Month: November 2006

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InDesign CS 2: Adding Paragraph Rules

You may need to show a line above and/or below body text paragraphs. You could easily use your line drawing tools to create the line; however, since the lines you draw are not "anchored to the text," as soon as you add text or move the paragraph, you would have to manually reposition the lines. With InDesign, you can add Ruled Lines as attributes of a paragraph. The rules that result look like lines you create with the Line tool, but they will move and resize with the paragraph to which they are anchored.

Follow these steps to add paragraph rule above selected text:

  1. Select some paragraphs
  2. Show the Paragraph palette by choosing Type > Paragraph
  3. On the Paragraph palette, click the flyout menu button at the right of the palette (you can also use the flyout menu on the Control palette, but you will have to resize the Control palette if you cannot see the flyout menu)
  4. Select Paragraph Rules (or press [command] [alt] [j])
  5. Select both Rule On and Preview (put check marks in both boxes)
  6. Change the Weight and Color as you like
  7. Change the Offset (the Offset controls the distance between the rule and the baseline of the first sentence)

And here is how you add a paragraph rule below selected text:

  1. Click the arrow beside Rule Above and select Rule Below
  2. Select Rule On
  3. Change the Weight and Color as you like
  4. Change the Offset (distance below the baseline)
  5. Click OK
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Grammar: The Proper Use of Semicolons

A semicolon should be used to separate two constructions of generally equal weight. Remember, a semicolon is stronger than a comma, but weaker than a period. Generally, a semicolon is used to separate two independent clauses without a conjunction or with a conjunctive adverb.

  • Proofreading requires alertness; a tired mind will miss many errors.
  • She completed her report on time; however, she neglected to proofread it.

A semicolon should be used to separate items in a series when one or more of the items contain commas.

  • Seminars were conducted in Dallas, Texas, on July 18, 2000; in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2000; and in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 13, 2001.

A semicolon should be used to separate two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction when at least one of the clauses contains commas that could result in a misreading of the sentence. This is an exception to the rule that the comma, not the semicolon, is used with coordinating conjunctions joining independent clauses. The coordinating conjunctions include for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

  • We ordered legal paper, toner cartridges, and black ballpoint pens; but manila folders, envelopes, and binder clips were sent instead.

Want to learn more about grammar? Click here.

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Captivate: Pick Your Color

The Color Picker is a handy, yet overlooked new tool in Adobe Captivate 2. Using the Color Picker, you can pick up the color properties of just about anything on your computer.

For instance, you need to match the color of the text used in your Text Captions to a color in your logo. The problem is you’re not sure what "that color is" or how to recreate it. No problem, you can use the Color picker to "pick" the logo’s color for you.

Follow these steps to success:

  1. Insert a new Text Caption or double-click an existing text caption to display the Text Caption properties
  2. Select the text
  3. Select either the Highlight Color or Font Color pick list (the black arrow to the right of either tool)

    The Pick color tool is the eyedropper located in the lower right of the color panel

  4. Select the Pick color tool

    Your mouse pointer will now look like the Pick color tool. Anything you point to now will display its colors–at the pixel level.

  5. Point to anything on your screen containing color
  6. Click one time on the color you would like to pick

    The text you selected will magically be using the color you picked.

  7. Click OK
You can use this same technique to pick the color for slide backgrounds, Highlight fills and frame colors, and more.
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Grammar: Squinting Modifiers

In many languages the placement of a modifier— whether a single word, a phrase, or a clause—does not matter. However, in the English language the placement is very important. Incorrect placement can often lead to an ambiguous or a nonsensical meaning. A modifier should be placed so that the writer’s intended meaning is clear. Four problems may potentially occur with the placement of modifiers: squinting modifiers, misplaced modifiers, dangling modifiers, and the careless placement of only.

Sometimes the modifier is placed so that the meaning is ambiguous. It is not clear whether the modifier belongs with one part of the sentence or with another part. Move the squinting modifier so that the meaning is no longer ambiguous, or use that to cluster the modifier appropriately.

  • The marathon coordinator said Friday we would have a trial run.— Squinting (Did the coordinator give this information on Friday, or is the trial run on Friday?)
  • Friday the marathon coordinator said we would have a trial run.— Clear
  • The marathon coordinator said we would have a trial run on Friday.—Clear
  • The marathon coordinator said that Friday we would have a trial run.—Clear
  • The marathon coordinator said Friday that we would have a trial run.—Clear
  • The company representative told us eventually the president would meet with us.— Squinting (Did the representative eventually tell us, or did the president eventually meet with us?)
  • The company representative eventually told us the president would meet with us.— Clear
  • The company representative told us the president would eventually meet with us.— Clear

Want to learn more? Read our grammar and editing books.

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Dreamweaver 8: Creating and Defining a Site Folder

For new Web developers, creating a Web site is challenging enough; learning Dreamweaver can seem impossible. And for many people who find Dreamweaver difficult to master, it’s creating a site folder that causes significant confusion. Let’s see if I can simplify the whole site folder deal.

Before starting Dreamweaver, the first thing you should do is select a folder on your computer (or create a new folder) to be used as a site folder. After you start Dreamweaver, you will "point" Dreamweaver to the folder. Every Web page you create from within Dreamweaver will automatically be saved to the site folder. You can manage multiple Web sites by simply defining more folders as site folders.

Create and Define a Site Folder on Your Desktop

  1. If necessary, close or minimize all open windows so that you can see the desktop
  2. If you are on a PC, right-click the desktop and choose New > Folder to create a new folder; right- click the new folder and choose Rename from the shortcut menu and name the new folder MyFirstSite

    If you are on a Macintosh, choose File > New Folder to create a new folder on the desktop and then name the new folder MyFirstSite

    There should now be a new folder on your desktop called MyFirstSite. Now it’s time to define this new folder as a Site Folder.

