ahenderson said:
Hi all you Vellum users,
I am seriously thinking about making the big switch to purchase Vellum (and will need to buy a MAC). But before I do so, I've been researching as much as I can about Vellum to make sure it will provide all my needs for printing my non-fiction book. Could you answer these questions please?
Thanks so much!!!
--ahenderson
1) Can I create custom "Elements" (I think they're called) in Vellum, identified as the Appendix or Footnotes in the TOC, that will be physically placed at the end of my book?
2) Is there a sample of the different Book Styles I will be able to choose from? I could only find some quick views, and would like to see more details about my choices.
3) I bold and italicize my text a lot in my raw DOCX file. Will that be a problem when I import it into the Vellum project? Ie, will I end up having a lot of Chapters shown where I don't need them in the formatted Vellum document?
1. Yes, you can make custom elements. If you need an element that doesn't exist, you can use "Uncategorized" and label it as you wish. One thing you may have issues with is Footnotes. I haven't seen any examples of someone embedding a footnote the appears on the same page as the notation mark itself. But you can create
Endnotes by placing them all at the end of the book. Vellum even has a custom element for this. (Note: on the issue of footnotes, Brad & Brad are the final authority on this as far as Vellum is concerned. It just might be possible...)
2. The styles are built into Vellum, and they work on a pick your mix sort of way. The heading styles, paragraph styles, first line styles, ornamental breaks, etc. can all be selected independently. Putting together a compendium of all the different combinations gets a bit involved.
3. The chapters are triggered by the Heading Style you choose for the chapter designation. In particular,
Heading 1 or
Title heading, depending on the writing software you are using. It is not cued by selected bold or italics. The text styling you set in your document will carry across faithfully through the DOCX format.
I'd like to warn you that switching from a Windows-based computer and going to a Mac is going to drive you nuts. During the first month or two, you are absolutely going to hate the Mac. The primary reason is that the keyboard shortcuts and control keys are very different. Also, the OS actually does what you tell it to do-such as physically moving a file from one location to another instead of copying it when you drag a file icon from one folder to another. "Command" key instead of "Control" and they are in different positions. "Option" instead of "Alt," and "What the hell are these weird symbol thingies on the keys?!?"
You can combine the SHIFT, Command, Option, and Control keys along with the t keyboard keys to perform different functions. That's a huge %#@!-ing number of key shortcuts. I can't even remember them all. Sometimes even the Function key can be thrown in for yet another set of shortcuts. Much of this depends on what program you are using. A lot of Mac users are artists and don't like to take their eyes off the screen or remove their hands from the keyboard while working. So the huge number of combinations gives you a lot of flexibility without even having to reach for the mouse (or touch pad.) It can be worse: you can combine the above function buttons with the two (sometimes three, four, five, or nine) mouse buttons to do the same bit. (Yes, I have a five button trackball I use for 3d-CAD work.)
The more of a power-user you are in Windows, the more you are going to hate the Mac. A friend of mine was a high-level Windows power-user, and it took her about three months to get used to the Mac. Now she absolutely loves her Mac because it works flawlessly. Most Mac users tend to use their computers until they completely wear out. (In my case, I had worn the letters and paint off the keys so they were completely blank, even worn down to the lights underneath.) This means an average of about 6 years, which makes any given computer pretty obsolete by that point.
The best advice I can give you is be patient and focus on learning to use the software you want to use. Then delve into the mysteries of all the other capabilities in the Mac OS. It takes time to get used to it after Windows, but once you do you'll love it.
