FrameMaker – Page 3 – The Logical Blog

January 18, 2011

Adobe Releases Technical Communication Suite 3

Technical communicators can rejoice… the latest version of Technical Communication Suite was just released by Adobe. According to Adobe, version 3 of the suite is a "complete single-source authoring toolkit with multichannel, multidevice publishing capabilities."

Technical Communication Suite 3 includes FrameMaker 10, RoboHelp 9, Captivate 5, Photoshop CS5, and Acrobat X. To learn more about the suite, read the article written by Adobe's RJ Jacquez. To purchase the suite, contact Adobe's Thomas Deems at 206.675.7076.

January 17, 2011

Adobe FrameMaker: Adding a Drop Cap

by Barb Binder

Adding a drop cap in FrameMaker is easy, right? Just activate the Apply Drop Cap checkbox and specify how many lines to drop down, right? Ha! I wish. Sadly, there is no drop cap feature in FrameMaker, but that doesn't mean you can't have one. You just need to know how to create the drop cap manually.

Place your cursor at the beginning of the paragraph where you'd like to have a drop cap.
Delete the first character in the paragraph.
Choose Special > Anchored Frame.
Change the Anchoring Position to Run Into Paragraph.
Set the Alignment to Left.
Set the Gap to 3 or 4 pts. (The Gap is the space between the edge of the frame and the edge of the text to the right and below the frame.)
Set the size to about 1 in x 1 in to start.
Click on the New Frame button to add the frame to the paragraph.
Open up the toolbox, if necessary via Graphics > Tools.
Select the Text Line tool.
Click inside the frame and type the character to be used as the drop cap.
Format the character using the Character Designer. (If you plan to use more than one drop cap, I'd recommend making a character format.)
To finish, drag the letter to the top left of the frame with the Select Object tool and adjust the frame edge to match the size of the letter.

Note:

For more interesting and/or ornate drop caps, consider creating them in Photoshop or Illustrator, and then importing them into the frame.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

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

December 9, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9 Sneak Peeks

RJ Jacquez of Adobe has posted videos of the next versions of FrameMaker (10) and RoboHelp (9).

According to Jacquez, "With version 9, we are taking RoboHelp and RoboHelp Server to the next level by helping our customers incorporate important Industry trends taking place today into their TechComm workflow. Trends like User-generated content, Community-based User Assistance, Rich Internet Applications, Content Personalization, Rich Media, Mobile publishing, the Cloud and others." Here is a link to the RoboHelp video.

As for FrameMaker 10, Jacquez said "Our customers are telling us that their end-users expect more from them, more interactive and richer experiences that are socially-enabled, too." Here is a link to the FrameMaker video.

September 30, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker: Numbering Headings

by Barb Binder

I love paragraph numbering in FrameMaker, mostly because no matter what numbering style a student shows me, I can make it happen by mixing and matching the building blocks in Numbering properties. Today, a former FrameMaker student asked me to help her fix paragraph numbers. Here's what she wanted:

Chapter 1. ChapterTitle text here

1.1. Heading1 text here

1.2. Heading1 text here

1.3. Heading1 text here

1.3.1. Heading2 text here

1.3.2. Heading2 text here

1.4. Heading1 text here

The trick is to look at the numbers as columns. I'll sketch them on paper for complex situations. Here's how numbering properties should look for each of these paragraph formats:

FrameMaker's Numbering Properties

Here's why it works:

Series Label. The series label tells FrameMaker that these three paragraph formats are part of the same numbering series. I use H for a Heading series, but any uppercase letter will do.

ChapterTitle. Prints the word "Chapter" followed by the chapter number, a period and a space. < =0> resets the column 2 and 3 counters back to 0 for each new chapter, but the space says don't show it.

Heading1. Repeats the chapter number, followed by a period. The <n+> adds one to the 2nd column counter and shows the result.
The < =0> resets the third column counter back to zero, but doesn't show it.

Heading2. Repeats the chapter number followed by a period, the <n> repeats the 2nd column counter without changing it, and <n+> adds one to the 3rd column counter and shows the result.

Voila! Using this logic, you can number as many paragraphs as you could ever want.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

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

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September 23, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker: Should You Apply or Update All?

by Barb Binder

When I teach my FrameMaker classes, there is always confusion caused by the Apply and the Update All buttons. Take this short quiz to test your knowledge of when to use one over the other.

