Font size preferences on export

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi,

 

Preferences for font sizes for Roman, Greek, and Hebrew fonts on export, to go along with our preferences for Unicode export fonts.

 

Thanks,

 

Michel

 

 

Edit: Every time I copy and paste something with simple paste or Cmd-v, I have to select it to change the exported font size(s). Exported fonts are always way too big.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Michel Gilbert

[Joe Weaks]

In the meantime, it helps to familiarize yourself with the "Paste and match style" and "Paste as Plain Text" possibilities in your text editor.

 

I typically use the "Paste and Match Style" or "Paste as Plain Text" features in my text editor. That may or may not work well for you.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Joe Weaks

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi Joe,

 

I'm too familiar with them. The problem is they take extra steps.

 

In Word, it takes one click to Paste vs four clicks to "Paste as Plain Text" - Edit Menu or rt click > Paste Special >  Unformatted Text > OK. "Paste and match style/formatting" takes two clicks.

 

And, the problem with both is that they default to the same font size, but not the correct font for the entire pasted selection, i.e., I use different fonts for English, Hebrew, and Greek. If, for example, I paste mixed Hebrew and English in an English or Hebrew sentence or paragraph, I still have to select one language and change its font, which takes even longer. Of course, some don't need or want a different font for different languages, but many of us do.

 

I have been able to do this in BW for a while now. It saves an immense amount of time.

 

I would dearly love to be able to work in Acc more efficiently, with simple copy and paste working in Word, and pasting fonts already formatted - name and size, as I have been doing in BW. I really prefer Acc in almost every way, except these workflow issues that affect the standard word processor for professors, scholars, and students.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

Edited January 20, 2017 by Michel Gilbert

[Michel Gilbert]

I think a lot of misunderstanding arises from not knowing enough about each other's workflows, or assuming that users who came from the Windows world think or work in the same way as Mac users. Now that I've switched I can see that there are many things in OSX that would have helped me in Windows, or made Windows better. But, the opposite is also true.

 

I'm just asking for a feature request that would help me, and I'm sure many others.

[Joe Weaks]

The problem is they take extra steps.

 

In Word, it takes one click to Paste vs four clicks to "Paste as Plain Text" - Edit Menu or rt click > Paste Special >  Unformatted Text > OK. "Paste and match style/formatting" takes two clicks.

 

… I use different fonts for English, Hebrew, and Greek.…

 

…I would dearly love to be able to work in Acc more efficiently,…

Michael,

 

You can set up a keyboard shortcut and/or toolbar button for paste as text (or any Word function). Here's a link that covers some info. You can accomplish this using VBA in Word or in Applescript that you launch from the script menu or an OS System Service.

Automation is a great way to be able to work more efficiently.

[Ιακοβ]

Yep, in case you don't know about this one, if you are doing an extremely large amount of work—some form of automation, such as a custom AppleScript, will make your life a lot easier. You can basically use apple script to build your own personal version of copy and paste. You could probably get an apple script built on a freelancer website for $10 or so.

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi,

 

Joe, I know about automation, and I knew that you know about it. So, I was surprised that you suggested "Paste and Match Style" or "Paste as Plain Text" within my word processor.

 

Now, even if I had one toolbar button, etc. for each of those two actions, they would still not be as efficient as what I'm asking for. I guess I didn't explain it above as well as I could have. With regard to copying and pasting mixed English and Hebrew, "Paste and Match Style" or "Paste as Plain Text" default to the preceding font and size, e.g., if I'm typing in Times New Roman 12, and paste mixed Eng and Hebrew from a lexicon, grammar, or commentary, the entire selection defaults to TNR 12. Then it takes three more steps to change the Hebrew - select it, change the font name and size in a macro, and unselect it. In my case, I use a different size for English and Hebrew. These extra steps are multiplied if the Hebrew isn't contiguous, i.e., multiplied by the number of Hebrew words, phrases, etc. sandwiched between English words in the paste.

 

Now, the only other solution is to paste as RTF, the one I suggested at https://www.accordancebible.com/forums/topic/20202-pasting-problems-in-word/?do=findComment&comment=98132. This saves the Font preferences, but even if I had a toolbar button for this, it still takes three more clicks to change the size to 12, and three clicks per Hebrew word(s) to format to my preferred size - select, change size, unselect.

 

If my feature request were implemented, it would be a simple copy and paste operation, and I could keep going.

 

You might respond that one could automate the paste as RTF/select and change font sizes. But it seems quite complicated to someone with no programming experience to automate the second half of this, i.e., to select the newly pasted text, change the fonts, and unselect. And, if it was easy enough for someone with that kind of experience, why wouldn't Acc be able to implement it as easily? There already is a preference for the export fonts. How hard would it be to add a line regarding its size? Even a choice of export sizes 10 and 12 would cover 90% of users who write university/college or academic papers.

 

I don't think it's an unreasonable request. Accordance recognized that users prefer different fonts on export, but didn't take into account the importance of font size, especially in mixed texts, for efficiency and usefulness. It is decidedly inefficient to be typing in TNR 12, and "Paste and Match Style" or "Paste as Plain Text"  and get this:

 

 

Regards,

 

Michel

Edited January 20, 2017 by Michel Gilbert

[Michel Gilbert]

Hi,

 

If anyone is interested, I found a workaround for pasting one Roman font and one rtl font with preferred font sizes.

 

In Word, go to Format > Font , and choose a Latin ltr font, and a Complex Scripts rtl font, e.g.,

 

 

I was aware of this option in Word for Windows, and through trial and error I think I've found out how it works in Word for Mac. What I've found out, and I hope I'm steering you in the right direction, is that if your preferred font doesn't even show up in the Complex Scripts drop down menu, just paste some Hebrew into it from Acc, select and change it to your preferred font, in my case, Ezra SIL, and it will appear in that drop-down menu from then on.

 

If you press Default and make changes to the NORMAL template in the middle of a document and go up in your document and check Format > Font, it will have reverted to whatever the Default settings were when you opened the document. As far as I can tell, it won't work in older documents, only from the point you make the changes, and in all new documents.

 

Anyways, after this, just use Paste and Match Formatting. Here is an example:

 

 

By the way, you have to set line spacing to Format > Paragraph > Spacing > Line spacing > Single for the Hebrew to display correctly, without parts of consonants or vowels and accents being cut off.

 

It also works if you want to use one Unicode font for your Latin, Greek, and Hebrew font, e.g., Accordance.

 

It also works well with PopClip and its Paste and Match Style option.

 

I still hope Acc adds the option to select font sizes on the Unicode Display preferences, so we can export Unicode font and size.

 

 

Regards,

 

Michel

[Solly]

Michel, thank you for reporting what you have discovered about fonts and exporting/copying to Word. These little experiments and shared results help us all use these wonderful software tools more effectively for our work!

 

Cheers,

Joseph