Month: December 2008

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Adobe FrameMaker 8: Don’t Be an Idiot, Remember Missing Font Names

 
I'm an idiot. I'm also a long time Adobe FrameMaker user (starting way back in the early 90s) and have been continuously certified by Adobe as both an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) and ACI (Adobe Certified Instructor) on FrameMaker since 1997. You'd think I'd know the program pretty well by now and some days, it sure looks like I do. Other days, well, you read my story and decide.
 
I began laying out an annual publication for an association many years ago. It's a compilation of papers written by a large group of economists. I designed the first chapter 13 volumes ago, and have basically been using the same formatting instructions ever since. I import the all formatting in from a previous chapter for each new article, and then the next year, I import the settings from one chapter from the previous volume to the first chapter of the new volume and move forward. As fonts come and go, I find myself having to update the Font Families every few years. Other than that, it's been a pretty good system. Until Frame 8 arrived.
 
My first foolish decision was to install the first release of Frame 8 in the middle of my production cycle. (Please note that I am not doing that for InDesign CS4–I learned my lesson). I won't bore you with the details; let's just say it was a nightmare. Not one who is happy to suffer alone, I regularly called Adobe Tech Support and took my frustration out on them. Adobe blamed my computer configuration, I blamed their buggy software. It was an ugly time. On one conversation about fonts that are declared missing by the Console but simultaneously declared not found by a Find/Change command, the technician said, "You redesigned your template for version 8, right?"
 
"Of course," I responded, unable to admit that the template was probably defined in version 5.5.
 
It was too late to start over on that job, and it eventually made it to print, but I made a note to redesign the template for this year's job.
 
Last month, I redefined everything from a new document, and picked all my current fonts. I was feeling fresh and virtuous, and layout was going swimmingly until fonts started sneaking in from Word. First it was just one file, and I could keep it open while I updated my book. Then a couple more showed up. The Console said they were there, Find/Change insisted they weren't. I couldn't find them in the Word doc either. In my effort to be a detective, I'd even bring the files into InDesign, which could locate some of the missing font but not others. The fonts were driving me crazy.
 
The solution? Finally locating that little green checkmark next to Remember Missing Font Names in File > Preferences and turning the #$%@ thing off.
 
It turns out all I needed to do was uncheck it once to permanently map all the missing, unavailable fonts sneaking in from the Word docs to fonts that I actually own. How did I miss that all these years? And why didn't any of the technicians mention that last year when I was tearing my hair out over font issues?
 
Adobe does give us the following warning: "Be aware that doing this will cause you to lose the original font information referenced in the document." Yes! That's exactly what I need when authors send me files from all over the world using a wide variety of fonts that I've never heard of.
 
I may have felt like an idiot the day I found the checkmark, but I was a relieved and happy idiot.
 
 
Want to learn more about Adobe FrameMaker 8? Attend Barb's Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker 8 class. All you need is a computer with fast Internet access, a headset and the current version of FrameMaker (the 30-day trial version of the software works fine). You can ask all the questions you like because all virtual classes are led by a live instructor–this is not pre-recorded content.

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 recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide for 2007.

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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate Question: How Can I Get a Lesson to Close on its Own?
 
If you open a project in another window (leaving the menu open behind), is there a way to get the window to close when the module has finished running thereby revealing the menu underneath?

 
Answer
Choose Edit > Preferences. Set the project to Close via the Start and End category.
 
***

 

Adobe Captivate Question: Why Are Quizzes Causing Trouble?

 
My company asked me to develop an interactive training module. There are 10 components each with 3 or 4 slides and a 10 question quiz which will be reported to LMS software.  I have created a menu page that lets learners "jump to" the slides to review the sections they wish, any number of times they wish. At the end of each section is a 0-point quiz question with infinite attempts. On the menu there is also a button that jumps you to the scored quiz. Here's the problem: When they view any section, the questions work fine. However, in any of the following sections,  the questions display a message that says "You did not complete this question completely" and greys out the responses. I cannot figure why it is doing this or how to get it to stop.
Answer
 
Adding interactive objects (buttons and click boxes) to projects that also contain quizzes is, as you've seen, a potential problem. You can try to shake things loose by first ensuring you have enabled backward movement via your Quiz preferences. There are other things to try of course, but you should start there.
 
