Adobe FrameMaker Question: Multiple Cells, One Footnote Reference... Possible?
I have a table in a FrameMaker document, I am trying to have three cells reference the same Footnote. However, the result I am getting is three separate Footnotes. Is it possible to have three different cells reference the same Footnote?
Answer:
Yes. Within FrameMaker, set up a cross-reference to the original footnote and request that it pull the <$paranumonly> from the desired footnote. Repeat this process for the other two.
I have a table in a FrameMaker document, I am trying to have three cells reference the same Footnote. However, the result I am getting is three separate Footnotes. Is it possible to have three different cells reference the same Footnote?
Answer:
Yes. Within FrameMaker, set up a cross-reference to the original footnote and request that it pull the <$paranumonly> from the desired footnote. Repeat this process for the other two.
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Adobe Technical Communication Suite Question: What is the Best Way to Output Multiple Documents?
I have a question about single-sourcing documentation in the Tech Comm suite. My company produces software that can be somewhat cumbersome to install or upgrade. We have extensive documentation on how to install our various products and integrate them into a single environment.
Using RoboHelp's conditional build tag features, I have been able to build certain documents (such as our installation guide) that have multiple TOC's and produce customized documentation for certain environments. That way, if our installers are implementing a system in environment A, and environment B has a bunch of additional steps, they don't have to "skip this section" or refer to a bunch of Appendicies in order to install in environment A. This has worked out well, but as I convert our 15 years worth of documentation, it becomes clear that some of our major documentation intersects. For example a certain section on Windows User setup is required in both the Installation Guide and the Upgrade guide.
My question is this: What is the best method for creating one master "Documentation" project where I can update the topic once and have it update multiple documents? Would you suggest that I simply import all of the topics from my other documents and create more TOCs like I have done for our Installation guide?
I have a question about single-sourcing documentation in the Tech Comm suite. My company produces software that can be somewhat cumbersome to install or upgrade. We have extensive documentation on how to install our various products and integrate them into a single environment.
Using RoboHelp's conditional build tag features, I have been able to build certain documents (such as our installation guide) that have multiple TOC's and produce customized documentation for certain environments. That way, if our installers are implementing a system in environment A, and environment B has a bunch of additional steps, they don't have to "skip this section" or refer to a bunch of Appendicies in order to install in environment A. This has worked out well, but as I convert our 15 years worth of documentation, it becomes clear that some of our major documentation intersects. For example a certain section on Windows User setup is required in both the Installation Guide and the Upgrade guide.
My question is this: What is the best method for creating one master "Documentation" project where I can update the topic once and have it update multiple documents? Would you suggest that I simply import all of the topics from my other documents and create more TOCs like I have done for our Installation guide?
I would suggest creating all of your documentation using FrameMaker (part of the TCS2) and, using conditional build tags, importing the FrameMaker chapters to RoboHelp by reference. Once the content is in RoboHelp, you can have multiple TOCs hooked to multiple Single Source Layouts. Using this technique, you can rapidly produce very targeted print documents and Help Systems with a few clicks (not to mention interactive PDFs and Help Systems if you integrate Captivate eLearning lessons).
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Flash Video Question: How Do I Do It?
I recently received and reviewed your book Essentials of Adobe Captivate 3. There is a video clip (Module 9, pages 157-159) that was inserted upon a slide and when previewed, a young lady walked onto the screen, made her statement, and then walked off the screen.
We are trying to do similar video clips with some of our projects. We have managed to make the background transparent but only by saving the clips as a PNG, whereby there is no audio. Could you provide any direction as to how we might go about converting and importing our video clips into Captivate where they too will have a transparent background and audio?
Answer:
You are referring to Flash Video. The process is actually quite simple (although you'll need skill to create excellent videos... and good actors).
Film the subject against a green screen using just about any video recorder. Transfer the video to your computer and open the video in any program that can create chroma keys (the process of wiping out the background).
Here is a video showing the process.
Once the video is edited, the final step is to save the video as Flash Video (FLV), which many video editing applications support (check the box prior to purchasing to ensure this feature is available).
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