If you use Adobe PDFs to create technical guides, confidential reports and other business documents, then these ten PDF tips are for you. The web has many free PDF converters out there. That’s fine. But Adobe Distiller has some advanced features if you want more control of your documents, for example, increase download speed, password protection, embedding thumbnails, and color control.

Top 10 PDF Tips & Tricks

Adobe Distiller lets you optimize PDFs, for example, by embedding specific fonts, fine-tuning PDFs for web-viewing, and for allowing Postscript files to over-ride PDF settings.

Here are some things you can do.

1. Embed Thumbnails – use this option to embed a set of thumbnails that are displayed in the left navigation bar. Nice way for readers to see your document at a glance, rather than having to scroll all the way through it.
2. Save in Distiller Format – save the PDFs, with all the settings, in Distiller’s own file format (.joboptions). Later, if you want to modify the file, you can open this. I use this option on large projects when I combine multiple PDFs together. You can also pause the operation and go back to it later – without losing the settings.
3. PostScript – advanced settings let you allow PostScript to over-ride the PDF settings and also allow PostScript XObjects to be in included.
4. Font settings – you can embed all fonts in the PDF (rather than the default fonts) and also embed a subset of embedded fonts it the document reaches a certain percentage. You can also tell Distiller to always embed specific fonts, e.g. fonts related to your brand, logo etc.

   

5. Document Structure Conventions – here you can process DSC comments, log warnings, and preserve both EPS and OPI information.
6. Create Profiles – you can also save you settings as a Profile. Or create different profiles for different document types, such as for Print, Web, or Mobile. This saves you the time/effort when you go to do your next batch of PDFs.
7. Color Management – the color management settings lets you control how colors are displayed, for example, you can convert all colors to sRGB. There are also options for CMYK and preserving half-tones.
8. Tagging – further options let you tag everything, or just images, for color management.
9. Web Settings – create a profile (i.e. group of settings) and optimize the PDFs for web publishing. For example, configure Adobe Distiller so that PDFs download faster. Note that while the image quality may degrade slightly, the documents will open faster.
10. Password Protection – enables you to protect the document. There are different levels here: you can set it so that people need a password to open the PDF, to select text, or to print the document. For example, you may want people to be able to read your document but not print it and/or copy and paste text.

What Adobe Distiller tips do you have?

I’ve barely scratched the surface. Do you find the web quick save really makes a difference? What other improvements do you see when you use this tool?

I’m not a big fan of ebooks. To be honest, they’re just glorified PDFs and look terrible onscreen. So, I tend to avoid them. However, I came across this jewel in Adobe’s lab site and it’s terrific.

What does it do?

Adobe Digital Editions is a rather slick ebook reader that lets you read and manage eBooks, both online and offline, with support for PDF and XHTML-based content.

You can use it to download and purchase digital content, which can be read both online and offline. Transfer copy-protected eBooks from your PC to other computers. Organize eBooks into a custom library and annotate pages. It also supports eBook formats, including PDF/A and EPUB.

FAQs

• Digital Editions is built from the ground up as a lightweight, rich Internet application (RIA).
• Download is only 2.5 MB including Adobe Flash Player 9 and takes less than two minutes to install over a broadband connection.
• With an RIA service model, you always have the latest version of Digital Editions, giving you the advantage of new features and security enhancements.

What is Adobe Digital Editions?

Digital Editions is Adobe’s new rich Internet application (RIA) specifically designed for digital publishing. It lets you easily acquire, manage, and consume eBooks and other kinds of digital publications.

How does Adobe Digital Editions differ from Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Reader supports a variety of workflows beyond consuming eBooks and other commercially-published content, such as interactive forms, digital signatures, and other workflows that involve integration with other office applications. This means that Reader’s functionality is not optimized for consumer-level eBook reading. Likewise, Adobe Acrobat offers advanced document generation and collaboration functionality.

Digital Editions extends the eBook capabilities (integrated in Reader and Acrobat) via a simplified, content-centric user interface. Digital Editions is distributed as a web-based RIA, ensuring that users will always have the current up-to-date version of the software.

Does Digital Editions replace Adobe FlashPaper?

For some, it might. Digital Editions delivers a lightweight Flash-based user experience for document viewing, and adds native PDF and XML document viewing capabilities, so that translation of content to SWF format is not required.

However, initially Digital Editions will not operate inside the browser, and requires a Player Add-in installation. Customers who require in-browser operation with the standard Flash Player may wish to continue to utilize FlashPaper, which remains a component of the Adobe Contribute product.

Interface designed for digital reading

I have to admit that I really love the ui. It’s clean, well-organized, and is an improvement over Adobe Acrobat. (Try it and you’ll see.)

• It’s expressly designed for reading digital publications.
• Use the Reading View to view bookmarks, annotations, and a table of contents.
• Display PDF files in a double-page, single page, or fit-to-width view — or specify your own custom fit.
• Increase and decrease text size with EPUB content.
• Fast, free download and installation

Stand-alone installer

You can distribute Digital Editions internally on an intranet site or a local network.

Content portability

Manage digital publications across multiple computers and devices using your Adobe ID and a simple authorization process. Digital Editions also provides support for content portability on mobile devices, so you can take your eBooks with you wherever you go.

Markup features

Add bookmarks to PDF or EPUB documents so that you can quickly navigate around a document. Highlight text and add comments for future reference within your digital publications.

Support for PDF and EPUB

Native support for PDF/A and EPUB formats. PDF/A is the ISO-approved standard for the long-term preservation of electronic documents. EPUB is an XHTML-based file format designed to reflow text according to screen and font size, which makes it optimal for reading content on mobile devices.

Borrowing eBooks

You can borrow eBooks from many public libraries for use with Digital Editions.

File organization

Organize digital publications and manage devices in the Library View. Sort by title, author, and publisher, and view the covers of your favorite eBooks. Create custom bookshelves to further organize and manage your content.

Multiple platform support

Digital Editions runs on many platforms for reading digital publications on laptop and desktop computers. In addition, it allows support for the Sony® Reader.

Multimedia support

Supports embedded SWF files so you can include multimedia experiences in digital publications.

Easy eBook creation

With Adobe InDesign® CS3 software, you can create content and output it to both the PDF/A and EPUB formats supported by Digital Editions.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers

Copy protection

It works in conjunction with Adobe Digital Experience Protection Technology (ADEPT), a hosted service that provides publishers with copy protection in both retail and library environments.

Multilingual support

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional.

Issues

Why do some PDF documents look different in Digital Editions beta than they do in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader?

It uses Adobe PDF technology that has been optimized for small code size and lower system requirements.

This technology is optimized for performance and on-screen readability, rather than graphics-arts or prepress-level fidelity. Some minor differences in graphics and font rendering are therefore to be expected.

In addition, the Digital Editions PDF implementation does not support several enterprise-oriented PDF features. These features are not typically used in PDF-based eBooks and, if present, are ignored, but could cause certain documents to render incorrectly.

Which PDF 1.7 features are not supported by Digital Editions?

PDF interactive forms, JavaScript, digital signatures, 3D, and annotations are not supported by Digital Editions.

Links:

Adobe Labs – http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions/

You can read more detailed and technical FAQs over here and then

FAQs – http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions/faq.html

Download a nice collection of free ebooks from the site here.

Free ebooks – http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/library/

Let me know what you think. What’s not to like?

This article explains how to convert large files between Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker.In this tutorial, the source file is the file being converted (Word) and target file is the file that it will be converted into (in this case, a FrameMaker file).

Our goal during this process is to reduce the Word document into an (almost) plain-text document — but keeping its style names, as these will be used to match styles and tags later in the FrameMaker document.

The overall process involves three stages:

• Preparing the Word file for conversion.
• Refining the FrameMaker file in line with the Style Guide.
• Creating the PDF file.

