due to the table limitations in both Mellel and Scrivener I use indesign to create tables that I paste as graphics into scrivener/mellel.
As my supervisor uses Word I have to output from scrivener to RTF. Normally this works without a hitch. If I export from Mellel into Word via RTF the tables are preserved. However, I have noticed that if I import from Mellel or Word back into Scrivener the tables are not imported. Mathtype equations also get screwed up when importing from Mellel but thats another story.
It looks like the RTF import filter used by Word and Scrivener is not the same one although there is a bug in the Mellel 3.3.3 RTF export so I am using 3.2.4 at the moment.
My question is would it be possible for developers to work together to try and achieve consistent results? Alternatively, could Scrivener have improved import filters? I know this is not the way Scrivener is desiogned to work and I know Word is the elephant in the room but for those of us who have to collaborate with the non Mac universe of Word users the round trip is not always as it should be.
For my thesis, I prepared detailed tables outside of Scrivener and simply kept images of them (from memory, simple screenshots) as place holders in Scrivener. When compiling, I then replaced the images with the tables.
Scrivener, as I understand it, is limited by OS X’s handling of text documents and unfortunately it’s standard handling of tables is not good (try them in Text Editor). In comparison, tables are one of the few things that I think Word does really well.
Tables should import from Word (and RTF) just fine, so I would suggest contacting support at mac.support AT literatureandlatte DOT com so that we can take a look at what is going wrong in your particular case.
All the best,
Keith