I would encourage you to use an alternative method to your quizzes… pull them apart so that each one stands apart and create a menu for users to use to access each quiz. Trust me, if you continue combining them, you're going to come up against more heartache that many can stomach.
 
Follow Up:
 
I appreciate the advice. We eliminated the buttons and found that anytime you jump to slides involving a quiz questions "out of order," whether there is an interactive button or not, the quiz gets buggered up. So we changed our workflow. and it's all right now. Thank You. 
 
***
 
Adobe Captivate Question: Why Won't My Previews Work?
 
When  I first started using Captivate 3, I could use any of the Preview options to view my slides. Now, for some reason, all of a sudden, I can only use  the PREVIEW IN BROWSER option. When I click the PREVIEW button and choose  "From This Slide" or "Next 5 Slides", I can only hear the  audio–but I can't see anything. The screen goes white. No animations or anything.
But if I choose Preview In Browser, I can see  everything just fine.
 
Answer:
 
More likely than not the issue is due to an upgrade to the new Flash Player 10. Now that I've upgraded to version 10 of the player, my FLVs do not preview (but publish fine). The only fix to date that I know of is to roll back to your previous version of the Flash Player. For more information about the problem, read this post.

 
Follow Up:

That fixed it! I had to uninstall Flash Player 10, restart my computer, find Flash Player 9 and install it… then PRESTO!  My Captivate preview options work again.
 

Got a question you'd like answered? Email me.
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Adobe Captivate 3: Creating Image Transparencies and Watermarks

While Captivate is not an image editing program like Adobe PhotoShop, you can apply simple effects to an imported image such as a fill transparency and add a watermark effect.
 
Apply a Transparency to an Image
  1. Open or create a Captivate project and insert an image on any slide
  2. Double-click the image to display the Image Properties dialog box
  3. On the Image tab, change the Transparency to something like 50

    Image Transparency

  4. Click OK
The image appears faded. This is a great technique for creating watermarks out of any image. Perhaps you'd like a faded image to appear in the same location on every slide for an entire project. During the next steps you will learn how.
 
Reuse an Image for the Rest of the Project 
 
  1. Double-click the same image you edited a moment ago to display the Properties dialog box again
  2. Select the Options tab
  3. Select rest of project from the Display for area

    Display for Rest of Project

  4. Click OK

  5. Press [F10] on your keyboard to Preview the next few slides

    As the five slides play, notice that the image appears in the exact location on every slide.

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 Adobe Captivate 3? Click here.
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Adobe FrameMaker 8: Gravity

 
Did you know that when Adobe FrameMaker was designed way back in the '80s, it was supposed to be one of those popular at the time "three-in-one" programs?
 
Frame Technology developed the software to address three key needs: illustration, word processing, and technical publishing. Current users might laugh at this concept, because while we all regard FrameMaker as a leader for technical publishing, most of us look elsewhere for our illustration and word processing needs these days.
 
Gravity is one of the least understood commands in the Graphics menu. This is partially because none of us do a lot of drawing in Frame, but also because it doesn't work as expected. It sits above the more commonly-used Snap command-which allows you to snap objects to grid settings defined in View > Options. You would enable Gravity when you want to make it easier for one object to touch another.
 
When Gravity is first activated via Graphics > Gravity, most of my FrameMaker students assume that when they try to move one object near another, Gravity will simply pull the object in and allow easy alignment.
 
Wrinkled brows normally follow as I watch their faces. Gravity does exert a pull between objects, but… gravity has no effect when you move objects. Wait, what? Read that sentence again. So when does Gravity work? In a nutshell, Gravity works when you are:
  • drawing a new object near an existing object
  • resizing an object near an existing object
  • reshaping a path near an existing object
Here are a few more parameters to understand if you determine that Gravity will help you solve a need:
  • Objects have Gravity along their paths and at their corners
  • Rectangles and ovals also have Gravity at their centers
  • Some points on an object exert a greater pull than others. For example, the corners of a triangle attract the pointer more than its sides do.
  • If Gravity and Snap are both selected in the Graphics menu, Gravity takes precedence
As Adobe proudly declares in the FrameMaker Help System, "Gravity ensures perfect alignment." Sure, but just make sure you understand that it works only when drawing or resizing, and not when trying to simply move existing objects so that they can touch each other.
 