Note: Before you start, print out the Style Guide and use it as a reference during the overall process. This saves you time moving between files and also helps you become more familiar with the Style Guide’s format and presentation as it sits on your desk and is more accessible.

Preparing the Word file

The first step is to prepare the Word file so that its contents will convert more easily into FrameMaker. This involves deleting all formatting that is unique to Word, such as Text Frames.

For example, FrameMaker has very powerful Table of Contents generation features, so you can rely on this rather than trying to import Word’s or hard-coding it to match the FrameMaker format.

To start the process, delete all the Word constructs that need to be removed before the conversion process can start. This involves the following steps:

• Deleting the Table of Contents (TOC)
• Deleting headers and footers
• Deleting local paragraph overrides
• Deleting local character overrides
• Deleting text frames
• Deleting ALL Word specific features
• Deleting linked graphics

The next section explains what needs to be deleted in Word, and provides some information on why we use this approach.

Table of Contents

As FrameMaker has very advanced Table of Contents (TOC) functions, it is much simpler to delete the TOC in Word and then rebuild it in FrameMaker.

In Word, select the TOC and delete it. Save the file.

Note: If you’ve used bookmarks in Word to generate a TOC, delete them as well. The effort it takes to import them into FrameMaker is not worth the effort. FrameMaker can do it quicker.

Headers and Footers

Both Word and FrameMaker have a different approach to Headers and Footers. In FrameMaker, these are setup in the Master page and controlled from there. Trying to import Word’s header and footers into FrameMaker will only confuse it.

In Word, open the header and footer option. Select each one and press Delete. Save the file.

Local paragraph overrides

This involves deleting any formatting in paragraphs (which should have been formatted with Body styles) which has been done manually — rather than formatted with a Word style.

If you import these local paragraph overrides into FrameMaker, they will confuse the tag settings. It’s much simpler to delete them in Word and then rebuild in FrameMaker.

In Word, select the entire document and press Ctrl+Q. Save the document.

Local character overrides

An example of local overrides is when, for example, in Word a paragraph is entirely Times Roman except for the 3rd word, which is in italic. If the italic was set using a character style, the FrameMaker file may assign that style to the 3rd word AND to the remaining words in the paragraph—not what you want!

My suggestion is to delete all local character overrides in Word.

In Word, select the entire document and press Ctrl+Spacebar. Save the file.

Later, in FrameMaker, you will use the Paragraph Designer to modify the style correctly.

Word specific features

All Word specific features have to be deleted as they cannot be interpreted in FrameMaker. Even worse, if you do not do this, they may corrupt the FrameMaker document.

In Word, delete all borders, WordArt, callout boxes, arrows, text frames, etc. Save the file.

Text Frames — Word uses text frames to create what FrameMaker calls a side-head, i.e. text that appears in the left margin column. To recreate the Word text frame in FrameMaker, create a tag in FrameMaker called ‘TextFrame’ and design this in accordance with the style guide.

Linked graphics

Some Word documents ‘link’ graphics (Insert | Picture | From File) to the document rather than using the traditional cut/paste approach.

For a Word to FrameMaker conversion, this means that when you open the RTF file in FrameMaker the graphic file have to correctly link to the same folders as those in Word. In theory, this should work, but in my experience, this does not always work. Instead, follow these steps:

In Word, select each graphic file, save it with a unique name, e.g. Architecture.gif etc, and store it in the project folder. Once this is done, delete all graphics, and Save the file.

Note: In FrameMaker, you will import all these graphics back into the document.

Once all these steps are completed, you then need to modify different parts of the Word file, depending on how it was created.

Note: This does not involve deleting content as we have done above, but modifying how it is constructed, for example adjusting how the number and bullet lists are formatted in Word so that they can be imported into FrameMaker with less data corruption.

You don’t need to delete these constructs, but you do have to adjust their presentation otherwise they will create confusion in the FrameMaker file, for example you could end up with two bullets for every list entry rather than one.

For the conversion project, this involved managing the following areas:

• Master Pages and sections
• Headings
• Numbering
• Bullets
• Cross-references
• Artwork
• Spanned Columns
• Books and master documents
• Styles and tags

Master Pages and sections

FrameMaker uses Master Pages; Word uses sections.

In Word, sections are often used to insert different headers and footers throughout the document. FrameMaker’s approach is totally different.

Figure 1 – How to access FrameMaker Master Pages (View | Master Pages).

In Word, delete all section breaks. You can search for ^b to find all occurrences. Save the file.

Headings

FrameMaker doesn’t care how headings are named. Because of this, you don’t have to modify the style names in Word before the conversion — unless you want to change the style names to reflect the target template.

However, it’s recommended that you delete all redundant headings, and other redundant styles, as they hold no value.

In Word, delete all redundant headings (Format | Styles and Formatting) and save the file.

Figure 2 – In Word, delete all redundant styles and headings

Numbering

If your Word document uses automatic numbering and styles, you’re in luck! However, if the numbering has been done manually, delete the numbers (but not the styles) in Word.

Then, when you open the file in FrameMaker, you can attach a style with numbering applied. You will probably have to do some resetting to 1 and so on, but this is straightforward process in FrameMaker.

In Word, search for all numbers applied manually. Delete the numbers, but not the styles. Save the file.

Bullets

Like numbering, Bullets were done hopefully with styles and not manual overrides. If styles were used, then keep the style names but delete the bullet from the definition.

In Word, search for all bullets applied manually. Delete the bullet. Save the file.

Figure 3 – In Word, select pre-defined bullets and numbers

Note: If the bullets were done by hand in Word, you may find numbered paragraphs in FrameMaker with two bullets—one defined by the FrameMaker tag, and one kept from Word during the import. The quickest way to fix this is to delete the unnecessary bullet by hand. When you open the file in FrameMaker, the bullets should appear correctly as a result of FrameMaker‘s numbering system.

Cross-references

In Word, you can only cross-reference within the same file; by contrast, FrameMaker can cross-reference among other files within a Book. When FrameMaker reads a Word file with cross-references, it finds obscure marker such as “_Ref565989”. These are of no use to FrameMaker and need to be deleted.

In Word, delete all cross-references and re-create them in FrameMaker by hand. Save the file.

Artwork

Any artwork that was cut and pasted into a Word file can be imported directly into FrameMaker. However, there are two issues to consider:

1. The quality of ‘Cut and Paste’ files that you bring into FrameMaker often degrade, i.e. lose quality. Though it may be time-consuming, it’s recommended that you re-create these in PhotoShop and then import them into FrameMaker.

2. Linked graphics in Word files will not work in FrameMaker as the link settings affect what happens on the FrameMaker side. As discussed earlier, delete these files, save them individually, and then import into FrameMaker (File | Import | File).

Spanned Columns

In Word, delete spanned columns. These could open in FrameMaker as one pica wide and confuse FrameMaker’s setting. Delete the spans and re-build them in FrameMaker.

Books and master documents

Word has a Master Document feature that can be used for managing complex long documents. However, I strongly advice against using this feature; it is very unreliable and prone to corrupting documents. In turn, FrameMaker uses the concept of a Book to assemble project files and is very stable.

Figure 4 – FrameMaker’s Book feature

For the test conversion project, we use three files to create the overall ‘Book’; cover sheet; table of contents; main user guide pages. When working in FM, note that each of these files has a different master page and you need to update each master page where necessary.

Styles and tags

Wherever possible, use similar-named styles in both applications, for example, Copyright style; the only exception is when matching Word’s default Normal style with FrameMaker’s default Body tag.

Note: The fewer styles/ tags in FrameMaker, the easier it is to manage. Delete all redundant styles or tags and merge those that are similar.

Saving the RFT

After completing all these steps, save the Word file in Rich Text Format (RTF).

You can now open it in FrameMaker and refine it in accordance with the style guide.

