🚀 go-pugleaf

> I used Microsoft Word objects to add tables to my PM publications.
> Everything went well, but one day I have found, that all my tables
> have turned into gray rectangles (bars), and PM screams about the
> broken link. Note, that the tables were not, linked, but pasted, and I
> can see them in the body of the PM file with the viewer.
> What can I do to make the file work again, or, at least, to extract
> the tables?
> Please, it's VERY important! I have not these tables in Word files any
> more!

Andrew - unfortunately now you know why it is NOT recommended to
insert objects of any sort into PM files.

To get Word tables into PM, it is better to convert them first to PDF.
If there is any colour in those tables (backgrounds, text, borders)
AND if you are having the PM files commercially printed, you will need
to convert the Microsoft RGB into CMYK. You can do this by opening the
PDF in Illustrator and converting to CMYK (or even spot colour) there.
Save as an EPS.

Then use File>Place to get the table into PM (either as a PDF or an
EPS). Link, don't embed.

You wil not be able to edit the tables from within PM since they are
now a graphic. You will have to go back to Word for further editing,
and follow the same path as before to get back to PM.

OR you can create the tables directly in PM, by setting up tabbed text
and creating a style that adds horizontal rules to the tabbed text. I
have found the easiest way to add vertical borders is on a new layer,
using the Line Tool. By putting them on a separate layer, you can
group them and if the table shifts due to the addition of more text,
you can easily move all the column borders together.