  3. Start Dreamweaver
  4. Choose Site > Manage Sites
  5. Click the New button and choose Site
  6. Select the Basic tab
  7. Type Your First Name’s First Site into the Site Name area (e.g. Kevin’s First Site)
  8. Click Next
  9. Select No, I do not want to use a server technology
  10. Click Next
  11. Ensure Edit local copies on my machine, then upload to server when ready is selected
  12. Click the little folder at the right
  13. Navigate to the Desktop (this is where you saved the MyFirstSite folder)
  14. PC users, open the MyFirstSite folder and click Select; Mac users select the MyFirstSite folder and click Choose

Want to learn more? Read our Web Authoring books.

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Writing: Commas and the Short Phrase

Most grammar references discourage writers from setting off short introductory words or phrases that refer to time or place. Short usually means one to three words. Some references say one to four words. Some organizations’ style manuals direct writers, editors, and proofreaders to place a comma after these short phrases. Be sure to be consistent.

Here are examples of short phrases of time and place that should not be followed by a comma.

  • In 1999 we received a supplemental appropriation to enforce the new regulation.
  • On Tuesday we will meet to discuss the proposed downsizing.
  • In my office I have the client’s most recent draft of the proposal.
  • Today we received the material that should have been delivered yesterday.

The exceptions to this rule include sentences that could be misread without the comma and sentences beginning with three-part dates. Note that the year in a three-part date should always be set off with commas, no matter where it is in a sentence. When two numbers are next to each other, they should be separated by a comma.

Here are examples of short phrases of time and place that should be followed by a comma.

  • In 2000, 300 people attended the retirement workshops.
  • On October 28, 2000, the committee met to discuss the risks of drug XYZ.

Want to learn more? Read our grammar and editing books.

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Print Publishing: Not Your Father’s Library

Back in the old days, you went to the library if you wanted access to shared assets–mainly books. The library had them, you didn’t.

If you had a library card, you could check out a book or two. Of course, if the book was not available, you had to wait until it was returned–if it ever was returned. And then, horror of horrors, you actually had to bring the book back by some random due date– or there would be big trouble.

Welcome to 2006. Both Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress have libraries all their own. And you are gonna love them–mainly because they’re like the old libraries in name only.

You can use libraries to store commonly used graphics and text that you can pull onto your layout anytime you need them. Any bit of text and graphic that you use frequently in your layout is a good candidate for being copied into a library. Objects used many times, yet in differing locations on the page could be put into a library, and thus your productivity could be increased.

There’s really no limit to the number of elements that you can add to a library, and there is no limit to the number of libraries you can create. The only limiting factor is the amount of free space on your hard drive.

To create a library in either QuarkXPress or InDesign, choose File > New > Library. Give the library a name and then save it.

A new library palette will appear on your screen. It will look like a floating palette but is actually a file. If you were to close it by mistake, you could get it back by choosing File > Open.

Once the library is on your screen, you can drag any object into it (including text, pictures and groups). While you can name any library object in both QuarkXPress and InDesign, InDesign goes several steps farther than QuarkXPress and allows you to treat the library like a database (you can assign keywords and Object Types to library objects) and search for any objects in the library.

And once an object is in the library, it’s as simple as a "drag and drop" to use library objects in your layout. Unlike your father’s library, there is no limit to how many times you can use library objects, and once borrowed, you never return them.

Want to learn more? Read our print publishing books.

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Captivate: Controlling the Content of an Auto Caption

When recording movies in Captivate, the easiest recording technique is to have Captivate pull the screen shots and create the captions for you. It’s a very cool, fast process. (You can find archived articles on this BLOG that discuss how to record Captivate movies.)

However, it won’t take you long to discover that Captivate has a bizarre way of describing events. For instance, an auto caption that instructs the user to select a command from a menu will say "Select the… menu item." I don’t know about you, but when I want to instruct a user to select a menu command, I say "Select the… command" not "menu item."

Another strange instruction would be for a user to click the Combo Box–otherwise known as a "Pick List" or "Drop Down List."

Of course you can edit a caption on the fly (by double-clicking the caption and displaying its properties). Or you can perform a "round- trip" using Microsoft Word, where you can edit the captions in a Word table and then import the changes back into Captivate. While not particularly difficult, both options can be labor intensive. (You can review an archived article about this on this BLOG.)

Wouldn’t it be nice if the auto captions automatically contained the descriptive phrases you wanted? No problem. You can quickly edit a Captivate support file that will force Captivate to use the event descriptions you want. Here’s how:

  1. Open the folder containing Captivate (if Captivate 1, the location is typically C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Captivate; if Captivate 2, the location is typically C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 2)
  2. You will see several files that end with the file-name extension of RDL. All you need to do is open the file with a text editor (such as NotePad) and edit the tags as you see fit. (Caution: It’s a good idea to backup the RDL file you are about to edit so that you can go back to it should things go badly.)
  3. In this instance, I want to control any future English captions so I opened CaptureTextTemplates_English.rdl
  4. Then I scrolled down until I found the following line of text: Object Name="MenuItem" DefaultTemplate="Select the %s menu item"
  5. I changed the tag so that it read: Object Name="MenuItem" DefaultTemplate="Select the %s command"

    Note that the only change I made was the phrase "menu item" became "command."

  6. And Bam, that’s it. Save the text file and close it. Start Captivate and record a movie to test the results.