pulpDoc help

pulpDoc is the word processor and layout tool of pulpSuite: letters, résumés, invoices, brochures, posters or course handouts. It runs in your browser with nothing to install, and it opens your Word and OpenDocument files.

A pulpDoc page holds blocks that you place wherever you like: text frames, images, shapes, lines, tables, videos. Text flows inside each frame, as in a desktop publishing tool.

Getting started

The very first time you open pulpDoc, a sample document (a proposal from Atelier Armor, a fictitious company) opens on its own so you can see what pulpDoc looks like. It is marked Example and is not saved: Start from scratch or Remove the example clears it in one click, Import my data opens your file in its place, and as soon as you change it, it becomes your document. File › See the example again (or See the example again on the home screen) reopens it.

1. Open pulpDoc. The home screen shows the template gallery: type a few words in the search box (“lease”, “résumé”, “invoice”), filter by theme or style, then click Use this template. To start from scratch, pick Blank A4 page.
2. To work on an existing file, click Open a file (or File › Open…, Ctrl+O) and choose a .docx, .doc, .rtf, .odt, .html or .pulp file. The Document converted window sums up what was kept and what was simplified; click Start editing.
3. Double-click inside a text frame to type. The bar that appears above the page sets the font, size, bold, lists and alignment. A single click selects the block, so you can move, resize or rotate it with its handles.
4. Add content from the left rail (Text, Elements, Uploads) or, in the Word layout, from the Insert tab: text box, shapes, image, table, dynamic field, video.
5. Save with Ctrl+S (.pulp file). To get a Word file: File › Export to Word (.docx). For a PDF: the Export to PDF / print button (Ctrl+P).

Common tasks

How do I open a Word file without Word?

Use File › Open… or the Open a file button on the home screen. pulpDoc reads the .docx directly (as well as .dotx, .docm, .doc, .rtf and .odt): styles, lists, tables with merged cells, images, headers and footers, footnotes, comments and tracked changes. The Document converted report lists everything that was frozen or simplified. You can also drag any of these files onto the pulpDoc window. What counts is the content, not the extension: a .doc renamed to .docx, an RTF file or a web page saved by Word opens normally. A file pulpDoc cannot read is turned down with a message that says why (see the FAQ). While a file takes a long time to open, the Cancel button stops it. If pulpSuite is installed, a double-click in File Explorer is enough (see installing pulpSuite).

How do I save in Word format?

Choose File › Export to Word (.docx), then pick a location. The file keeps the text and its formatting, tables (merged cells, repeated header rows), images, headers and footers, footnotes, comments and tracked changes. Charts become real Word charts, whose data can be edited in Word. Frames placed anywhere on the page become anchored text boxes, a video is replaced by its link, and rotation, shadows, blur, gradients and image filters are dropped: a message tells you so after the export.

For LibreOffice or another OpenDocument application: File › Export to OpenDocument (.odt). Text, headings, lists and tables follow the flow of the document, one pulpDoc page per page; shapes, lines, free frames and images stay in place on their page, and charts become images.

Ctrl+S never overwrites your .docx: it saves in pulpDoc format (.pulp) and asks where with Save as the first time. Export to .docx whenever you need to hand the file back to a Word user.

How do I make a PDF or print?

Click Export to PDF / print (Ctrl+P), then choose your printer or Save as PDF in the browser's print window. Text stays vector-based. For a print shop, set Bleed and Crop marks with the Page setup button (Pro printing section). See also printing.

How do I change the page size, orientation or margins?

Click the Page setup button (in the Word layout, it sits in the ribbon's Layout tab): size (A4, US Letter, books, 16:9 and 4:3 slides, tri-fold brochure, A3 poster, business card, square post…) or a custom size, Portrait or Landscape, preset or custom margins, Mirror margins (bound book). Text aligned to the margins follows the new setting.

How do I add a header, a footer or page numbers?

In the Layers panel, Master layer section, choose Edit: header (all pages) or Edit: footer (all pages) (with nothing selected, the inspector offers the same choice under Layer being edited). Whatever you place there repeats on every page. Insert a Dynamic field (Page number, Page count, Today’s date, Document name) for automatic numbering, then go Back to page body.

