July 2008 – The Logical Blog

July 31, 2008

Adobe Captivate 3: Inserting Your SWFs into a PDF? Consider a Custom Splash Screen!

Inserting SWFs into PDFs is all the rage these days. And why not? Users who can interact with what would otherwise be a static PDF are likely to be engaged by the content. Imagine that… content that the reader actually reads… and touches!

How would you import your Captivate published SWF’s into today’s “big three” print publishing applicatons (InDesign, FrameMaker and QuarkXPress)? Read on…

Adobe FrameMaker 8: Choose File > Adobe Captivate > Insert Adobe Captivate Demo
QuarkXPress 7.3: Draw a picture box and then choose Import > Picture
Adobe InDesign CS3: Choose File > Place and select Media Files from the Files of Type drop-down menu

After the SWF has been added to your layout, you can easily create a PDF from all three of the print publishing applicatons.

Adobe FrameMaker 8: Choose File > Save As PDF
QuarkXPress 7.3: Choose File > Export > Layout as PDF
Adobe InDesign CS3: Choose File > Export and select Adobe PDF from the Type drop-down menu

Well, that seems easy enough. Users who access your PDF over the internet will be able to click on the SWF and it will play. Cool!

However, prior to clicking the SWF, users might not have any idea that the SWF is interactive. In fact, the SWF would look like it’s a picture.

Here is what a Captivate-published SWF might look like as seen in a PDF:

A PDF with the default SWF splash screen from Captivate

While there’s nothing wrong with the image of the SWF shown above, it doesn’t exactly encouage the user to click it. You might elect to have an image with the words “Click here to start the lesson,” or you might include your corporate logo. Fortunately, the image your users see can easily be changed in Captivate. Curious how to do it? Again, read on…

Open a Captivate project
Choose Edit > Preferences
Select the Start and End category
Click the Browse button to the right of Loading Screen
You can select just about any animation format or image as your loading screen. However, if you select an image (such as a JPG or BMP), the image will serve as a splash screen and appear when the user comes across the SWF in the PDF. If you are planning to incorporate your SWFs into a print document, I encourage you to take this route.
After selecting the appropriate image, click OK
Publish the SWF
Reimport the SWF into your print publishing tool and recreate the PDF

Do you have a Captivate production problem that’s making you pull your hair out? Emailyour problem and let others learn solutions from your experience.

Want to learn more about Captivate? Click here.

July 31, 2008

Adobe’s Technical Communication Suite: The Integration Process

About the Technical Communication Suite

Adobe’s Technical Communication Suite (TCS) is a wonderful solution for authoring, managing and publishing technical information and training content in multiple formats and languages.

The suite combines four powerful programs:

Acrobat 3D
FrameMaker 8
RoboHelp 7
Captivate 3

For the first time, technical communicators can author content in FrameMaker (instead of Microsoft Word) and link the FrameMaker content into a RoboHelp project.

Once linked together, the RoboHelp project and FrameMaker document(s) communicate with each other. All you need to do to update both your FrameMaker and RoboHelp content is make changes in FrameMaker and, back in RoboHelp, perform an Update. And that’s it.

You can also import Captivate published SWFs into the FrameMaker document. If you create a PDF out of the print document, the interactivity is retained, making your PDF highly interactive. And of course, since the suite applications are integrated, you can edit the imported Captivate SWF from within FrameMaker, make changes in Captivate and when you exit Captivate, the edited Captivate project is republished and updated in FrameMaker. Cool!

Over the next several weeks, I’ll take you through the process of integrating RoboHelp, FrameMaker and Captivate (I’ll leave discussions of Acrobat for a different series article.)

RoboHelp and Integration

RoboHelp is a wonderful tool for creating killer Help Systems. However, RoboHelp’s involvement in the integration process is minimal. I am not saying that you don’t have to know RoboHelp to be successful with integrating the suite. On the contrary, you will have to have at least a working knowledge of RoboHelp to be successful. What I am saying is that RoboHelp doesn’t play the key role in the technical communication workflow–that distinction goes to FrameMaker, which I’ll discuss in future articles.

Create a new RoboHelp project or open an existing project (projects intended to be integrated with FrameMaker must have at least one topic)
Attach the fmstyles.css to at least one topic in the RoboHelp project
The fmstyles.css file comes with RoboHelp and is part of all new RoboHelp projects. Attaching fmstyles.css is key to successfully importing FrameMaker content into the RoboHelp project. Why? When you import the FrameMaker content, it’s the fmstyles.css file that controls how the FrameMaker content will appear in the RoboHelp project.

