   text effects

   Bold,             Yes            Some special underline effects, such as
   strikethrough,                   dotted underlines, are converted to a
   italic, and                      single underline, and some underline
   underline                        effects aren't converted.
   effects

   Animated text     See Comment    Animations are lost, but the text is
                                    retained. For an animated effect,
                                    insert scrolling text into your page in
                                    the Web page authoring environment.

   Graphics          See Comment    Graphics, such as pictures and clip
                                    art, are converted to GIF (.gif)
                                    format, unless the graphics are already
                                    in JPEG (.jpg) format. Drawing objects,
                                    such as text boxes and shapes, are not
                                    converted.
                                    Lines are converted to horizontal
                                    rules.

   Tabs              Yes            Tabs are converted to the HTML tab
                                    character, represented in HTML source
                                    as 	. Tabs may appear as spaces in
                                    some web browsers, so you may want to
                                    use indents or a table instead.

   Fields            See Comment    Field results are converted to text;
                                    field codes are removed. For instance,
                                    if you insert a DATE field, the text of
                                    the date converts, but the date will
                                    not continue to update.

   Tables of         See Comment    The information is converted, but
   contents,                        indexes and tables of contents,
   tables of                        figures, and authorities can't be
   authorities,                     updated automatically after conversion
   and indexes                      because they are based on field codes.
                                    The table of contents displays
                                    asterisks in place of the page numbers;
                                    these asterisks are hyperlinks that the
                                    reader can click to navigate through
                                    the Web page. You can replace the
                                    asterisks with text that you want to
                                    have displayed for the hyperlinks.

   Drop caps         No             Drop caps are removed. In the Web page
                                    authoring environment, you can increase
                                    the size of one letter by selecting it
                                    and then clicking Increase Font Size.
                                    Or, you can use a graphic image in
                                    place of the letter.

   Frames            No             The frame and the text or objects
                                    contained in the frame are lost when
                                    the document is saved as HTML.

   Drawing objects   No             Drawing objects are not retained. You
   (AutoShapes,                     can use drawing tools in the Web page
   WordArt, text                    authoring environment by inserting Word
   effects, text                    Picture Objects. The object is
   boxes, and                       converted to GIF format.
   Shadows)

   Equations,        See Comment    These items are converted to GIF
   charts, and                      images. The appearance is retained, but
   other OLE                        you won't be able to update these
   objects                          items.

   Tables            Yes            Tables are converted, although settings
                                    that aren't supported in the Web page
                                    authoring environment are lost. Colored
                                    and variable width borders are not
                                    retained.

   Table widths      See Comment    By default, tables are converted with a
                                    fixed width. To convert a table with a
                                    percentage width (so that the table is
                                    sized relative to the browser window),
                                    set the option PercentageTableWidth=1
                                    in the following Windows 95 Registry
                                    location:
                                    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\                                      Shared Tools\Text Converters\Export\                                      HTML\Options

   Highlighting      No             Highlighting is lost.

   Revision marks    No             Changes entered with the track changes
                                    feature are retained, but the revision
                                    marks are removed.

   Page numbering    No             Because an HTML document is considered
                                    a single Web page, regardless of its
                                    length, page numbering is removed.

   Margins           No             To control the layout of your page, you
                                    can use a table.

   Borders around    No             You can place borders around a table,
   paragraphs and                   and you can use horizontal lines to
   words                            help emphasize or separate parts of
                                    your Web page.

   Page borders      No             There isn't an HTML equivalent for a
                                    page border. You can make your pages
                                    more attractive by adding a background
                                    using the Background command on the
                                    Format menu. You can also place borders
                                    around a table, and you can use
                                    horizontal lines to help emphasize or
                                    separate parts of your Web page.

   Headers and       No             There aren't equivalents for headers
   footers                          and footers in HTML.

   Footnotes and     No
   endnotes

   Newspaper         No             For a multicolumn effect, use tables.
   columns

   Styles            See Comment    User-defined styles are converted to
                                    direct formatting, provided the
                                    formatting is supported in HTML. For
                                    instance, if you convert a style that
                                    includes bold and shadow formatting,
                                    bold formatting is retained as a direct
                                    formatting, but shadow formatting is
                                    lost.

   Hyperlink TARGETS No             Hyperlink Targets allow users to
                                    populate a single frame with a new HTML
                                    document.
                                    Because of Word's limitation on
                                    converting frames, Word also strips out
                                    the TARGET tag in HTML Documents.

   Smart Quotes      See Comment    Smart quotes are replaced with straight
                                    quotes when you save and reopen
                                    (convert) the HTML document.
 

Additional query words: 8.0 converting conversion converts converted transferring transfers transferred import export hypertext markup language

Keywords : kbdta kbconversion word97
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: October 25, 1999
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