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phsteyt
Participant
January 18, 2016
Question

Output PDF with no MS Word installed ?

  • January 18, 2016
  • 1 reply
  • 342 views

Hello ! It seems that MS Word is required to be able to produce PDF with the 'Printed Documentation' function... How should I overcome this, as I have no intention to purchase it just to properly use RH ...  

Thanks !

Pierre-Henri

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1 reply

Peter Grainge
Community Expert
Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 18, 2016

There is no alternative to having Word installed if you want to use the Printed Documentation output. RoboHelp creates a Word document first, then the PDF. If you choose PDF only, the Word document is still produced to enable the PDF generation but it is hidden and then deleted.

There are tools that enable you to generate a PDF from an HTML file without going via Word. However, they would be one PDF per HTML file so you would then have to combine them. Add in the formatting would likely be rubbish and there would be no TOC or Index and you will see it would be a pretty rubbish option.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

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phsteytAuthor
Participant
January 18, 2016

Hi Peter - thanks for your reply !

Very honestly I find this dependency to an external commercial software (quite expensive, on top of it all) a bit unsettling.

Just my feelings... I'll see how I consider things at the end of my trial period.

Best regards,

Pierre-Henri

Captiv8r
Captiv8r
Legend
January 18, 2016

Hi there

Perhaps it will help to know the following:

  • While Adobe owns the PDF format, it has only owned RoboHelp for about Seven years or so.
  • RoboHelp began its life as a Microsoft Word Add-In
  • RoboHelp is primarily a tool for creating on-line documentation. PDF creation is secondary. If your only desired output is PDF, RoboHelp is definitely not your tool of choice!

Cheers... Rick

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