October 2009 – Page 2 – The Logical Blog

The Czar! Everyone uses their applications differently. I used to be a mega-mouse-clicker. Over the years, I have grown to use, appreciate and ultimately rely on keyboard shortcuts to help streamline my workflow.

So here they are… my Top Ten Acrobat 9 Professional Keyboard Shortcuts.

Drum roll, please…

10.	Ctrl-6	Insert Sticky Note
9.	Shift-Ctrl-D	Delete Pages
8.	Ctrl-R	Show/Hide Rulers (yes, Acrobat DOES have rulers!)
7.	Ctrl-U	Show/Hide Grid (yep – Acrobat has a design grid too!)
6.	Alt-Left Arrow	Previous View
5.	Ctrl-0 (zero)	Fit Page
4.	Shift-Ctrl-1	Open Organizer
3.	Shift-Ctrl-F	Search
2.	Ctrl-D	Document Properties
…and the number 1 keyboard shortcut is…
1.	Ctrl-K	Preferences

I cover scores of Acrobat features and tips that will surely impact your business and workflow. To stay on top, you'd be wise to learn what Acrobat can do for you. Click here for more details.

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About the author: In addition to recently being named the nation's Acrobat Czar, David R. Mankin is a Certified Technical Trainer, desktop publisher, computer graphic artist, and Web page developer. And if that wasn't enough, of course David is an Adobe-certified expert in Adobe Acrobat.

October 8, 2009

Adobe FrameMaker: Pasting Text from Microsoft Word

by Barbara Binder

This is one of my all-time favorite tips because it's something I have to deal with on a regular basis.

Let's say I need to replace a paragraph in my FrameMaker document with one from an MS Word file. The process seems easy enough: go to Word, select and copy the paragraph to the clipboard, return to FrameMaker, select the old text, and Paste. Right? Wrong!

Instead of the text simply replacing my highlighted FrameMaker text, the clipboard text is pasted as an OLE object (OLE stands for Object Linking and Embedding–it's a Microsoft technology that allows you to embed and link objects into documents). The pasted text appears within an anchored frame–not exactly what I was looking for.

To get around the anchored frame, I'll now have to undo the Paste step (by using the Undo command) and choose Paste Special, select "text" and then click OK.

When I need to paste text between Word and FrameMaker, I almost always want regular old text to appear, not an OLE object. While the extra work I mentioned above will give me the results I wanted, why doesn't the pasted text just appear as text by default? Why do I get the OLE object in the first place?

The answer is FrameMaker's "Clipboard Format Priority" list. By default, FrameMaker is set to paste objects from Word as OLE. If you want to change the paste priority order, you can do so by editing the maker.ini file (the maker.ini file is FrameMaker's initialization file.).

Note: Before attempting the following steps, please make a back-up copy of the maker.ini file in case you need to restore it later.

Open C:\Program Files\Adobe\FrameMakerX\maker.ini in a text editor like Notepad
Scroll down until you find:
ClipboardFormatsPriorities=FILE, OLE 2, EMF, META, DIB, BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF, UNICODE TEXT, TEXT

This list is read from left to right by FrameMaker, and OLE has a higher priority than TEXT, so if an object can be pasted as either OLE or TEXT, it will paste as OLE.
Rearrange the order so that TEXT is first and OLE is last:
ClipboardFormatsPriorities=TEXT, FILE, EMF, META, DIB, BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF, UNICODE TEXT, OLE 2
Save and close the file and restart FrameMaker.
Go ahead and copy and paste text from Word.
Look, Ma! No need for Paste Special! Wow!

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Need some more help with FrameMaker? I've got an online Introduction to FrameMaker 9 class coming up October 22-23, 2009. Sign up today.

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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.

October 7, 2009

Writing & Grammar Workshop: Is Where and Is When

by Jennie Ruby

Is where and is when are expressions we sometimes use in spoken English to explain something or give the definition of something. You might hear someone say, "An adjustable mortgage is where you start out paying a certain percentage of interest on a loan, but the percentage can change over time." Or you might hear, "Love is when the score is tied in tennis."

The problem with these expressions is that they more accurately refer to place or time, not to definitions. Here are some examples that use them correctly:

The recycling bin is where you place used cans and bottles.
Next Tuesday is when the new swimming pool will open.