You want to change all the Body paragraphs in your document to Minion Pro 10/12 in the Paragraph Designer. You make the changes and click:

Update All
Apply

You want to assign the Heading2 tag to a Body paragraph via Paragraph Designer. You pick it from the Paragraph Tag list and click:

Update All
Apply

You want to rename all paragraphs tagged Title to ChapterTitle, so you type over the name in Paragraph Designer and click:

Update All
Apply

You want to remove the first line indent on the very first Body paragraph, so you make the change in Paragraph Designer and click:

Update All
Apply

You change the alignment of a paragraph to center via the Paragraph Formatting toolbar. That is equivalent to clicking:

Update All
Apply

Answers: 1. a; 2. b; 3. a; 4. b; 5. b

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

September 16, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker: Hyphenation

by Barb Binder

What do religion, politics and hyphenation have in common? They are all emotional subjects for most of my students, and I try to keep discussion on all three of them out of the classroom. If you are thinking that hyphenation couldn't possibly fall into that category, then you probably haven't spent much time teaching word processing or layout applications.

As a teacher, I ask questions to engage my students in the learning process, and the first few times I asked them how they handle hyphenation, I was dumbfounded by their responses. Otherwise well-mannered students were suddenly confrontational with others who did not share their views. Who knew? These days, I simply state how to turn hyphenation on and off for different paragraphs and move right along.

Let's say you want to turn off hyphenation on your Heading1s in FrameMaker; here's how:

Place your cursor in a Heading1 paragraph.
Choose Format > Paragraph > Designer (or press Ctrl M)
Navigate to Advanced Properties (button # 5 in FrameMaker 9).
Click twice on the Hyphenate check box.
Why two clicks? FrameMaker check boxes offer three states: on (checked), off (unchecked) and As Is (solid box). If you click once, you will set the check box to As Is and it will leave hyphenation as [it] is..
Click Update All.

Phew. Glad that's over. If you have additional questions about how to control hyphenation, I'm here to help. If you want to discuss when and where to hyphenate, I'm staying out of that debate!

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

September 9, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker: Fix Inconsistent Color Definitions

by Barb Binder

When I produce a book in FrameMaker I usually begin by importing Word documents that have been sent to me from a variety of authors. These files will frequently contain colors that float into my FrameMaker template with the Word files, but I rarely notice them until I get around to updating my book. When I do click the Update button, I am frequently stopped short by a notice via the Book Error Log about inconsistent color definitions:

Notice about inconsistent color definitions

This message shows up when two or more files in a book have different definitions for the same color. For example, one file might have Gray defined as 40% black and another might define Gray as 30%. That's all it takes. You don't even need to be using the color in any of the files for FrameMaker to stop the update.

Here's how to fix Inconsistent Color Definitions should it happen to you:

Open one file and carefully review the color definitions via View > Color > Definitions.
Remove the colors you don't intend to use and double-check the definitions for those you intend to keep.
Once you determine that you have a clean and accurate color list, save the file… and keep it open.
Back in the book window, select all of the files in your book list and choose File > Import > Format to open the Import Formats dialog box.
Set Import from Document to the file with the clean color definitions (it has to be open to be available). Deselect All, then reselect Color Definitions before clicking on the Import button.
FrameMaker replaces all color definitions in all of the book files with the definitions from the clean file. It also adds color definitions that might have been missing from some of the files in the book list.
Update your book and hopefully the Inconsistent Color Definitions message will be gone.

The reason I say "hopefully" is that if there were color definitions in some of the other files that were not in the list you cleaned up, they will still be there, and could continue to cause problems. The nice thing about the Book Error Log is that it lists the problem files and colors so you will be able to quickly zero in on the right document(s). Just open those files and repeat the steps above.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

August 4, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: But I Don’t Want a Plain, Round Bullet!

by Barb Binder

Bullets live in the Numbering Properties of the Paragraph Designer. If you are willing to use a plain, round bullet you are in luck! It's the very first option:

Basic FrameMaker bullets

Select the bullet symbol and the tab character as shown above, set your hanging indent from among the Basic Properties and you are good to go.

But what if you don't want a plain, round bullet? You can create a custom bullet. And while the process isn't hard, it is not very intuitive for a new FrameMaker user. During the steps that follow, I'll teach you how to create a custom bullet.

Start by deciding what character you would like to use. Symbols like squares, circles and diamonds are very common requests. But if you have access to more exciting ornamental fonts, then the fun is just beginning. To see your options, open FrameMaker 9, click your mouse at the end of a bullet paragraph and choose File > Utilities > Character Palette.
Note: For older versions of FrameMaker without the Character Palette, you can use Windows Character Map to locate the desired character.
Scroll through the list, looking for the ornamental fonts. If nothing else, you should at least have Webdings, and Wingdings 1, 2 and 3.
Hover over an interesting symbol to enlarge it, and when you find one you like, click once to add it to the document. In my example, I'm choosing a squirrel icon in the Webdings font. Note the last line of the palette: Latin Small Letter O with Grave.
Click outside the palette to close it.
I'm not actually seeing my squirrel yet: it's a Latin Small Letter O with [an accent] Grave. Good thing I saw that in the palette, so I'm not panicking, yet!