When you attach the fmstyles.css file to the topic, you will likely be unhappy with the appearance of the topic text. No worries, you can edit the CSS file easily from within RoboHelp (which is one reason I said above that you will need to know how to use RoboHelp).
Import FrameMaker documents or book files by right-clicking the HTML Files (topics) folder on the Project Manager pod and choosing Add FrameMaker File > Add by Reference

If you do not see Add FrameMaker File > Add by Reference, it is likely that you do not have the Adobe Technical Communication Suite. Keep in mind that the suite adds unique integration features to the applications that make up the suite.
You will have access to two important dialog boxes during the import process: Content Settings and Style Settings.

While fmstyles.css controls how the text will look in RoboHelp, the Content Settings and Style Settings control such things as the TOC, Index, Glossary, how the numbering formats from FrameMaker appear in RoboHelp, how the cross references are formatted and how the FrameMaker content is paginated in RoboHelp.
When you click the Finish button, the FrameMaker content will be imported into your RoboHelp project.
And the imported content will need some adjustments made to the content settings. But that… is a story for another day…

Next week: Content Settings

Want to learn more about integrating the Technical Communication Suite? Click here.

July 31, 2008

Link of the Week

Menu Wizard for Adobe Captivate

The Menu Wizard is a 3rd-party software product that integrates directly into published Adobe Captivate movies. The Menu Wizard is a Flash movie that provides a dynamic menu (a series of buttons that navigates to slides you specify within your published Adobe Captivate movies).

The Menu Wizard uses a .XML file to read the menu content and settings. You can configure the number of menu buttons, button text, background colors (up/over), font, font size, font color (up/over), border width and color, drop shadow, button size (height,width), location, horizontal/vertical layout, transparency, and menu header options. The product is distributed as an InstallShield release (setup.exe), with all the necessary files, an example movie and menu, and a 19 page Instruction Guide (.PDF) document.

For more information, click here.

July 31, 2008

Adobe RoboHelp 7: Font Sets

A Font Set tells the Web browser which font to display for a topic. If the end-user’s computer does not have a certain font, you can use the Font Set to show a different font.

For instance, let’s say that your topics use a font called “ReallyCoolFont.” You just love that font… I mean, it’s a really cool font! The only problem is, it’s unlikely that your customers will have the font. If you don’t specify a font set, your user’s computer will substitute a different font, essentially ruining your design. If you specify a font set, you can tell the computer which font to load if “ReallyCoolFont” is not available.

Because you can’t control the fonts on the end-user’s computer, simple fonts such as Verdana and Arial are recommended. While they may not be exotic, you know what you are getting with both of these fonts. And just about every Mac and PC has them.

Create a Font Set

Open any topic in your RoboHelp project
Choose Format > Font Sets

The Font Sets dialog box appears.
Click the New button and then name your Font Set (the name can contain spaces)
Click the Modify button
Double-click any of the fonts you want to add to the Font Set.

The order of the fonts in the list is important. In the image above, Verdana is above Arial. Based on the order, Verdana will be the first choice when the browser looks for a font to use. If Verdana is not installed on the computer, the browser will look for and load Arial. If you want to add a font to the list that is not installed on your computer (such as Helvetica), you can type the name of the font into the Available Typefaces field and click Add.
Click OK
Click OK again
The font set has been created, but it is not currently being used by any of the topics in your project. You will “attach” Font Set to a style next.

Attach a Font Set to a style

On the Project Manager pod, double-click your project’s CSS to open the CSS file for editing (in the image below, the CSS file to be edited it MS_Help.css)
Double-click the word Paragraph to display the project’s paragraph styles
Select a style and click Format
Choose Font and, from the Font list, scroll and select your new Font Set
Click OK
Click Close

Attaching a Font Set to styles won’t pay off obvious benefits while you continue to develop your Help System. But remember, thanks to the font set, you will not have to worry about missing fonts fouling up your topics when user’s browse your finished Help system.

Want to learn more about RoboHelp? Click here.

July 31, 2008

Writing Workshop: Put the “How” in “How To”

by Quinn McDonald

Recently, I’ve been reading how-to articles. It’s a way of learning how to accomplish something I need to do-move across country, xeriscape a yard, maintain a swimming pool. The articles seem to be well researched and always have some tips about getting the job done, but most of them falls into a trap I see often in how-to articles-they don’t really tell you how to get the task done. They just tell you the desired result.