Figure 5 – In Word, save the file as Rich Text Format

Preparing the FrameMaker file

You now have a modified Word file, saved as RFT, with all Word-specific features removed. The next phase involves:

• Returning the content deleted from the Word file, such as Artwork, headers, footers.
• Updating cross-references, indexes, TOC etc.
• Matching the file with the Style Guide.

To start the process:

In FrameMaker, in order to open the RTF file:

• Select File | Open | File Types | All Files (*.*).

Figure 6 – Select All Files (*.*) to view the RTF file.

• In the Unknown File Type pop-up window, select Microsoft RFT and click Convert.

Figure 7 – Select Microsoft RTF and click Convert

This opens the RTF file, though the format and presentation will be modified slightly from the Word version.

Save the file with a .fm extension. The next stage involves returning all Word content that was deleted (or modified).

Importing Graphics

You have two options when bringing graphics into FrameMaker. You can either:

• Option A – Cut and paste from Word or
• Option B – Cross-reference to a project directory.

Option A usually results in large file sizes as the file has to hold the graphics, whereas in Options B they are cross-referenced from their respective location.

The problem with using Option B is that you have to include the graphics folder when sending the FrameMaker files to other users.

However, the good news is that when you need to update any graphic file in the document (or documents) instead of manually going through each page, you simply update the relevant graphic – and all files are updated automatically!

Figure 8 – Option B – Import files by reference

Unwanted Tags

After you’ve opened the RTF in FrameMaker, you may find that you’ve gained a character tag called Default Paragraph Font.

The only way to delete it is to select the text, choose Default ¶ Font, and re-assign it.

Custom table ruling and shading

To delete custom table settings from the entire FrameMaker document, do the following:

• Select the document.
• Choose Table | Custom Ruling & Shading.
• Select both of the ‘From Table’ settings, and select all check boxes.
• Click Apply.

Updating the Header and Footers

As mentioned earlier, both Word and FrameMaker have a different approach to Headers and Footers. In FrameMaker, these are setup in the Master page.

FrameMaker provides default settings for each document’s headers/footers. Use the Paragraph Designer to modify them and, when finished, select ‘Update All’. You can then return to the Body Pages.

Note: when a Book is comprised of several files, you need to set the page numbers so that there is consistency between each file. To do this, open the FrameMaker file:

• Select Format | Document | Numbering | Page.
• Enter the start page number and Save.

Updating the Table of Contents

This process has 2 options depending on whether you want to integrate your TOC in the main document or you want to create a standalone TOC. For the Klariti project, I used Option B as outlined below.

• Option A – this places the TOC within the main FrameMaker file. This option makes sense when you have a small file that is easy to update.
• Option B – this involves creating a standalone TOC that will form one part of a large FrameMaker book. In this project, we used Option B as the main file was very large and other sections used different master pages, styles etc.

To create the TOC, follow these steps:

• Open the FrameMaker Book.
• Add files where necessary.
• Click Add | Table of Contents.

Figure 9– How to create a Table of Contents

This creates a standalone TOC file. Open this and check that it matches with Style Guide. To update the design/layout, open the Master pages and make the required amendments.

PDF Setup

Before you create the PDF document, you need to define the conversion settings in FrameMaker. To do this, go to:

• Format | Document | PDF Setup.
• In Settings, select Print and for Page Range, select All.
• In Bookmarks, check Generate PDF Bookmarks, and for Include Paragraphs add Chapter Title and Headings 1, 2, and 3.
• In Tags, check Generate Tagged PDF.
• Click Set to finish.

Figure 10 – In PDF Setup Settings tab, select Print from the drop-down menu.

Figure 11 – In the Bookmark tab, add the Chapter Title and Headings

Creating the PDF file

The final step involves converting the FrameMaker files into PDF.

In this test conversion project, we have used 3 FrameMaker files which together form a FrameMaker Book. A book, as the name implies, is a master file that controls the relationship between the files that it contains.

To do this, follow these steps:

• In FrameMaker, open the Cover Sheet FrameMaker file.
• Click the Print Option (File | Print). Select the PDF prnit driver from the Print drop-down menu, for example, Adobe PDF.
• In the options screen, select All and Convert PDF Data.
• Click OK.

Follow the same steps for the other two FrameMaker files. You now have three PDF files based on the FrameMaker files. After all files are converted, close FrameMaker and open Adobe Acrobat.

The next step is to create a master PDF file that will contain the 3 PDF files in the correct sequence. To do this, open the Cover Sheet, and add the other two files as follows:

• Open the Cover Sheet pdf.
• Click Edit | Insert Pages and Add the TOC pdf file.
• Click Edit | Insert Pages and add the Klariti.pdf file.
• Once all files have been added, choose File | Save As and save the file.

You now have the entire FM file in PDF format. The next step is to create hyperlinks for the main headings.

Creating Hyperlinks

In FrameMaker, when you add a table of contents, there is an option to create hyperlinks automatically. However, during this project, this option failed to work. An error message stated that it required additional fonts in order to compile. Therefore, the table of contents file did not create hyperlinks to the chapter titles and headings.

Nonetheless, in Adobe Acrobat, you can manually create these links. To do this, you select the heading and cross-reference it to the relevant page in the file.

Figure 12 – The Link tool in Adobe Acrobat

To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Adobe Acrobat, open the master PDF file, e.g. UserGuide.pdf.

2. Select Window | Bookmarks to display the bookmarks. This option shows the Chapter Title and H1/H2/H3 headings.

3. Navigate to the section of the document where you want to create a link.

4. Select the link tool.

5. Create the link rectangle in one of the following ways:

• Drag the mouse to create a marquee.

• Press Ctrl (Windows) and select the target text with the I-beam. This allows you to fit a link rectangle exactly around the selected text.

6. In the Create Link dialog box, choose a rectangle type.

7. Select a highlight option for when the link is selected.

8. Choose an action type.

9. Choose a magnification option.

10 Click Set Link.

Complete this step for all headings in the TOC.

Figure 13 – The Link Properties option in Adobe Acrobat

This process will create hyperlinks from all headings to their respective sections in the PDF document.

Security Settings

In Adobe Acrobat, there are various security options available. The most relevant for this project is to ensure that unauthorized personnel cannot modify the document.

In particular, you want to disallow unauthorised personnel from copying text from your PDF into their documents, for whatever reason.

Figure 14 – The Document Security option in Adobe Acrobat

To do this, follow these steps:

• In Adobe Acrobat, go to File | Document Security.
• Choose Adobe Standard Security from the drop-down menu.
• Under Permissions, check the four options, e.g. No Printing etc.
• Click OK. Click Close and then File | Close to save the settings.

Figure 15 –Security options in Adobe Acrobat

When you re-open the file, these settings will apply.

Matching the Style Guide

To get the styles to match, review the styles/tags in the FrameMaker file against those in the Style Guide.

For example, if the Style Guide’s Body style is Arial 10 etc, and the FrameMaker file has it set to Times Roman 11, you need to correct this as follows:

• Open FrameMaker and select all content marked as Body.
• Open Paragraph Designer and update the Body fields.
• Select ‘Apply to All’. This updates all occurrences of the Body style in the document.

To stop other technical authors from using the wrong styles, delete ALL redundant styles. For example, the RFT file may have several body styles, e.g. Body, Body + Left, Body + Indent. In FrameMaker, delete all of these otherwise future authors may use these inadvertently.

What do you think?

This approach has worked well for me when converting Microsoft Word documents into FrameMaker. I should add that the latest versions of Adobe FrameMaker offer a more streamlined approach to converting the docs.

With that said, you’re still going to have to clean up the Adobe FrameMaker docs to some extent regardless of how well the converter works.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll look at conversion software and work on the latest version of Adobe FrameMaker, which I’ve now got my hands on.

Let me know if you’ve come across better ways to convert these docs or maybe some of the issues you’ve had in converting these docs.

Thanks.