 
Want to learn more about Adobe FrameMaker 8? Attend Barb's Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker 8 class. All you need is a computer with fast Internet access, a headset and the current version of FrameMaker (the 30-day trial version of the software works fine). You can ask all the questions you like because all virtual classes are led by a live instructor–this is not pre-recorded content.

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 recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide for 2007.

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Adobe RoboHelp 7: Text-only Popups

by Kevin A. Siegel

 
When you create links in RoboHelp, one of the more common techniques is to create a link to topics that appear in an auto-sizing popup. This slick technique usually links to existing topics in your project. The content that appears in the popup window can be highly formatted (using Style Sheets) and contain images and multimedia effects. Of course, to create a pop-up link, you'd need to ensure the content exists in a topic. If you want to create a popup link to text that is not contained within a topic, you can create a Text-only Popup.
 
Because Text-only Popups do not link to project topics, you are limited to the amount of formatting you can control. In addition, Text-only Popups cannot contain images, audio or other multimedia effects.
 
One appropriate use of Text-only Popups would be for glossary terms, where you want the definition of a term to pop up when users click the term.
 
Insert a Text Only Popup in a Topic
  1. Open a topic and select some text
  2. Choose Insert > Text-only Popup

    A yellow box appears near the word you selected.

  3. Type some text into the yellow box

    Text-only Popup

  4. Press [Ctrl] [W] to preview the topic
  5. Click the link you just created to display the Text-only Popup

Change the Appearance of the Text-only Popup

  1. Double-click the Text-only Popup you added to display the Text Popup Properties
  2. Select any Font you like from the Font menu
  3. Select any Text Color and Size you like
  4. Select any Background color you like

    Text-only Properties

  5. Click OK
Want to learn more about Adobe RoboHelp 7? Click here.
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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate Question: What Would Cause Captivate to Crash?
 
I've got a weird situation happening with Captivate 3. During a project, Captivate will sometimes lock up while recording.  After I [Ctrl] [Alt] [Delete] to close Captivate, I reopen the project but it won't record any new animation I try to add to it.  When you preview the project, the new changes don't show up. Have you ever had this happen and if so, what do you do to fix it.  I hope you don't say, "You need to start your project over."  Thanks for the guidance.

 
Answer
The main reason that Captivate hangs up is system resources. I would recommend a minimum of 2 GB of memory on your computer. During the recording process, you should close all non-essential applications–especially memory hogs like Outlook.
 
Sorry to say, but it is possible for project corruption, especially if you are accessing and working on your Captivate project on any drive other than your local drive.
 
***

 

Adobe Captivate Question: Can Videos Be Imported?

 
I was given 2 DVDs with video of a seminar.  The file extensions on the DVDs are BUP, VOB, and IFO. The DVDs look like they were professionally made.  They have closed captioning and have the PowerPoint slides inserted.  My boss wants me to put them in Captivate so I can put them on our intranet. Can they be imported into Captivate?
Answer
 
Yes, videos can be imported. However, the video format must be either AVI or SWF.
 
These links might prove interesting (they deal with converting VOB and IFO to AVI): http://www.allformp3.com/dvd-faqs/410.htm and http://www.topvideopro.com/ifo-converter.htm.
 
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Adobe Captivate Question: Why Won't My SnagIt Screen Shots Line Up?
 
Thanks to your book on Essentials of Adobe Captivate 3 which I purchased, and your weekly Skills and Drills, I am getting productive and creative with my Captivate training demos. Here is one problem that I just ran into that I cannot figure how to fix.
 
I am updating a WBT in which I have several slides with a tool bar that changed. Rather than record those slides again, I did this:
  1. Captured (used SnagIt) only the section of the tool bar that changed (they are all at one end), at the same resolution and size
  2. Saved it in the same format (JPEG) as the slide
  3. Inserted, very precisely,  the image of the updated toolbar over the outdated portion
  4. Applied the Merge into Background feature.
The slides/frames looked perfect, even when I view at 300% There are no lines or anything to indicate this is a separate entity . However, when I preview them, I see the portion that I pasted shift causing a jerky type of movement. What could be causing this? How can I prevent it so it appears smooth?