In an article on looking for a writing job, the author cautions the job applicant against being the first to reveal a satisfactory salary. But what about those jobs on Monster and Craig’s List that say, “replies without salary requirement will be discarded without further notification”? No mention on how to handle that.

Do you risk not mentioning your salary? Do you inflate your salary?

Often, I’ll query the writer on specifics. Almost always, the answer is, “Use the Internet,” or “Google the company’s website.” Salary information is rarely available on a company’s website. And what exactly do you look up on the Internet? In the article I was reading, two links didn’t work, one required registration, and another payment for information.

Writers have the responsibility to be clear. The least we can do is take our own advice and see what happens when we follow our own advice in a how-to article. Does it work? What exactly are the steps to follow?

A how-to article should never suggest asking friends in the same field for an answer. Most people have tried that without good results before they start reading how-to articles.

How-to articles are popular, but won’t be for long if the “how” is missing. If you are running a training class or writing a how-to, give clear tips, include details that create the result in the advice you give, point to working websites, and use verbs that allow the reader to understand how to get the results you advise. Then you have a readable article.

About the Author: Quinn McDonald is a writer and nationally-known speaker who has achieved the “Professional” designation from the National Speakers Association. Contact Quinn through her website, QuinnCreative.com.

July 31, 2008

Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate Question: How Does Captivate Compare with Camtasia?

Do you know of any articles or resources that compare Captivate with Camtasia?

Answer:

I haven’t used Camtasia in years so I can’t compare the two. However, here’s a link that might prove useful.

Adobe Captivate Question: Can I Add Multiple Audio Tracks to the Same Slide Background?

I have been recording my voice overs in Adobe Premiere Pro and then cleaning them up in Adobe SoundBooth. I can’t seem to import multiple audio files into the Captivate 3 audio track on the slide. When I try it just replaces the existing audio. Help me, please!!!

Answer:

You can certainly insert audio into slide objects, the slide itself, or the entire project. You cannot however insert more than one audio file into any one thing. For instance, you can show the properties of a slide and, on the Audio tab, import an audio clip that will play when the slide appears. If you try to insert a second audio clip onto the same slide, the first clip will be replaced by the new one.

As a workaround, you can edit the existing audio clip using Captivate’s audio editor, and insert any number of audio files inside the existing clip.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email me.

July 31, 2008

Grammar Workshop: Double the punctuation, double the fun? Not Necessarily!

by Jennie Ruby

When two or more punctuation marks are called for at nearly the same spot in your sentence, how do you decide whether to use both or omit one? And if you decide to use both, which comes first? Three places this question arises are with quotation marks, with dashes, and with parentheses.

With quotation marks, what do you do with a sentence like this? Do you keep both the question mark and the comma?

“Is this the correct design?”, she asked.

The Gregg Reference Manual says delete the comma.

“Is this the correct design?” she asked.

What if an interruption set off by dashes contains punctuation?

The cattle–Can you believe how many there were?–crossed the road slowly.

Grammar books say keep the question mark and the dash, just like that.

What if an abbreviation needs a period inside parentheses, and the sentence ends right after the parentheses. Do I use two periods? In a word, yes:

He worked for several years with the company that manufactured the software (Adobe, Inc.).

That’s one no and two yeses for using multiple punctuation marks in a row. I welcome any questions and complicated examples on this topic.

About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as “Essentials of Access 2000” and “Editing with MS Word 2003 and Adobe Acrobat 7” to her credit. Jennie specializes in electronic editing. At the American Psychological Association, she was manager of electronic publishing and manager of technical editing and journal production. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer (Chauncey Group). She is a publishing professional with 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

Want help with a grammar issue? Email us your troubles and we’ll turn Jennie loose!

July 24, 2008

Adobe Captivate 3: CD Deployment… Should You Duplicate or Replicate?

by Mindy Nieland

You’ve just finished developing your Captivate eLearning course. The lessons have been published and are ready to be deployed. At this point, Captivate developers generally choose from one of three options for the final destination for their eLearning content:

Post the published lessons to a Learning Management System (LMS)
Post the lessons to a web server or intranet
Copy the lessons to a CD or DVD

If you copy your Captivate lessons to CDs, there are two distinct types of processes used to make CDs: duplication and replication. Ever wonder about the difference between the two processes? Read on…

Duplication is the process of burning content onto blank media. This is the process most people are familiar with. Duplication is convenient and can be cost-effective if you need a small number of copies. If you need the CDs labelled, there are duplicators that can print directly on the discs, or you can create labels from a software program and apply them to the discs yourself. One major drawback of duplication? The cost per CD could easily be more than $2 each. And the duplication process can be slow.