How do I prepare a form letter with fields to fill in?

The lease and letter templates contain fields such as {{Nom_Destinataire}}. In the inspector, with nothing selected, open the Dynamic fields section and type a value for each field: it replaces the field everywhere in the document. To create your own: Field › Custom variable.

How do I insert and fill in a table?

Choose Table (Elements rail or Insert tab), then the number of rows and columns. Double-click a cell (or select the table and press Enter) to type. Tab moves to the next cell; in the last cell it adds a row. The inspector sets the border and the Header row.

How do I insert a shape?

Shapes (Elements rail or Insert tab) opens the gallery shared across the suite: 187 shapes (rectangles, basic shapes, block arrows, equation shapes, flowchart, stars and banners, callouts, action buttons), lines and connectors, and icons. Type a word in Search shapes (“arrow”, “callout”, “star”…); Recently Used Shapes come first. The shape takes the document's main color; double-click it to type inside. To swap it for another one without losing its text or colors, select it, then in the inspector's Shape section click Change shape.

How do I paste a table or chart from pulpSheet?

Copy the range or the chart in pulpSheet (Ctrl+C), then paste into pulpDoc (Ctrl+V, or the Paste button next to Undo and Redo). If you are typing, the table or chart goes in at the cursor and the rest of the text moves down below it; otherwise, it is placed on the page. A table copied from Excel, Word or a web page pastes the same way. Right below the pasted block, the Paste options chip offers Keep source formatting, Keep text only or Picture. Ctrl+Z undoes the whole paste in one go.

The pasted block keeps its own data: the document stays complete without the workbook. It also keeps a discreet link to its source (Linked to followed by the workbook's name):

• when the workbook is open in the suite and its data changes, a Data changed in… chip offers Update (Ctrl+Z undoes the update); tick Update automatically so you no longer have to (off by default);
• when the workbook is closed, nothing changes and no error shows;
• if the sheet, range or chart was deleted, a message says so and the copy stays as it is;
• in the block's inspector: Open workbook and Remove link.

A pasted chart is set up in the inspector just as in pulpSheet (type, title, colors, legend, labels, axes); Edit data… opens its data, and Export turns it into a PNG or SVG image.

How do I check spelling?

Click Proofing, turn on Underline mistakes and choose the Language (French, English US or UK, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Italian, German). The dictionary downloads the first time, then spelling is checked on your device. The panel lists the mistakes with their suggestions: click a suggestion to apply it, or choose Ignore all or Add to dictionary. The grammar checker is optional: it runs on a server whose address you enter (Enable the grammar checker (server)), and your text is then sent to that server.

How do I track changes and add comments?

In the Review tab, turn on Track Changes (Ctrl+Shift+E): your insertions and deletions are marked with your name (Your name, a setting shared across pulpSuite). New Comment (Ctrl+Alt+M) comments on the selected text. The Reviewing Pane lists changes and comments: Accept, Reject, Accept All Changes, Reply, Resolve. Revisions and comments from a Word file are kept when it opens and written back when you export to .docx.

How do I dictate text?

Place the cursor in a text frame, click Dictate, choose the engine, then Start dictating. Say “comma”, “period”, “new line”, “new paragraph”: Spoken punctuation turns them into the matching signs (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese). Details on the two engines in AI in pulpDoc.

Supported formats

Known limitations:

• Line breaking depends on the browser: a Word document may end up one page longer or shorter, and a long novel a few percent longer.
• Nested tables are flattened (text kept, grid lost); section columns are unfolded into a single column; text wrapping around floating images is not reproduced (the images overlap the text).
• Word charts: brought in as editable charts when their type is recognized, otherwise replaced by their preview. SmartArt and embedded objects are replaced by their preview or their text. Equations become linear text. Tables of contents, cross-references and fields are frozen at their last value.
• Imported numbered lists keep their original numbers, but they are not recalculated if you insert an item.
• .doc: floating shapes and images are not imported; Word 6/95 files and password-protected files are refused with a message (save them as .docx from Word).
• No find and replace and no automatic table of contents yet.
• PDF in RGB only: no CMYK and no PDF/X for print shops.
• Images you add are slimmed down (2,400 pixels at most on each side) to keep documents light.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, Cmd replaces Ctrl (except for Ctrl+Alt+M). In a browser without direct disk access (Firefox, Safari), Ctrl+O and Ctrl+Shift+S do nothing: use the File menu.