Any help and insight would be much appreciated.
 
Answer:
 
The likely problem is being caused by the capture settings used in Captivate versus those used in SnagIt. Instead of using SnagIt, I would recommend you record the entire screen manually using Captivate (simply press [Print Screen] while recording) and then use Paint to grab the area that changed and paste it onto the slide that needs updating (then merge into Background). You can find information on editing your Captivate backgrounds here:  
 
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Adobe Captivate Question: Soft Skills?
 
I do appreciate the information I get from your weekly Skills and Drills and the other support you provide.
 
I need to develop a course to instruct employees on the different invoices that a customer might encounter, and different payment options, essentially soft skills. There is not an application interface with this information. The employees will need to be conversant with the information meeting the customers. I understand that Captivate can be used for teaching soft skills. Can you direct me to any examples or best practices that might be helpful?
 
Answer:
 
The process of creating soft skills in Captivate is the same, development-wise, as any Captivate project. The main difference is that you wouldn't be using Captivate to record screen captures. Instead, you would create a new project using Captivate's Scenario Simulation option or import a PowerPoint presentation (or a combination of the two). After creating/importing, you would load the project up with click boxes, text entry boxes, buttons, animation and audio as appropriate.
 
A good example of soft skills can be found in your Captivate application folder on your computer, typically at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 3\Samples\Soft Skills Sample.cp

 
*** 

Adobe Captivate Question: Why Aren't All SWFs Embedded?

 
When we insert small animations into our Captivate 3 project, such as the Animated Red Circle.SWF file from the Captivate 3 Gallery, and then publish the project as a SWF, Flash 8, the published folder sometimes includes Animated Red Circle.SWF file as well as the project SWF file. We don't want multiple SWF files. We want the Animated Red Circle.SWF and other animations to be imbedded in the project SWF file. How can we accomplish this?
 
For example, in one project, the media area of the library shows 4 SWF files, type: Animation. The sizes vary: 2, 5, 19, 1 kb.  When we publish, a SWF file is generated for the animation that is 2 kb. The other animated SWFs are embedded into the published SWF.  This doesn't make sense to me.  Why does it embed some and not others?
 
Note: We don't use Full Motion Recording, skins, or borders.

 

Answer:

 
It looks like a problem with Captivate 3 and Flash Player version 7 and above (it may be Adobe's attempt to lower the size of published SWFs). There is no setting that you're missing within Captivate that will control this. This article may shed some light on the issue.
 
***
 
Adobe Captivate 3 Question: Can I Prevent SWF Duplication?
 
I am aware that I can Password Protect my project and burn/distribute the finished project on to a CD-ROM. What I don't know is how to prevent my customers simply "Dragging" the SWF file from the CD to their Hard Drive, or other device where they can copy it and give it to other people with the password?
 
Looking forward to your reply – thanks for taking the time.

 
Answer:
 
There is no way in Captivate to prevent someone from copying published files and sharing passwords. Instead, you'll need to set up digital rights management for those files you don't want shared. Adobe does offer software that supports digital rights. Fair warning… digital rights management can get expensive!
 

Got a question you'd like answered? Email me.
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Link of the Week: Creating Portfolio’s with Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional Extended

When Adobe shipped Acrobat 8, users of the program quickly learned to use and take advantage of the PDF Package feature. This slick technique allowed users to wrap a variety of file types inside of a single PDF file.
 
As revolutionary as this feature seemed, its weakness was its need to convert these files to PDF in the process.  What if you wanted to send a colleague a few PDF files, a Word document, some JPG images and an Excel spreadsheet? That spreadsheet would no longer be 'live,' and the data would be completely static–non functioning. And what if you needed to remove red-eye from one of those JPG photos? You get the point.
 
The PDF Package feature has been replaced by the PDF Portfolio. The PDF Portfolio houses any type of file you want to share, and even offers live previews of many file types such as Word, Excel, various image formats, and even video files!  Users of Acrobat 9 Professional can create PDF Portfolios easily, and users of the free Adobe Reader can open and use the file format.
 
