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Can I load .odt files into Word?

Anonymous
2013-01-19T11:22:29+00:00

Dear online Buddy

I have been working on a full-length book in .odt.  But when I came to create a pdf file to send to a publisher I ended up with pages of Japanese/Chinese/Outer Mongolian (when i tried to open the pdf myself) So I wondered about going back to Word to avoid this.  I used to use Word until I (made the mistake of) upgraded my OS in Mac, at which point several of my apps., including Word, were no longer supported.

I couldn't send a stable .odt file through the web, although a small-fonted, wide-margined, half-formatted version did emerge - but not good enough for anyone to assess the book

Any help will be appreciated.

John Comer

PS  Is the student version of Word just as good as the 'Full version' of Office.

PPS  Thanks mate/gal

.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-01-20T17:09:14+00:00

    Hi John,

    ODT is the default, native file format for all forks of OpenOffice, including LibreOffice and NeoOffice. However, this format has been replaced with a newer open standard called Office Open XML, also known as OOXML.

    Most current word processors support OOXML. All versions of Microsoft Word since Word 2007 for Windows and 2008 for the Mac use OOXML as the default file format. The file extension for word processing documents (without macors and not saved as a template) in OOXML file format is (.docx).

    Only one fork of OpenOffice can save in the standard open file format. That fork is called LibreOffice. The course of action I suggest is that you download and install the LibreOffice version of OpenOffice. Open your ODT book in LibreOffice and then use the LibreOffice File > Export feature. Choose to save in the Office Open XML file format (.docx). I think LibreOffice incorrectly calls the standard open format "Microsoft Word" format. Although Microsoft Word defaults to the open standard, it is more correctly called OOXML format.

    My experience with LibreOffice's ability to save in the standard open word processor format is dismal. Your results may vary. Ironically, OpenOffice and LibreOffice seem to make better files when exporting to actual Microsoft Word format (.doc).  You might try both formats and see which one turns out best.

    You can open both (.doc) and (.docx) files at **Docs.com** to see how they look in Microsoft Word without having to purchase or install anything. Docs.com is the free version of Microsoft Office.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2013-01-20T19:12:06+00:00

    I'm afraid I do not have sufficient recent experience with the open source software to offer any guidance there... my current knowledge is quite general as I do not use that software with any degree of regularity & never have used it to create PDFs. Jim & others would be in a better position to provide responsible suggestions on that.

    FWIW, I agree with Jim that getting the document saved as a Word format is the "most likely to succeed". Not to contradict my earlier statements, but what experience I've had with open source apps suggests that outputting anything other than their proprietary .odt format or .doc is not as reliable as we might like. Also, Rich Text Format (.rtf) is not a strict standard -- It leave a lot of wiggle room for developers that doesn't necessarily translate universally. I try to avoid it whenever possible.

    I'm not sure what you mean by "a stable PDF", but once you have a Word-compatible file you should not have any difficulties.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435K Reputation points
    2013-01-19T12:26:29+00:00

    Last question first :-) The individual programs in Mac Office 2011 are identical regardless of edition. The difference between editions has more to do with licensing & what is included additional to the Word, Excel & PPT apps.

    As for your main issue, the bottom line is that Mac Word does not support the .odt file format. In fact, prior to Office 2010 .odt wasn't even supported by Win Word [although I believe it was added to Office 2007 after-the-fact by SP2].

    You'll need to either:

    • Open the file in OpenOffice or LibreOffice to Save a copy in .doc format [preferably .docx if they can do it] or in .rtf [Rich Text]. Fidelity of the result may be less than perfect depending on a number of variables. Or,
    • Find a program [e.g., Win Word 2010 or 2013] that supports the .odt format, Or
    • Use a PDF app that directly supports .odt files

    Of course, you also have the option of contacting OpenOffice

    Support

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-01-20T12:22:19+00:00

    Dear Bob

    thanks very much for your swift reply.  I had a feeling that Word didn't support odt. which is why i have been hesitant about upgrading to Word.  However if I can save it, as you suggest, with a different file suffix - possibly the rtf would be better?

    • then i will ultimately be able to use Word to form the book (about 275 pages of A5) and then, in sending it on, I am assuming it will save a stable pdf file.

    You can save to pdf from .odt but whenever I tried it came out as gobbledegook.  Any suggestions there.  I didn't understand, for example, when I was invited to save it (on a Mac) in pdf it gave me a menu of some 15 alternative '\Character sets' to use

    • which I didn't understand.  things like 'Unicode' or 'Unicode + some numbers' or 'ASCii Europe' etc.

    Would it be true to say that Word would give me the most stable pdf file?  That is what I am after.  Perhaps I could save it in rtf and then open that up in Word, then apply minimum formatting ( ie font, font size, pagination etc) and then that would do.

    Best wishes and thanks

    John Comer

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