Master templates let you control the format and positioning of every component in your FrameMaker documents. They are very powerful when they work correctly, but be careful. If you make a mistake, it will take many an hour to clean the documents.
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In plain English this means that if you setup a footer as Arial, size 10, and then apply it to the main document, all footers will appear in this font and this size. Sounds good!

But, what if you wanted to have different footers in the document?

You could hard code every footer.

Hard code means you manually type in the footer. That’s ok for a 5 page document but not if your creating a 250 page user guide.

You need to automate the process, which is where master templates come in.

In FrameMaker, you can create different footers, identify each type, and then apply them where you wish.

You can have different headers and footers for the:

• Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Index
• Chapters, and
• Copyright pages.

Problems with Master Template

One of the problems I’ve had was that even though I’d created the component, it didn’t appear in the document.

The main reason for this, especially for headers and footers, was that the previous entry was still there.

In other words, you have to remove the previous header and then enter the new one.

When you think about it, it makes sense, but if you don’t know you could get very frustrated.

Tip: Delete the ‘old’ header and insert the new ‘one’ instead.

Workarounds

Numbering chapters, headers, footers, and labels can cause all types of confusion.

One trick I’ve learnt it to cut and paste template settings from a FrameMaker document I know works into the new document.

1. In the first document (i.e. you know works), open the template settings, and select the section you want to copy.

2. In the document you want to update, open the template settings, and paste where appropriate.

3. Click Apply and return to the main document. Your changes should now be reflected in the second document.

I have to admit this does seem like a lot of effort.

If you know a more efficient way to do this, please add it below.

Links

Adobe Framemaker Templates Tutorials – This Adobe Framemaker tutorial discusses the following topics: Exploring FrameMaker Templates, Modifying FrameMaker Templates, Creating Custom Templates, Using Custom Templates, and Importing Formats from a Template

How to Create a Template in Adobe Framemaker – While you can use the templates provided by FrameMaker or other pre-defined templates available to you, you may decide that you want to create your own templates. When you create a template, you can set up various types of formats based on what the template is going to be used for. For example, you may decide to create a special Title paragraph tag or table format for your template.

Introduction to Adobe Framemaker 5.0 – This is a Basic Framemaker tutorial. Look at the ‘create a new document’ to find out how to work with Framemaker templates.

Mimic FrameMaker’s Memo Template – FrameMaker’s Memo template is a great example of a template that can be used as a fill-in form. The layout and fields are pre-defined and you just need to fill in the details for each version of the document. C’mon, let’s create our own template that works in the same, wonderful way!

One File, Multiple Uses in Adobe Framemaker – XML lets you publish the same content across different media with minimal effort. And with the new XML features in Adobe® FrameMaker® 7.0, you don’t have to know XML syntax to create XML-compatible documents. Once a developer has created the structured applications, you create the content in a template using predefined element tags and save the file in XML format. It’s ready to use in an XML-savvy application or to convert into another format, such as WML or VoiceXML.

Yesterday we looked at a new Microsoft Office to iPhone app which lets iPhone & iPod touch customers edit Microsoft Word files, synchronize their files and send & receive attachments. So, since we’re here I thought it best to give a list of what else it can do.

For mobile or home users who want to use Word documents on iPhone or iPod touch, it offers quiet a range of features: Here goes.

• Advanced viewing and editing features
• Touch navigation
• Cut/copy/paste
• Text selection
• Predictive text entry
• Bulleted and numbered lists
• Bold, italics, underline
• Embedded pictures
• Tables
• Word count
• Password-protected files
• Edit in landscape view

Most of this is made possible thanks to InTact Technology, which ensures that all original file formatting is retained once a file has been edited and forwarded on.

Documents To Go also uses Apple’s built-in viewing technology for dealing with other important files such as Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and Apple iWork.

This feature keeps files in one central location and makes managing and using them simple and straightforward.

Want to know more?

Documents To Go is available at $4.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

I don’t have an iPhone but if I did this new Microsoft Office to iPhone app might be worth investing in. It lets iPhone & iPod touch customers edit Microsoft Word files, synchronize important desktop files and send & receive Exchange attachments. DataViz, who develop Microsoft Office compatibility solutions, released its mobile Office suite application, Documents To Go, on the Apple App Store.

Documents To Go includes a desktop application that provides Windows and Macintosh customers with the ability to transfer files to their device using a Wi-Fi connection.

Customers can “set it and forget it” by adding entire folders or select single files within a folder. More importantly, during synchronization, Documents To Go checks to make sure all documents on the iPhone are current. If any changes are made on either the desktop or iPhone, Documents To Go will automatically make sure the latest copy is on both the desktop and iPhone or iPod touch.

Receive, Edit & Send Microsoft Exchange Attachments

Documents To Go with Exchange Attachments includes a built-in email client which allows customers to download, view, edit and send Word attachments while on the go.

This integrated portion of the product uses the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync technology, which DataViz has licensed from Microsoft, to provide secure, wireless synchronization with Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 e-mail.

Customers can make changes to their Word documents and immediately reply back with the updated files.

In addition, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and other attachment types can be viewed as well as attached to new e-mails sent from within Documents To Go.

Pricing & Availability

Documents To Go and Documents To Go with Exchange Attachments are available at $4.99 and $9. from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/

It’s hard to keep up with all the new product releases from Adobe. This one is worth a look if you develop ebooks or want to read them offline.

Adobe Digital Editions lets you read and manage eBooks and other digital publications with some very slick management features.

The user interface is fantastic. Adobe has built Digital Editions from the ground up as a lightweight, rich Internet application (RIA). Digital Editions works online and offline, and supports both PDF and XHTML-based content.

The download is only 2.5 MB including Adobe Flash Player 9.

With an RIA service model, users always have the latest version of Digital Editions, taking advantage of new features and security enhancements. http://labs.adobe.com

What is Adobe Digital Editions?

Adobe Digital Editions is a new rich Internet application (RIA) designed for digital publishing. It allows users to easily acquire, manage, and consume eBooks and other kinds of digital publications.

How does Adobe Digital Editions differ from Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat?

Adobe Reader supports a variety of workflows beyond consuming eBooks and other commercially-published content, such as interactive forms, digital signatures, and other workflows that involve integration with other office applications.

This means that Reader’s functionality is not optimized for consumer-level eBook reading. Likewise, Adobe Acrobat offers advanced document generation and collaboration functionality.

It extends eBook capabilities (integrated in Reader and Acrobat) via a simplified, content-centric user interface. Digital Editions is distributed as a web-based RIA, ensuring that users will always have the current up-to-date version of the software.

Does Digital Editions replace Adobe FlashPaper?

Maybe. Digital Editions delivers a lightweight Flash-based user experience for document viewing, and adds native PDF and XML document viewing capabilities, so that translation of content to SWF format is not required.

However, initially Digital Editions will not operate inside the browser, and requires a Player Add-in installation. Customers who require in-browser operation with the standard Flash Player may wish to continue to utilize FlashPaper, which remains a component of the Adobe Contribute product.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions/faq.html

Issues

Why do some PDF documents look different in Digital Editions beta than they do in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader?

Digital Editions uses Adobe PDF technology that has been optimized for small code size and lower system requirements.

This technology has shipped in hundreds of millions of mobile phones and other embedded devices. It is optimized for performance and on-screen readability, rather than graphics-arts or prepress-level fidelity.

Some minor differences in graphics and font rendering are therefore to be expected.

In addition, the Digital Editions PDF implementation does not support several enterprise-oriented PDF features. These features are not typically used in PDF-based eBooks and, if present, are gracefully ignored, but could cause certain documents to render incorrectly.

Which PDF 1.7 features are not supported by Digital Editions?

PDF interactive forms, JavaScript, digital signatures, 3D, and annotations are not supported by Digital Editions.

Try it: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions/

Adobe is offering a whole bunch of gifts if you register your product with them.  Some of the gifts are impressive and worth signing up for, such as free Lynda.com training, discounts on Acrobat 9 books from Peachpit Press and Free trials to Safari Books Online. My favorite is the free download of Adobe Hypatia Sans font.