With Acrobat 9 Professional, assets can be added, removed, annotated and passed around from user to user as a single PDF file! Amazing. Your PDF Portfolio can even contain folders of various documents! 
 
David R. Mankin, an Adobe-Certified Expert in Acrobat and a Certified Technical Trainer, has created a slick presentation that demonstrates the power and coolness of the PDF Portfolio feature.
 
Hold onto your hat and click here to watch David's presentation.
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Adobe Captivate 3: Add a Print Feature to Slides

A student in a recent class wanted to give his eLearning customers the ability to print specific slides at any point throughout the lesson. Great idea. Sadly, there is no "Add Printer" feature in Adobe Captivate that will magically or instantly add a print button or print option to published Captivate eLearning lessons. However, it is possible to get the job done, if you know where to look. Read on…
 
Add a Print Button to a Single Slide
  1. Download a printer icon you like here
  2. Open an Adobe Captivate project and edit any slide
  3. Choose Insert > Animation and open the SWF you downloaded in Step 1
  4. Press F10 to preview a few slides and you will see the printer icon. If you click the Printer icon, the Print dialog box will appear.
Add a Print Button to Several Slides
  1. Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 above
  2. Right-click the SWF you inserted and select the Options tab
  3. Select rest of project from the Display for drop-down menu

    Printer icon for rest of project

  4. Click OK
  5. Press F10 to preview a few slides and you will see the printer icon on the current slide and on every slide for the rest of the project.
Add a Print Button to the Playbar
  1. Download a skin that has been modified to include a print button in place of an Info button by clicking here
  2. Unzip the file you downloaded and copy the default_print.swf file to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Captivate 3\Gallery\PlaybackControls\SwfBars
  3. Open a Captivate project and choose Project > Skin
  4. On the Playbar Control tab, select default_print from the Playbar drop-down

    Printer SWF on the Playbar

  5. Click OK
  6. Preview the project and you will see a printer icon on the playbar available for any and all slides within the project

Note: If you liked any of the print options presented above, be sure to thank Paul Dewhurst since he's the one that came up with these and many other Captivate widgets.

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 Adobe Captivate 3? Click here.
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Questions of the Week

Adobe Captivate Question: What To Do When A Larger Capture Area is Needed?
 
I am learning Adobe Captivate using your Skills and Drills workbook.  I have started my first demonstration using a screen resolution of 1024×768 and a recording area of 800×600.  Unfortunately, when I preview my project not all of the text is visible on the screen.  Can you help?

 
Answer
If the 800×600 red recording area is not big enough, you will need to select a custom size that works for the software you are recording. I recommend recording sizes of either 640×480 or 800×600. However, there are times when neither of those sizes is appropriate. In that case, you can type in width and height values that work, or manually make the red recording area larger prior to recording the lesson.
 
***

 

Grammar Question: How Do You Label The Back of Pictures?

 
Dear Jennie Ruby,
 
I'm unsure of the correct way to label the back of pictures: "Andy and Me"  or "Andy and I."
 
I try to rationalize "Andy and Me" by thinking "This is Andy.
This is me" because when I think "This is Andy. This is I" it doesn't sound right. I know that it would be correct to say "This is Andy and me at the beach" but it wouldn't be correct to say "This is Andy and I at the beach."  If I just use a pronoun (me) and a name (Andy), which way is correct?  Please help.
Jennie's Answer
 
"This is I" is the correct grammar, and "This is Andy and I" is correct. However, most people do not use the proper grammar for the phrase This is I, so that makes it awkward to label your pictures correctly.
 
If you use the correct grammar, your grammar will distract readers, who will probably pause and ask themselves "Is that right? That sounds funny!"
 
To make the labels correct and not distracting, you might say something like "This is a picture of Andy and me."
 
***
 
RoboHelp Question: Why Isn't My CHM File Working Correctly?
 
I'm using RoboHelp HTML 7 and have published HTML Help ( a CHM file). When accessing the CHM, the right side of the Help System does not display a topic that I know is okay and within the generated project. What's up?
 
Answer:
 
Check and see if you are trying to access the CHM via a network server. You'll find plenty of problems displaying a CHM unless it is local to the user's hard drive. If you are looking to create a Help System that will display via a network drive or over the Web, consider generating WebHelp or FlashHelp.
 

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