The next step is to create a character format to transform the ò into a squirrel:
Select the letter.
Copy the character to the clipboard.
Choose Format > Character > Designer and then choose Commands > Set Window to As Is.
Give the new format a simple name (I used the name Webdings).
Change the Family to the desired ornamental font
Optionally, change the size and/or the color
Click Apply, then click Create.

OK, now I have a squirrel at the end of my paragraph. He was just there so that we could see what I was doing, go ahead and delete him.
Choose Format > Paragraph Designer > Numbering Properties.
Paste your symbol on the Autonumber Format line that you copied earlier, followed by a tab. Don't forget to pick your Character Format from the list on the right before you finish up with an Update All.

Cool! Squirrel bullets!

Now, I do realize that unless you are working for the International Society of Squirrels, you are highly unlikely to ever use this particular bullet in your technical documents. When I'm wearing my production hat, I'm usually forced to choose between boxes, diamonds, circles, etc. Here's a handy list for "real life":

Bullet list

Just type in the character in the top row, create a character format to change the font to Wingdings , and assign the character and the character format through Paragraph Designer.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

July 21, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: Restart a Numbered List

by Barbara Binder

FrameMaker offers two ways to restart numbered lists in your documents: a manual technique and an automatic option.

Restarting a List Manually

Let's start by examining the manual option which is built into the Paragraph Catalog of all new FrameMaker documents. If you take a look at the numbering properties of the Numbered and Numbered1 formats, you'll see that Numbered uses the <n+> building block, which adds 1 to the current counter and displays the results:

Numbered Format

Numbered1 uses the <n=1> building block to reset the counter back to 1, and displays the results:

Numbered format

When you are using these default formats, or others based on the same logic, you simply assign Numbered1 to the first list item, and Numbered to the rest of the list. It's a little clunky, but it works. Is there a better way? You bet.

Automatically Restarting a List

The more advanced way to reset your lists back to 1 is to assign the job to a different paragraph format. You'll need to examine your document to determine which format always appears between the numbered lists. For me, it's usually the Body format. Once you determine which format to use you can give it the job of resetting the counter, whenever it appears. Here's how:

Use only the <n+> building block to set up your lists.
Place your cursor in a paragraph that always appears before each new list. (Again, for me it's the Body format.)
Display the Numbering Properties on the Paragraph Designer.
Type the building block <n=0> and then click Update All.
Don't panic that you now have a 0 in front of every format that you just updated. That's what <n=0> does–it sets the counter to 0 and displays the results.
Focus for a moment on the actual lists in your document. Are they all restarting with 1, even without the use of the <n=1> building block? If yes, continue reading. If not, maybe the paragraph you selected doesn't really appear between each list. In that case, Undo your change and find one that does.
Once you can see how using another format to reset the list works, it's time to hide the zeros. All you need to do is change <n=0> to < =0> (just change the letter n to a space) and click Update All.

Here's why it works: while <n=0> tells FrameMaker to reset the counter to zero, and display the results, < =0> tells FrameMaker to reset the counter to zero and NOT display the results. How cool is that?

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

***

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

July 1, 2010

Adobe FrameMaker 9: Adding Tabs to a Table of Contents, Part II

by Barbara Binder

Last week I talked about how to use the TOC Reference page to add the missing tab between a table of contents text entry and the page number that follows it. Here are a few more TOC tips:

As a general rule, don't edit the text on a generated page. All of your edits will be lost should you update the book and the file is regenerated.
If you want to have a title that will actually stay after you update your book, you have to ensure that the title is the first thing in the flow (titles usually are, so that's easy) and it is using a paragraph format that does not end in the suffix for the generated file. For example, TOC is the standard table of contents suffix, so you could call your contents title ContentsTitle, but not ContentsTitleTOC.
If you want to remove the page numbers from a top level TOC entry:
1. Choose View > Reference Pages.
2. Navigate to the TOC Reference Page.
3. Delete the building block <$pagenum> from the line with the same paragraph format as your top level TOC entry.
4. Choose View > Body Pages.
5. Update your book (or file).

If you'd like to add the chapter numbers in front of the chapter titles in your table of contents (assuming the chapter titles are numbered with the <$chapnum> variable):
1. Choose View > Reference Pages.
2. Navigate to the TOC Reference Page.
3. Type <$chapnum> and a space in front of the chapter title building block.
4. Choose View > Body Pages.
5. Update your book (or file).

When Create Hyperlinks is turned on, you can press Ctrl + Alt on your keyboard as you click on a table of contents entry to follow the hyperlink into the file. If it isn't turned on, you'll need to right-click your TOC in your book window and choose Set up Table of Contents. Then select Create Hypertext Links.

Turn on Create Hyperlinks for the TOC.

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If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker class. Hope to "see" you there.

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