Adobe FrameMaker 12: Single Source to Responsive HTML5 and ePub

by Kevin Siegel   

Adobe's new FrameMaker 12 allows you to quickly generate Responsive HTML5 and ePubs. If these features sound familiar, they should... you'll find both in Adobe RoboHelp 11. Now that FrameMaker has these output options,you can take content that was traditionally confined to print or PDF, and deliver it to users over the web. 

Your customers can use Responsive HTML5 or ePub content via desktop computers, mobile devices... just about anything. And you don't have to take the variety of screen sizes users might use into account. If the user is viewing your content on a desktop, they will automatically see an appropriate arrangement of the screen components; if they view your content on an iPhone or Android phone, they will see the components resized and rearranged in a layout to best suit the smaller display size.

Generate Responsive HTML5

1. Create or open a single FrameMaker document or a book file.
2. Choose File > Publish to open the Publish pod.
   
3. On the Publish pod, right-click Responsive HTML5 and choose Edit Settings to open the Publish Settings dialog box.
4. Click the Gallery button to open the New Screen Layout dialog box.
     
5. Select a Theme and click the OK button. (You will be presented with a series of options that allow you to quickly customize many components that make up the original design. What I really like about this area is that the Adobe engineers have labelled everything so you know what each area controls.)
6. When you're finished customizing the Theme, click theSave button to return to the Publish Settings dialog box.
7. Click the Save and Close button to close the Publish Settings dialog box.
8. To generate the layout, return to the Publish pod, right-click Responsive HTML5 and choose Generate.

In the first image below, you can see the chapter structure in my FrameMaker book file. In the second image, you can see how that structure appears in my web browser thanks to Responsive HTML5.

 

 

Generate an ePub

1. On the Publish pod, right-click ePub and choose Edit Settings.
2. On the Meta Information tab, fill in the information as necessary.
3. Click the Save and Close button.
4. To generate the Pub, return to the Publish pod, right-click ePub, and choose Generate.

In the image below, you can see how my FrameMaker book looks when viewed with an ePub reader (I'm using Adobe's free Digital Editions).

 

 

 

All in all, this is some pretty awesome stuff. Keep in mind that you will only need Adobe FrameMaker 12 to generate these layouts. I mentioned at the outset that Responsive HTML5 and ePub layouts were once the domain of Adobe RoboHelp. However, with FrameMaker 12, you don't need RoboHelp or any of the other tools that make up the Adobe Technical Communication Suite. Once you've created the FrameMaker content, you can output content for any audience, no matter the end-user device used to view your content.

 

If you would like to see a demonstration of the FrameMaker single sourcing workflow, click here to see a video I created on the IconLogic YouTube channel.

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