[ad]

By completing the Adobe Acrobat registration, you can choose a gift from the list below. Once you register, Adobe sends you an e-mail you can use to make your choice.

30 days of Lynda.com training

Take advantage of a 30-day Online Training Library™ subscription, including in-depth Adobe training in easy-to-use video format.

40% off Acrobat 9 books from Peachpit Press

Start learning your new software immediately with the only official training books on Adobe Acrobat 9. Order today and you will receive a 40% discount on all Acrobat 9 books from Peachpit Press.

Free 15-day trial to Safari Books Online

Get online access to an exclusive library of top-selling books, videos, and articles. Your free 15-day trial subscription provides you with membership access to the Safari Community to read books, watch videos, and exchange ideas with authors and other members.

Free download of Adobe Hypatia Sans font

These unique and stylish fonts offer extensive language support and take advantage of stylistic sets (supported in CS3 software). Get the Hypatia™ Sans font family for free (a US$169 value).

Registration benefits are available to customers who register via in-product registration their licensed copy of Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro, or Acrobat 9 Standard. Offer valid with registration of select products only, purchased between June 2, 2008 and December 31, 2009.

Adobe Creative Suite

http://www.adobe.com/special/creativesuite/cs4_reg_incentive/?trackingid=EMINQ

Acrobat Suite

http://www.adobe.com/special/acrobatpro/reg_incentive/?trackingid=EMINS

Let me know if you have any problems getting these gifts. I know some of the marketing folks in Adobe and can sort it out for you.

My recent article on moving from RoboHelp to Madcap Flare seems to have generated interest in the technical writing community. Rick Stone made some excellent points that I’d like to share here. As the points raised are so detailed, I have created a new post to address each one. Again, thanks to Rick and here goes.

My recent article on moving from RoboHelp to Madcap Flare seems to have generated interest in the technical writing community.

Rick Stone made some excellent points that I’d like to share here. As the points raised are so detailed, I have created a new post to address each one.

Again, thanks to Rick and here goes. Hello Rick, many thanks for clearing up the differences between RoboHelp and Flare. The points you make are very helpful and have given me an insight into RoboHelp that maybe I had over looked.

<I do realize this is a very “Pro Flare” review and intended to place RoboHelp in as negative a light as possible.

The Flare article certainly wasn’t meant to be RoboHelp bashing or anything like that. Here’s some background info that might place it in more context.

I am going through all the major technical writing software applications at the moment and writing up reviews, tips, tutorials and such. This month I’ve been living and breathing Flare. So, lots of words have been written up and published about, well, Madcap Flare.

On reflection, what I should have done was staggered the publication dates of the articles and spread out the material over several months. But I also have to write/publish new material every day, so it’s a balancing act. I hope that makes some sense.

The other point is that the tech writing community are very interested / enthusiastic in Madcap Flare. There’s quite a lot of buzz about what it can do and I think credit must go to Madcap for building up such a following.

Whenever I have contacted them, they came back with answers and were very helpful. I regret to say that my experience with Adobe has left me less than enamoured. I rarely get any response and when I do it’s rather curt.

To be honest, I don’t contact Adobe any more. I guess I’ve lost a certain respect for them.

For example, I also use FrameMaker and PageMaker (showing my age!) and have flicked a few emails to them asking for direction, advice and what not.

Their response?

Sometimes none; other times just generic cut and paste replies.

I’ve used PageMaker when it was owned by Aldus. That’s quite a while back. Adobe doesn’t (to me) show much loyalty to its customer base and seems more concerned with migrating users to its new apps. That’s fine. I can understand that. But if you have used their applications for almost 20 years, I think you deserve more that bland cut and paste replies.

So, with that in mind, I started to look at alternative solutions for tech writing software, which lead me to Madcap and a few others. I hope this doesn’t sound like a rant – it’s not meant to be – I just wanted to put things in context.

<As a long time RoboHelp user (nearly from the beginning) I can attest that Flare is *NOT* as easy of a transfer as this verbiage would seem to suggest. Be prepared to struggle with what seems to be an odd interface layout.

The way I see it is that if you have grown up with Adobe, then yes, the user interface is different and you will need some time to find your bearings. But, I don’t think it’s that difficult to master.

For example, I switched to Word 2007 last year and am having a very hard time finding where things are. Sometimes, I go back to Word 2003 to write the docs as I know all the shortcuts inside out. To me, Word 2007 is an odd user interface. My wife uses Vista and struggles to find files she saved. What were they thinking?

<Just because the Madcap folks had a hand in RoboHelp development, don’t expect Flare to be sort of like RoboHelp on steroids and just seamlessly pick up and off you go and are productive. I’ve seen reports from other Flare converts that suggested they struggled with the interface for a period of time before accepting it was different. That alone hinders productivity and needs to be factored into any plans on switching tools.

Agreed. If you are moving from RoboHelp to Flare, there will be a period of transition. But isn’t this true for most all applications?

PageMaker users are been migrated to InDesign in line with Adobe’s strategic plan. Millions must have been spend defining this transition plan.

But if you are a PageMaker user it’s not a smooth ride from one to the other – and these are two products from the same company.

<As for the many unprecedented features, I’d like to see a list instead of speaking in nebulous vageries.

Will do. I’ll prepare a matrix showing the features of each product. This should help clarify the relative strengths and weakness of each product. It also keeps things a bit more objective.

<I’m not intending to slam Flare. It’s a great product if that’s what you want. But long time RoboHelp users won’t find it nearly as simple as the post seems to imply.

Of course, there will also be teething problems.

Maybe what we really need here is the flip side. In other words, an article that shows how MadCap Flare users can migrate to RoboHelp?

What we need is a list of the benefits RoboHelp offers and identify some of the limitations of Flare. This would balance the argument and provide more balanced information for those considering that switch to RoboHelp or Madcap Flare.

<MadCap Flare is designed to generate pure, clean, compliant XML. XML? Has Flare suddenly shifted gears on us? Last I saw it was producing XHTML which is substantially different.

According to MadCap: Flare stores all content and project files as XML files, making Flare projects completely open, transparent, and accessible.

Page 3 – http://www.madcapsoftware.com/assets/Flare%20v4…

Rick points out that RoboHelp 8 (the latest version) also produces clean and compliant code with no proprietary tags. (KADOV tagging) RoboHelp also now produces XHTML code.

<Keep in mind the “proprietary tags and editor tricks” you cite were part of the older versions of RoboHelp.
These tags and tricks were developed and implemented by the same folks that are now producing Flare.

I don’t know that. I’ll send them an email and see if they can shed some light on this.

<Of course they did what they had to do at the time they were developed, but these tags and tricks are now just a memory and are no longer part of RoboHelp. So your statement is misleading.

I would say it’s misleading but we now know that RoboHelp version 8 produces clean and compliant code with no proprietary tags and XHTML code. Previous versions may not.

<MadCap Flare allows you to import your existing RoboHelp projects, so you won’t lose legacy content.
“Legacy” content? This would seem to infer RoboHelp is long dead. Quite the opposite!

Maybe we’re at cross purposes here. To me, legacy is synonymous with data repositories that have been built up over time and need to be published into new formats/channels etc.

<If Flare is what you want, by all means go for it. But there is no need to try and slant things so RoboHelp looks bad in a lame attempt to try and sway the viewpoint. RoboHelp is quite a nice product as I’m sure Flare is.

I think the intro to this piece pointed out some concerns I have with Adobe and also why I’m exploring alternative solutions. Compared to other articles I’ve seen, I think the tone of this article is fairly balanced.

<If someone is in the market for a help authoring tool, I would advise them to download both products and test for themselves. Then base the decision on what works best for you.

Absolutely.