For higher-volume needs, CD replication is the most efficient process. CD replication is the molding of CDs from raw materials on fully automated molding lines. The high-speed ability of the machinery combined with the integrated computer quality check systems assures CD replication with perfect quality. Major record labels, software titles, etc. are made through this process. For medium-sized orders to the largest volume production, there is no better alternative than CD replication. Printing capabilities are endless. Replicated discs are directly printed using a silkscreen or offset print process. The result: beautiful, high quality CDs at a fraction of the cost of duplication. For instance, if you print a large enough volume, you could lower the cost per replicated CD down to 40 or 50 cents.

Duplication or Replication?

How do you determine which is the right process for you? It’s really just simple math. If you need more than 500 CDs, replication is the best option, hands down. You’ll get better quality results for less money.

About the Author: Mindy Nieland works for Multi-Media Publishing and Packaging, Inc. For over 20 years, Multi-Media has provided manufacturing services such as CD duplication & CD replication, DVD duplication & DVD replication, creative packaging, printing, assembly and fulfillment.

Do you have a Captivate production problem that’s making you pull your hair out? Email your problem and let others learn solutions from your experience.

Want to learn more about Captivate? Click here.

July 24, 2008

Grammar Workshop: The Mystery of “Was” and “Were”

by Jennie Ruby

Below is an actual grammar emergency that arrived last week from a “skills and drills” reader:

Dear Jennie,

Here is a sentence we are struggling with. I believe the verb should be singular (was), but maybe its plural (were).

“Among his deficiencies was an inability to act decisively, drive innovation, and build and manage partnerships with others in the organization who were important to the success of his area.”

If you can solve the mystery, please let me know.

Here is the solution to the mystery: the verb should be was, because the front of the sentence does not contain the subject of the sentence–it is merely a prepositional phrase. The true subject of the sentence is the word inability, which is singular. The sentence is problematic because the way it is worded, he has one inability to do a number of things, so to the reader, there is a sense of plurality because of the whole list of things, which is at odds with labeling all these things as just one inability. The sentence might sound better if you made the subject plural, something like this:

“Among his deficiencies were an inability to act decisively, an inability to drive innovation, and a failure to build and manage partnerships with others in the organization who were important to the success of his area.”

That way, among his deficiencies were three things: an inability to this, an inability to that, and a failure to this and that. You might be able to think of another word for the second inability.

The way it is worded now, grammar calls for singular:

“Among his deficiencies was an inability to act decisively, drive innovation, and build and manage partnerships with others in the organization who were important to the success of his area.”

Want help with a grammar issue? Email us your troubles and we’ll turn Jennie loose!

July 24, 2008

Adobe PhotoShop CS3: Another Cool Type Effect

by Barbara Binder

We talked last week about using Fill Opacity in the layers panel to achieve see-through type that is visible only by its layer styles. Here’s another version of that effect using a Clipping Mask to fill the type with a colorful image.

Set up a Photoshop document with at least three layers. In the example below, the bottom layer is a solid color, the next layer is a field of tulips, and the top layer is a type layer with the words, “Tiptoe through the tulips”.
Drag the Type layer down, so that it appears below your colorful layer.
Select the new top layer and choose Layer > Create Clipping Mask.
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs093/1101280589876/img/357.jpg?a=1102177857171″ border=0 name=ACCOUNT.IMAGE.357>

This command clips the top layer to the pixels on the underlying layer, effectively removing any tulip pixels that don’t overlap the underlying letters.
Add a Layer Style or two and the letters pop off the page.

Want more Photoshop tips? Come to my upcoming Introduction to Adobe Photoshop CS3 class on August 4-5, 2008. It will be held in a virtual classroom, so you can attend this live, interactive class from anywhere in the country. All you need is a computer with fast Internet access, a headset and a current version of the software. You can ask all the questions you like because our virtual classes are led by a live instructor–this is not pre-recorded content. “See” you in August!

About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and was recently recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide for 2007.