In Present mode: →, Space or PageDown move forward, ← or PageUp go back, F switches to full screen, Esc exits. When rotating a block or dragging the end of a line, hold Shift to snap to 15° steps.

Suite-wide shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+O opens the open-documents panel, Ctrl+J opens pulpAssist.

AI in pulpDoc

• On-device dictation: speech recognition works on your device. The module downloads once, after you agree, and then stays on your device; the audio never leaves the computer. Three accuracy levels are offered (Fast, Balanced, Accurate), with their size shown before download; the most accurate one needs a recent computer. See AI models to manage the space they use.
• Browser dictation engine (the default): instant and with nothing to download, but the audio is processed by the browser maker (Google for Chrome, Microsoft for Edge, Apple for Safari). Firefox does not offer it. For a confidential document, prefer on-device dictation.
• pulpAssist (Ctrl+J) can read the text of the document, the page or the selection, and offer to insert or replace text in the frame being edited. Nothing changes without your approval, and Ctrl+Z undoes it. It uses the AI set up for your pulpSuite: the text attached to your question is sent to that service.
• The spelling checker is not AI: it relies on dictionaries, on your device.

FAQ and troubleshooting

My Word document does not have the same number of pages as in Word.

To some extent, this is expected: line breaking depends on the browser's engine, which is not Word's. On a short document the gap is usually one page. Check the Document converted report too: it flags simplified elements (columns, text wrapping, nested tables) that change the layout.

Why doesn't Ctrl+S overwrite my .docx file?

To keep the original safe: pulpDoc saves in its own format (.pulp) and only rewrites .pulp files. To hand back a Word file, use File › Export to Word (.docx).

Where are my documents?

Open documents stay in this device's browser, with a backup copy, until you close them. To keep them on disk, save them (Ctrl+S) or choose a work folder. See open documents and backup copies.

My .doc or password-protected file won't open.

Word 2.0, 6 and 95 files (from before 1997) and password-protected documents cannot be read. Open them in Word, remove the protection or save them as .docx, then try again. The message shown tells you what is going on:

• “This Word document is password-protected: open it in Word, remove the protection, then try again.”
• “This Word document uses a very old format (Word 2.0, 6 or 95) that pulpDoc can’t read: open it in Word and save it as .docx.”
• “This is not a document but the small lock file (“~$…”) Word creates while a document is open: open the document with the same name, without “~$”, instead.”
• “This file is empty (0 bytes): there is nothing to open.”
• “Despite its extension, this file is not a Word (.docx, .doc), RTF or HTML document.”
• “Unreadable Word document: the file is damaged (incomplete archive or missing parts).” or “Unreadable Word 97-2003 document: the file is damaged or isn’t a Word document.”: ask the author for a fresh copy of the file.

The pasted table did not follow the changes in the workbook.

An update is only offered while the workbook is open in the suite. Open it (Open workbook button in the block's inspector), then click Update in the Data changed in… chip. If the range was deleted or can no longer be found, a message says so: the copy keeps its latest data; paste the range again to create a new link.

The text in my frame is cut off at the bottom.

A fixed-size frame hides whatever overflows. Enlarge the frame, turn on Fit frame to text in the inspector (Typography section), or move the rest of the text into a new frame on the next page.

How do I send a document during a pulpCrew meeting?

In pulpCrew, the Share a pulpSuite document button offers the latest pulpDoc document saved on your device, in pulpDoc format (.pulp), images included. See the pulpCrew help.

Does pulpDoc work offline?

Yes, once loaded: editing, opening files, Word, OpenDocument and PDF export, spelling (if that language's dictionary was already downloaded) and on-device dictation (if the model is already there). The grammar checker, the browser dictation engine and pulpAssist need a network connection.