You can download Adobe RoboHelp here: http://www.adobe.com/products/robohelp/

You can download MadCap Flare here: http://www.madcapsoftware.com/downloads/

I would add that before you start

1. Define your goals
2. Prepare sample material
3. Establish criteria for determining the most appropriate solution.

<It is worth noting and curious that a Flare to RoboHelp conversion tool exists. No tool is created without a demand for it.

http://www.showmethedemo.com/flare-to-robohelp/…

I’ll add this to my to-do list and prepare a review.

<I’ll part with a final question. Why is a Pro Flare/Anti RoboHelp post appearing in a blog that is supposedly dedicated to Word tips and tricks? Seems odd.

Mea cupla!

I use Windows Live Writer to publish material to my blogs. I run 11 blogs.

Windows Live Writer lets you switch between blogs quite easily, i.e. you can publish to Blog #1 and then, if you want, switch to Blog #2 and publish the article there.

It’s very handy if you want to publish the same article (or extracts) across multiple blogs.

And here’s what happened.

When you open Windows Live Writer, the last blog you work on is displayed.

So www.wordtipsandtricks.com was displayed when I opened Windows Live Writer that day. FWIW I use the same WordPress theme for several blogs so it is easy to lose your bearings if you are not paying attention.

That’s how an article meant for this site ended up on www.wordtipsandtricks.com – not the end of the world but as reminder to slow down when doing multiple posts.

What next?

What I would love is someone from Adobe to come forward and address some of the concerns technical writers have about their applications.

1. Why are technical writers moving from RoboHelp to Flare?

2. What are the benefits of RoboHelp v Flare?

3. What’s the strategic plan for RoboHelp over the next 5 years?

I’m not going to waste time contacting them as explained above but this is what the technical writing community want to hear. I don’t think Adobe does itself any favors in the way it presents itself, which I think accounts for the rise in popularity of alternative technical writing solutions.

If you have any opinions about this, please let us know. The more we talk about this, the more informed a decision we can make,

And if you do know someone at Adobe who’d like to talk with us, please send them our way.

Once again, I’d like to thank Rick for clarifying some of the point I made. Likewise, I hope my response showed where I’m coming from.

This document shows how to resolve system errors that occur while you use Adobe FrameMaker 9.0 on Windows XP. System errors can manifest in many different ways, including (but not limited to) the following:

• A blank or flickering dialog box
• A frozen cursor or screen
• A blue screen
• An unexpected restart
• An error such as one of the following:
• "Internal Error [number],[number],[number],[number]"
• "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor."
• "FrameMaker caused a General Protection Fault in module [filename]."
• "FrameMaker caused an Invalid Page Fault in module [filename]."
• "Application Error."
• "Unhandled exception detected. Application will be terminated."
• "Illegal Instruction."
• "Segment load failure in [filename]."
• "FrameMaker has encountered a problem and needs to close."
• "Fatal System Error."
• A STOP error

Many different factors can cause system errors, including conflicts among device drivers, applications, operating system settings, hardware, and corrupt elements in specific files. Although a system error may occur only when you work with FrameMaker, FrameMaker may not necessarily be the cause; it may be the only application that uses enough memory or processor cycles to expose the problem.

Before you begin

To benefit most from this document, perform the tasks in order. Keep track of the tasks that you perform and the results of each, including errors and other problems. Adobe Technical Support can use this information to better assist you if you need to call.

Important: Some of the procedures in this document may initiate a User Access Control dialog that asks for your permission to continue. Read the details in the dialog to determine if you want to continue. If you choose to cancel the dialog, then you will not be able to continue with that troubleshooting step.

Note: The procedures in this document are based on the default interface of Windows, with the exception of the Control Panel. The steps in this document that refer to the Control Panel are in reference to the Classic view. The Control Panel can be switched to the Classic view using the appropriate option located on the left side of the Control Panel.The steps in this document that refer to the Control Panel are in reference to the Classic view.

Some of these procedures may require you to locate hidden files, hidden folders, or files by their full file names, which include extensions (for example, example_filename.ini). By default, Windows Explorer doesn’t show hidden files, hidden folders, and file name extensions that it recognizes.

See "Show hidden files, hidden folders, and all file name extensions in Windows Explorer (Windows XP,Vista)" (Technote kb402324) for details.

Beginning troubleshooting

The tasks in this section can help you resolve the most common system errors. Before performing any of these tasks, back up all personal files (for example, FrameMaker files you created). Always restart the computer after a system error occurs to refresh its memory. Continuing to work without restarting the computer may compound the problem.

1. Make sure that the system meets the minimum requirements for FrameMaker.

FrameMaker may not install correctly if the system doesn’t meet the following system requirements:

• 1.0 GHz or faster processor
• Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended), or Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit editions)
• 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
• 1.1GB of available hard-disk
• DVD-ROM drive,
• 1,024x 768 screen resolution
• Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

*This product may allow you to access certain features that are hosted online ("online services"), provided you have a high-speed Internet connection. The online services, and some features thereof, may not be available in all countries, languages, and/or currencies and may be discontinued in whole or in part without notice. Use of the online services is governed by separate terms of use and by the Adobe Online Privacy Policy, and access to these services may require user registration. Some online services, including services that are initially offered at no charge, may be subject to additional fees. For more details and to review the terms of use and Online Privacy Policy, visit www.adobe.com.

For updates to system requirements, visit www.adobe.com/products/framemaker/systemreqs.

Note: To check basic system information, such as processor speed and how much RAM is installed, choose Start > Control Panel > System.
To check available hard disk space, click on Start button > Computer; select the disk on which you want to install FrameMaker and click on Free Space. Make sure that the disk on which Windows is installed has at least 10% of its space available, even if you install FrameMaker on a different disk or partition. To increase available hard disk space, search for and delete any *.tmp files on your computer. For instructions, see the documentation included with Windows.

2. Install the latest version of FrameMaker.

The latest version of FrameMaker may be more compatible with the operating system and drivers. Before you install an update or upgrade, make sure that the system meets the requirements.

The free FrameMaker updates are available from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/support/downloads.

An upgrade, however, may solve a wider range of problems. (You may prefer to try the tasks in the rest of this document before upgrading.) You can purchase upgrades from Adobe Authorized Resellers and from Adobe directly:

• To locate an Authorized Reseller, visit the Adobe website at http://partners.adobe.com/resellerfinder/na/findreseller.jsp and choose your country or region from the menu at the top of the page.
• To purchase an upgrade from Adobe, visit the Adobe Store at http://store.adobe.com/store and choose your country or region from the menu at the top of the page.
• To contact Adobe Customer Service in your region for assistance, visit the Adobe website at www.adobe.com, select your region from the menu at the top of the page, and then click Contact Us.

3. Install current Windows service packs and other updates.

See "Install current Windows service packs and other updates (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb405107).

4. Re-create the FrameMaker’s preferences file.

Re-create the FrameMaker preferences file to eliminate problems that a damaged preferences file might cause.

Note: When you use this solution, FrameMaker will create a new preferences file and you will lose custom settings associated with your current preferences file. However, the file you rename in step 2 is your original preferences file. If you determine that the preferences file is not causing the problem, then you can restore your custom settings by following the instructions below.

To re-create the FrameMaker preferences file:

1. Quit FrameMaker.
2. Rename the maker.ini file (for example, to makerini.old) in the C:\\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\FrameMaker\9.0\maker.ini (for example, to maker.old)
3. Start FrameMaker. FrameMaker creates a new preferences file.

5. Run FrameMaker in a simplified mode.

Some applications or services may cause system errors or freezes when running concurrently with FrameMaker. Services are specialized programs that perform functions to support other programs. Before starting FrameMaker, disable other applications, including startup items (items that start automatically with Windows), and services.

To start Windows Vista in a simplified mode:

1. Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
2. On the Startup tab, click Disable All.
3. On the Services tab, select Hide All Microsoft Services, click Disable All, and then click OK.
4. In the System Configuration dialog box, click OK then Restart.
5. Start the FrameMaker installer "setup.exe" and then follow the on-screen instructions.

