Convert from Nota Bene to Other Formats

Your open Nota Bene file can be converted to RTF (Rich Text Format) or to PDF (Portable Document Format). Use RTF to create files that can be opened in Word or use PDF to create files that can be opened by the free Adobe Reader. These files can be created by using the Save As dialog (click File, Save As) or by attaching the file in PDF or RTF format to an outgoing email (click File, Send To). For detailed instructions, see Save As or Send To.

You can also copy and paste text from Nota Bene to another application. Simply define text in Nota Bene and copy it (File, Copy or Ctrl+C). Then go to the other application, place your cursor where you want the text to appear and paste it (in virtually any Windows program, File, Paste or Ctrl+V will paste text that has been copied to the clipboard).

RTF (Rich Text Format): Convert to RTF if you want a file that can be opened and edited in Word or in many other applications. The RTF filter is not intended to provide a mirror image of the file. Indeed, RTF is a least-common denominator, and lacks many of the academic structures that NB provides. For example, smart citations, many kinds of cross referencing, and multiple series of notes are simply lacking in this business-oriented format. This general reality has shaped our implementation of the RTF filter. Our goal has been not to convert every NB function, but to get ALL the text, and the vast majority of the formatting, to the recipient (usually a publisher), who can/will then reformat and restructure it, something that they can do if they have the entire text (which RTF preserves). Publishers do not expect to take the RTF format and print it as-is; they always need to rework it. Indeed, in most cases they strip out your (RTF) formatting entirely, and replace it with their in-house styles. The same is true if the recipient is a professor or reader - they need to have your text; you can tell them that minor details of formatting will be handled later. If your file includes Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic or Arabic, see Exporting Multilingual Text.

PDF (Portable Document Format): Convert to PDF if you want the recipient to see exactly what you are seeing — that is, not only all the text, but the exactly identical formatting. That’s a good idea even if you are sending the manuscript to a publisher, since while they cannot usually work from your PDF file, it will show them exactly what you intended, and thus serve as a useful guide to them.