How can I import and convert multiple Word files into OnSong at once?

How can I import and convert multiple Word files into OnSong at once?

First, you can always import the Word files into OnSong and view them "as-is".  You do not need to convert them to text-based documents to view the files. However, you will not have access to OnSong's formatting, transposition, and other features.  So I would recommend importing the Word files into OnSong directly into OnSong using Dropbox and you will be ready to go.

What we recommend is that if you want to move to a text-based format is to do so one song or set at a time.  There reason is that different files are created differently.  The only reason to change the font to Courier or New Courier is to you can see the issue with font alignment and fix that in Word.  The trouble is that when you author a chord chart in a word processing file, it's common to use spaces to align the chords above words below.  When you use a variable-width font like Arial or Times, you end up using a lot more spaces than characters below.  So when you import or extract that text in OnSong, the chords become misaligned.

My recommendation is when you have time, go into the Song Editor by tapping on the pencil icon in the Menubar when you are viewing a Word document in OnSong.  This will display a blank text editor with the name of the file.  You can then tap on the Extract File button in the Conversion Toolbar that appears at the bottom of the screen  This will convert the Word file into plain text.  When you may notice is that chords are not aligned above the correct place in the lyrics.  Tap on the hammer icon in the Song Editor Menubar to open the Text Tools Menu. Tap on the Fix Alignment Spaces button.  This will adjust the chords closer to where they belong above lyrics.  You can then manually adjust the spacing before saving.

We do recommend that you review the Overview Tutorial Video to learn some quick tips on how to write chord charts in the OnSong File Format.
    • Related Articles

    • Why do my chords not align properly when I copy and paste or extract them from a word processing document?

      When you import text content info OnSong from programs like Microsoft Word or Apple Pages, it's likely that your chords will not align with the lyrics underneath.  If you've copied and pasted the contents of these files in OnSong Console, exported ...
    • Word file extraction.

      OnSong can import and view Word files directly. In this video tutorial we show you how to use Word to create a text-based file that you can import into onSong.  This lets you perform any additional editing inside of Word: ...
    • Microsoft Word files are not Aligned when I import them.

      Thanks for using OnSong! When you import and view Microsoft Word files, they are being rendered by the built-in web viewer of iOS.  The problem is likely caused by the way the Word file was authored. You may have used a font that is not directly ...
    • How do I extract text from an imported file?

      OnSong supports importing a variety of file formats, but works best with plain, text-based chord charts. However, if you've imported a word processing file such as Microsoft Word, Rich Text Formatting (RTF), or Adobe PDF, the file will display ...
    • How do I get my non-text based document to transpose?

      Thanks for using OnSong! OnSong has tools that can extract text from a variety of file formats.  The quality of this process depends solely on the source material.  Each file format that you extract text from may have different problems. PDF files ...