To identify which startup item is causing the issue:

Determining which startup item is generating the problem can be a tedious process. After determining that startup items are the problem’s cause, break the list of items into halves. Test each half of the list to determine if a problem startup item is present. Continue to break the list in half until you determine what startup items are generating the issue. Do not leave any half untested. Multiple startup items may exhibit the same behavior.

1. Attempt to replicate the issue with all items disabled. If the issue does not occur, then proceed to the next section. Re-enable startup items after all steps have been completed.
2. Restore half of the items that were disabled.
3. Attempt to replicate the issue.
   • If the issue occurs, then divide the startup items in half and determine which half the issue occurs within.
   • If the issue is not reproducible, then enable half of the remaining startup items. Continue dividing the items in halves until you have determined what startup item(s) are generating the issue.
4. Once the problem startup item has been isolated. Contact the startup item’s manufacturer for updates or configuration information.

To re-enable startup items and services:

1. Choose Start > Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2. Choose Normal Startup on the General tab, click OK, and restart the computer.

Note: If unselected items were present on the Services or Startup tab, then you will need to unselect them again

6. Set a PostScript printer as the default.

To determine if the printer driver for the current default printer conflicts with FrameMaker, install a printer that uses a PostScript printer driver, and then set that printer as the default. (In Windows, you can install a printer that isn’t a physical piece of hardware.) If the problem doesn’t recur, then the printer driver that you were using previously conflicts with FrameMaker; contact the printer manufacturer for an updated driver.

To install a printer that uses a PostScript printer driver, see "Install a printer that uses a PostScript printer driver (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404883).

To set a printer as the default:

1. Choose Start > Control Panel.
2. Double-click Printers.
3. Right-click the printer, and then choose Set As Default Printer from the menu.

If you do not have a PostScript Printer you can set the Adobe PDF Printer, installed with various Adobe applications, as you default printer.

7. Troubleshoot third-party plug-ins.

Remove third-party plug-ins from the FrameMaker plug-ins folder, and then restart FrameMaker. If the problem recurs, move the plug-ins back to the FrameMaker plug-ins folder and proceed to the next section of this document, "Intermediate troubleshooting." If the problem doesn’t recur, thenidentify and address conflicting plug-ins.

To identify and address conflicting plug-ins:

1. Move one third-party plug-in back to the FrameMaker plug-ins folder.
2. Restart FrameMaker, and try to re-create the problem.
3. If the problem doesn’t recur, then begin again at step 1. If the problem does recur, then contact the developer of the plug-in that you last moved, and inquire about an update.

Intermediate troubleshooting

If the tasks in the previous section don’t solve the problem, then try the following intermediate troubleshooting tasks.

8. Install Adobe FrameMaker in a simplified mode from the desktop.

Software and services that load automatically with Windows (for example, virus protection utilities) can conflict with FrameMaker 9 installer and cause problems in FrameMaker. To prevent conflict, reinstall FrameMaker 9 while Windows is in simplified mode doesn’t resolve the issue, try installing and running FrameMaker 9 on a different computer, or on a different hard drive.

To copy the FrameMaker 9 install files to the desktop:

1. Insert the first FrameMaker 9 disc into your DVD-ROM drive.
2. Click the Start button, and then click Computer.
3. Right-click on your DVD-ROM drive, and then click Explore.
4. Copy the AdobeFrameMaker 9 folder from the DVD to your desktop. If you are asked to confirm replacing any folders with the same name, select "Yes".
5. Click the Start button, and then click Computer.

To start Windows Vista in a simplified mode:

1. Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
2. On the Startup tab, click Disable All.
3. On the Services tab, select Hide All Microsoft Services, click Disable All, and then click OK.
4. In the System Configuration dialog box, click OK then Restart.
5. Start the FrameMaker installer "setup.exe" and then follow the on-screen instructions.

To re-enable startup items and services:

1. Choose Start, type msconfig in the Search text box, and press Enter.
2. Choose Normal Startup on the General tab, click OK, and restart the computer.

9. Run FrameMaker in a new user account.

Create a new user account that has the same permissions as the account that you use when the problem occurs. If the problem doesn’t recur, then the original user account may be damaged. For instructions on creating a new user account, see "To add a new user to the computer" in Windows Help or contact your system adminstrator.

10. Disable UAC (User Access Control)

Important: This procedure involves disabling User Access Control. This feature is intended to prevent administrative accounts from performing undesired actions that may affect the system. Disabling UAC removes these notifications. You must restart your system after you disable or re-enable UAC.
For more information on UAC, see the Microsoft Windows Vista support site.

1. Choose Start > Control Panel.
2. Double click User Accounts.
3. Select Turn User Account Control On Or Off.
4. Deselect Use User Account Control (UAC) To Help Protect Your Computer and click OK.
5. Click Restart Now

To re-enable UAC:

1. Choose Start > Control Panel.
2. Double click User Accounts.
3. Select Turn User Account Control On Or Off.
4. Select Use User Account Control (UAC) To Help Protect Your Computer and click OK.
5. Click Restart Now.

11. Update the video card driver.

Many video card manufacturers frequently update their software drivers. If you haven’t recently updated the video card driver, then contact the video card manufacturer for an updated driver, or download one from the manufacturer’s website. (To determine the manufacturer of a video card, view the card’s properties in Device Manager.)

12. Disable Windows Aero.

See "Disable Windows Aero (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404886) for details.

13. Verify that device drivers are compatible with Windows Vista.

See "Verify that device drivers are compatible with Windows Vista (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404887) for details.

14. Check for font problems.

See "Reduce the number of active fonts (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404915) for details.

15.Optimize handling of temporary files by Windows Vista.

Windows and applications store working data in temporary (.tmp) files that they create on the hard disk. Excessive or outdated temporary files can interfere with performance of Windows or applications.

See "Delete temporary files using the Disk Cleanup utility (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404917) for details.

16. Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size.

See "Set the virtual memory paging file to the default size (Windows Vista)" (TechNote kb404939) for details.

17. Repair and defragment hard disks.

See "Repair and defragment hard disks (Windows Vista)"(TechNote kb405363) for details.

18. Scan the system for viruses.

Use current anti-virus software (for example, Symantec Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan) to check the system for viruses. Virus infections can damage software and cause system errors. For more information, see the documentation for the anti-virus software.

19. Identify the file that causes the problem.

If an error indicates which file causes the problem, then reinstall the application to which that file belongs. If that file is damaged and causes problems in FrameMaker, then reinstalling the associated application can correct the problem.

If an error indicates a Windows file, then contact Microsoft for help replacing that file.

Advanced troubleshooting

If the tasks in the previous section don’t resolve the problem, then you may be able to resolve the problem by reinstalling Windows XP and FrameMaker, reformatting your hard disk and reinstalling Windows XP and FrameMaker, or by determining if hardware is conflicting with FrameMaker.

Disclaimer: Adobe doesn’t support hardware and provides these procedures as a courtesy only. For further assistance, contact the hardware manufacturer or an authorized reseller. If you troubleshoot hardware problems yourself, then you may void the warranty for your computer.

Note: Before you remove or rearrange hardware, turn off and disconnect the power to the computer and any peripheral devices.

20. Log in using the built-in Administrator account.

The built-in Administrator account has a higher access level to the system than a normal local administrator account. By default the built-in Administrator account is disabled. For information about enabling and logging in to the built-in Administrator account, contact your system administrator. You can also refer to this support document on the Microsoft support website: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926183/en-us?spid=11737&sid=73.

21. Check for problems with RAM DIMMs.

See "Check for problems with RAM DIMMs" (TechNote kb404980) for details.

22. Contact Adobe Technical Support.

If none of the above steps has resolved the error or freeze that you are experiencing with FrameMaker, then you need to contact Adobe Technical Support. You can find the support options at the Support Center.