If you are writing about a thing or a process, stay away from these expressions. Here are some alternatives:

Not: Feathering is where you add small amounts of space between lines to fill out a column.
Use: Feathering is the process of adding small amounts of space between lines to fill out a column.
Not: Sending and receiving is when you make the program retrieve new messages from the server.
Use: The Send/Receive tool causes the program to retrieve new message from the server.

Speaking and writing have different rules–this one is for added accuracy in writing.

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Join Jennie online where she'll be teaching Writing Training Documents and eLearning Scripts.

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About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" 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.

October 6, 2009

Adobe Captivate 4: It’s True, You Can Get the Closed Captions Panel to Open By Default!

by Kevin A. Siegel

If you've spent any time adding closed captions to your Captivate project, you have probably already noticed that the closed captions are hidden by default. Once the lesson appears on your customers screen, the CC button on the playbar has to be clicked by the customer before the closed captions will appear.

What if you want the closed captions panel to be open by default? That's an interesting problem because there is no option within Captivate (not the Preferences and not the properties of a skin) that you can select that will force the closed captions to appear automatically when the lesson first opens.

So what's a developer to do? Read on…

Create an Action

In Captivate, you can create an action that will force the closed captions to open automatically. While creating Actions might seem daunting if you aren't a programmer, this one is very simple.

Choose Project > Actions to display the Actions Dialog.
On the Advanced actions tab, select Create a new action from the Edit/Create action drop-down menu.
Type the name of your new action (in the example below, the action was called CC) and click the Save button.
Double-click Add Statement.
Double-click Statement.
Select Assignment.
Select cpCmndCC from the list of actions.
Select Value from the next list that appears.
Type 1 into the value field (1 means "yes," or "true," and 0 means "no" or "false.")
Click the Save button to save your new action.
Click the Close button.
Show the Properties of the first slide.
On the Slide tab, select Execute advanced action from the On slide enter drop-down menu.
Select CC from the Action drop-down menu.
Click the OK button.
Preview the project.
Assuming you are using a project that has a skin attached (Project > Skin Editor), the playbar has the closed captions option enabled, the CC panel will automatically open on your slide.

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Need to learn the basics of Adobe Captivate 4 fast? I have two live, online classes that will have you creating killer eLearning lessons with Captivate in a few short days. Click here for more information about my Captivate beginner class. Looking for more Advanced Captivate 4 training? I've got you covered. Click here for more information.

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Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/iconlogic.

October 2, 2009

Adobe RoboHelp 8: Shortcuts Anyone?

by Kevin A. Siegel

During just about every one of my online RoboHelp classes, someone asks the following question about the keyboard shortcuts that I teach during class. "Do you have a list of these keyboard shortcuts?"

Um, no. Although I always promise the group that I'll whip up a list of shortcuts and post them here. Of course, since I'm old(er), I quickly forget to post the shortcuts until the next class, when the cycle repeats. Until now…

The following is courtesy of Adobe's online RoboHelp Help system.

Task	Keyboard shortcut
Basic operations
Open project	CTRL+O (letter O)
Save All	CTRL+S
Undo	CTRL+Z
Redo	CTRL+Y
Cut	CTRL+X
Copy	CTRL+C
Paste	CTRL+V
Delete	Delete button
Close All	Ctrl+Alt+X
Select all	CTRL+A
Find	CTRL+F
Replace	Ctrl+H
Go to bookmark	F5
Print from active pane	CTRL+P
Help	F1
Spell check active pane	F7
Thesaurus	SHIFT+F7
Create a topic	Ctrl+T
Duplicate a topic	Ctrl+D
Edit item	Ctrl+E
Close a topic	Ctrl+F4
Rename	F2
Paragraph markers	CTRL+SHIFT+8
Preview topic	CTRL+W
Insert hypertext link*	CTRL+K*
Insert image	CTRL+G
Insert text-only pop-up window*	CTRL+ALT+P
Open Project Settings dialog	CTRL+SHIFT+/
Open Topic Properties dialog	ALT+ENTER
Display Conditional Build Tag dialog*	CTRL+N
Generate the Primary Layout	CTRL+M
Text formatting in Design Editor
Bold	CTRL+B
Italicize	CTRL+I
Underline	CTRL+U
Format – Paragraph menu	CTRL+SHIFT+D
Format – Font menu	CTRL+D
Font change	CTRL+SHIFT+F
Increase font size to next size in menu*	CTRL+SHIFT+>
Decrease font size to previous size in menu*	CTRL+SHIFT+<
Increase font size by 1 point*	CTRL+]
Decrease font size by 1 point*	CTRL+[
Styles in Design Editor
Apply a style*	CTRL+SHIFT+S
Apply the Normal style	CTRL+SHIFT+N
Apply a Bullets or Numbering style	CTRL+SHIFT+L
Apply Heading 1*	ALT+CTRL+1
Apply Heading 2*	ALT+CTRL+2
Apply Heading 3*	ALT+CTRL+3
TOC pod
Move book or topic up in the table of contents	CTRL+Up Arrow
Move book or topic down in the table of contents	CTRL+Down Arrow
Move book or topic to the left in the table of contents	CTRL+Left Arrow
Move book or topic to the right in the table of contents	CTRL+Right Arrow
Index pod
Change index keyword to lowercase	CTRL+L
Change first letter of index keyword to uppercase	CTRL+J
Version Control
Refresh version status on File Status tab	F5

