Month: December 2008

We started this discussion last week and came up with two ways to address text alignment in Adobe FrameMaker: column balance and feathering. The final step in the process is to address baseline alignment. It's a great concept, but doesn't make much sense if you don't understand the word "baseline". Take a look at the image below. The blue line underneath the word Typography is the baseline. Think of it as the imaginary line that keeps the letters from falling into the line below. Certain letters have descenders that descend below the baseline, like the y, the g, and the p.

 

Baseline alignment means lining up the baselines across columns. Here's how it works: when you synchronize, or align, text in a flow, FrameMaker creates an invisible grid in each text frame and aligns the baseline of the first line of each specified paragraph to the grid. FrameMaker also aligns the first line after an anchored frame and tries to align the first line in each column.

1. Jot down your Body paragraph leading value (leading is the typographer's term for line spacing). Make sure you have fixed line spacing selected.
2. Click in the flow you want to synchronize
3. Choose Format > Page Layout > Line Layout
4. Select Baseline Synchronization and turn off Feather
5. In the Synchronization Pgf's area, enter your Body paragraph leading
6. In the First-Line Synchronization Limit text box, enter the largest font size to align at the top of a column.

   For example, suppose the leading for Body paragraphs is 12 points, the column grid is 12 points, and the headings are 22 points. If you want the headings to be aligned when they appear at the top of a column, specify 22 as the first-line limit.

7. Click Update Flow.

So, why did we turn off feathering on step 4? If feathering and synchronization are both on for a flow, feathering takes precedence over synchronization. Sigh. Here's where I remind you not to shoot the messenger. Like everything in life, it's a balancing act. You have to pick what is most important and let the rest go. The good news is that if you have them both on, at least the first lines in the columns are synchronized with each other. 

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.

Students come to my print layout classes (Adobe FrameMaker and Adobe InDesign) and often ask how they can easily line up baselines across columns, and easily force the last lines of every column to line up with the bottom margin. The word easily is often a clue to their pain: it always means they are adding and subtracting leading and paragraph spacing values to achieve their goals. That might be okay if there aren't going to be any further edits, but if there are, it becomes a total nightmare.  

You have three techniques in Adobe FrameMaker to automatically align text in the columns of a multi-column layout so that text has an even appearance:

1. Balancing text across columns. FrameMaker distributes text evenly across the columns of a text frame that isn't full of text.
2. Feathering text to the bottom of text frames. Also known as vertical justification, which means that the last line of text in each column reaches the bottom of the column.
3. Synchronizing baselines across columns. The first lines of body paragraphs line up whenever they appear side by side in columns.

Balancing text across columns. The first one is the easiest: just place your cursor in Flow A (or the main text flow) and choose Format > Page Layout > Column Layout. Select Balance Columns and click Update Entire Flow. The results are most evident on the final page of the flow: instead of having one long and one short (or empty) column, you will end up with columns that end at the same place. 

1. If a document window is active, place the insertion point in the main text flow
2. Choose Format > Page Layout > Line Layout
3. Select Feather, and enter the maximum amount of space FrameMaker can add between lines (Interline Padding) and between paragraphs (Inter-Padding). FrameMaker won't exceed the padding limits you set.
4. Click Update Flow

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.

Now that you are successfully working with Footnotes (after last week's column), what about Endnotes? Advanced users may be thinking, "What is she talking about? FrameMaker doesn't offer an Endnotes command, does it?" No, but… you can have endnotes, if you are willing to work a little bit.

1. Prepare the list of references at the end of your chapter as a series of paragraphs.

2. Assign a short and concise paragraph format like "EndNotes" to the list.

3. Turn on Auto-number formats for "EndNotes" to number the paragraphs sequentially from 1 to infinity.

4. Create a Character format called "Superscript" that you will use to superscript the reference number in the text.

5. Create a cross-reference format that simply pulls the auto-number from an "EndNote" paragraph. Give it a simple name like "EndNote Reference", and set the definition to <Superscript><$paranumonly> to apply the "Superscript" Character format to just the reference number:

   

6. Whenever you want to add an endnote reference, place your cursor at the position where you want the number to appear and add a cross-reference to the appropriate paragraph. Voila!

   

7. When you click on the Insert button, it looks just like a "real" endnote!

   

This may seem like a lot of work, but when your document goes through substantial revisions and text begins shifting around, this technique will ensure that all numbers will update as you go. That's a real timesaving when you are approaching a deadline.

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.

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.

1. On the Single Source Layouts pod, right-click either the WebHelp or FlashHelp layout and choose Properties
2. Click Next to move to the Navigation settings
3. Select the Index toolbar button and click Set as Default
4. Select the Index toolbar button and click the Up button until the Index button is in the first position (as shown below)

   

5. Click the Save button
6. Generate the layout and View the results. You will notice that the Index appears first. In addition, the Index button appears in the first position about the Toolbar buttons.