Here are 10 web widgets that you can use to jazz up Dreamweaver. The Google Gadget should help you save time instead of coding this into your web pages.

Markitup HTML Editor
A simple, easy to implement HTML Editor

Keypad Widget
Allows attaching a popup keypad to text, password and textarea fields for mouse-driven data input.

lightbox gallery
This widget creates a sample lightbox gallery. It’s based on the jQuery LightBox Plugin by Leandro Vieira

Spry Rating
Spry Rating Widget for Adobe Dreamweaver CS4

Digg Widget
Adds a Digg Widget to your page.

Google Gadgets
Adds more than 200 Google Gadgets to your page

thickbox gallery
The widget allows you to create galleries using a JQuery thickbox modal window

YUI TreeView
YUI TreeView extension, from YUI 2.6.0.

YUI Tooltip
YUI Tooltip extension, from YUI 2.6.0.

YUI TabView
YUI TabView extension, from YUI 2.6.0.

Get your Adobe – Dreamweaver Web Widgets here

Security breaches with Adobe Flash files has been a hot topic recently. I came across the press release tonight that promises to secure Flash Files against intellectual property theft. This DRM product secures Adobe shockwave Flash (swf) files without tampering with the source code in any way.

Flashguard allows companies that publish or sell Adobe flash files (SWF files) to ensure complete protection of their intellectual property. It prevents decompiling of flash files and controls what users can do with the displayed content.

Flashguard secures flash files against decompiling, unauthorized viewing, copying, sharing, modifying, saving, screen grabbing and printing.

The source files (FLA files – multimedia objects, images and scripts that make up an SWF file) are always protected against editing and misuse.

It provides the usual DRM controls such as setting an end date for the use of a file (useful if a product is being rented rather than sold) and includes the ability to remove licenses in real-time if the recipient is misusing the product.

Flash Player Security ensures your flash files cannot be compromised by other applications, browser flaws, bugs, or the common Adobe flash security issues.

What it’s not

Flashguard is not an obfuscation product. It’s a fully-fledged Flash DRM protection system. Obfuscation products don’t encrypt source code, they just alter the code and structure, often causing flash files to stop functioning correctly or at all.

Flashguard encrypts the source code (with AES 256 bit encryption) preventing programs decompiling your SWF files to FLA files.

The source code is not altered in any way – ensuring your flash files continue working as before they were protected.

In addition, Flashguard controls who can view your flash files, how long or how many times they can be viewed, and whether printing is allowed.

"The introduction of Flashguard allows many organizations that were previously unwilling to commit their IPR into flash because of security concerns, to move ahead," said Dr Mathews. "Many companies have realized the potential of flash as an interactive medium, but have been afraid to publish content in this format as there has been no means of protecting it. Now, more than ever before, the new technologies have to earn their promise of lowering cost and increasing profit. But without giving everything away."

LockLizard Flashguard Flash Security is priced from $2495 for a subscription license. More information on securing flash can be found at http://www.locklizard.com/flash_security.htm.

This week, Adobe’s Technical Communication Blog shows how technical writers can use the Hierarchical Books in Adobe FrameMaker 9 as XML Authoring Projects. They can keep structapps, EDD, Template, Read Write rules etc inside the book component hierarchy.

  
Screenshot of a FrameMaker Book which contains XML files and all other structured application files

Nakshatra Bhardwaj writes that, ”If the author is working on a book which is composed of XMLs the author can add the files necessary for authoring structured applications for XML documents. Standard book operations can be performed over such a book while keeping the Structured Application files in Excluded state. These files would then not be included during book operations like TOC, Lists and Index generation.”

Read more about  XML Authoring Projects using Hierarchical Books

Norwegian developers have released doubleTwist, an app for syncing, playing and sending content from multiple devices. Instead of using a different browser for every web site you visit (i.e. Firefox to read the NY Times, IE to stream Hulu, Chrome to browse YouTube, etc) doubleTwist takes care of it.

This means you don’t have to use iTunes for Apple products, Nokia software for Nokia phones, Sony software for Sony products, etc. The typical household today has many such devices and there is a need for a simple and powerful software that connects them.

Download: Sync, Play & Send to BlackBerry, PSP, iPod, iPhone

Adobe TV offer this video tutorial on using InDesign & ID Server Pages with XML.

Adobe TV offer this video tutorial on using InDesign & ID Server Pages with XML.

Multilizer has reintroduced the localization components that providing native support for Delphi2009/C++Builder2009. In the documentation front, Multilizer now supports RoboHelp 8 – the latest version of the documentation system.

Multilizer 2009 enhances translation quality by featuring Visual editors’ built-in validation and OpenOffice spell checker. With built-in validation Multilizer can instantly warn the user of localization issues, such as overlapping controls. OpenOffice spell checker allows detection of linguistic issues in up to 92 different languages.

In order to lower the learning curve, Multilizer 2009 provides a tutorial to get you started with the localization process. Furthermore, troubleshooting is made easy as the Multilizer ships with the Remoteus remote support.
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Massachusetts startup DK Pictures has released DoInk, a free online drawing and animation tool that runs in your browser. You can think of it as an entry level version of Adobe Flash or a souped-up version of MS Paint with animation thrown in.
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DoInk brings two things to the table: a community of talented people, and all the tools they need to share their ideas.

Once, you’ve signed up you can begin animating, drawing, and sharing. And to speed things up, you can re-use the work of thousands of other users.

Some nice animation features include

1. Layer cloning
2. Vector-based designs
3. Ability to add frames with a few clicks
4. Saves your work on its servers so you don’t have to worry about backing up your files. You can also switch between projects as you would in Adobe Flash or other high end design applications.

At the moment, there is no sound but the dev team is working on it. If you just want an online flash app to do some designs or maybe get a taste of how to use design tools, give this a try.
Link: www.doink.com

You can improve the performance of Adobe FrameMaker by refining the amount of available random-access memory (RAM) and computer processor speed. Other factors to consider are system configuration and the built-in limitations of FrameMaker. With that in mind, consider the following if you are having performance issues with FrameMaker.

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Operating system

Optimize your hard drive and virtual memory, organizing or removing temporary files, and disabling unnecessary applications running in the background improves performance.

Check your system for damaged fonts

If there is a damaged font on your system, your computer can slow significantly.Turn off font preview and your computer performance should improve significantly.

Temporary files

When you work in FrameMaker, a copy of your data file is stored temporarily on the hard drive. FrameMaker and other applications create .tmp files and then delete them when you quit the application.

However, when FrameMaker crashes, the OS may prevent it from deleting these files. These files build up over time, taking up disk space and causing problems. So, to overcome this, close all open programs and start to remove all temporary files.

To delete temporary files:

1. Choose one of the following:
   • (Windows XP) Start > Search > All Files and Folders
   • (Windows 2000) Start > Search > For Files and Folders
2. In the Named text box, type *.tmp.
3. Choose Local Hard Drives from the Look In pop-up menu.
4. Click Find Now or Search Now.
5. When the search results appear, choose Edit > Select All.
6. Choose File > Delete. Click Yes to send the files to the Recycle Bin.
7. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Tip: Keep at least 280 MB of free space on the hard disk to which temporary files are written:

1. Quit all applications.
2. Choose Start > Control Panel, and then double-click System.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
4. In the User Variables For [user profile] section, locate TEMP in the Variable column, and note the folder listed in the Value column. If the complete path for the folder isn’t visible, double-click TEMP in the Variable column, and note the folder name in the Variable Value text box.
5. In Windows Explorer, verify that the folder you noted above exists on a non-compressed disk partition that has at least 280 MB of free space:
• If the folder doesn’t exist, create it: Right-click the drive, choose New Folder from the menu, and type the folder name you noted in step 4.
• If the disk doesn’t have enough free space, then create additional space by removing unnecessary files. To determine the amount of free space, right-click the drive and choose Properties from the menu.

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