Looking for RoboHelp training? I've got you covered! I teach an online RoboHelp class once a month. My classes never cancel! All it takes is one student and the class is a go! Click here for details.

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Reviews from Students Who Have Attended My Online RoboHelp Class

Here are some unedited reviews from students who have recently taken my online RoboHelp class:

"Great class–content and pace were perfect."

"The instructor was incredibly dynamic and personable!"

"I have sat through MANY hours of mandatory training and yours was, by far, some of the best training I've experienced."

"This is really the first online 'class' that I've attended. It was very interactive. I was worried that I would just be sitting here and listening, but it was awesome. Thank you for a great experience."

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Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/iconlogic.

October 1, 2009

Adobe FrameMaker: Refining the Type Size List

by Barbara Binder

Do you have some favorite FrameMaker type sizes that you use all the time? Are they listed in the picture below?

Font Size List Prior to Editing the maker.ini file

The sizes listed in the picture above are the default type sizes listed in FrameMaker's Paragraph and Character Designers. If your favorite choices are listed, great! If not, you have to type the size you want into the Size field.

If you'd like to modify the Size list so that it includes your favorite Sizes, read on.

Note: The following procedure involves editing the maker.ini file, which is the FrameMaker initialization file. Be sure to back it up before attempting any edits.

Open C:\Program Files\Adobe\FrameMakerX\maker.ini in a text editor like Notepad.
Scroll down until you find the following text:
; Sizes which will appear in the Format dialog boxes:

;

Sizes=7pt, 8pt, 9pt, 10pt, 11pt, 12pt, 14pt, 18pt, 24pt, 36pt
You can edit the exiting point sizes, and add additional options, like this:
Sizes=4pt, 6pt, 8pt, 9pt, 10pt, 11pt, 12pt, 14pt, 18pt, 24pt, 36pt, 72pt, 144pt, 400pt

(Note: You will need to stay within FrameMaker's range of 2 to 400 points.)
Save and close the maker.ini file and restart FrameMaker. Take a look at the Paragraph Designer and you'll see your custom font size is the Size list. Cool!

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Need some more help with FrameMaker? I've got an online Introduction to FrameMaker 9 class coming up October 22-23, 2009. Sign up today.

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October 1, 2009

Acrobat 9: Open a New Window

by David R. Mankin, the Acrobat Czar

Here's a simple little tip that may someday change the way you work in Acrobat. You have a PDF catalog open. You find an interesting product on page 5 of the PDF. While browsing deeper into the catalog, you see an equally interesting product on page 10. You want to compare the features of both products. You flip back and forth from page 5 to page 10 to page 5 to 10… now you're officially dizzy and you're wishing there was a way to see both page 5 and 10 at the same time.

With your PDF open in Acrobat, choose Window > New Window. A second instance of your document opens in its own Acrobat application workspace. You may navigate freely and independently in each window, allowing you to see multiple pages at once, and each in a unique zoom magnification. To manage multiple windows, you can choose Window > Cascade or Tile.

Two windows tiled

Simple, yet powerful… like Acrobat itself. If you find tidbits like this useful, then you might consider signing up for a complete Acrobat class. I cover scores of features and tips that will surely impact your business and workflow. Acrobat and PDFs are everywhere. To stay on top, you'd be wise to know what Acrobat can do for you. Click here for more details.

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Month: October 2009

Acrobat 9: The Czar’s Top 10