FrameMaker: Easy to Learn

I'd like to vote in favor of dispelling the MYTH that FrameMaker is difficult to learn.

Muller, Rita. InFrame. Articles>Software>Document Design>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker MIFBrowse

Much can be learned about Frame document structure and the objects within by examining documents saved in MIF format.

Wideman, Graham. WidemanOne (2001). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker Resources

FrameMaker seems to be Adobe's best-kept secret. A tremendously powerful desktop-publishing program, FrameMaker has been ritually ignored by reviewers who instead concentrate on the big three DTP apps: QuarkXPress, InDesign, and PageMaker. Adobe positioned FrameMaker as a niche 'word-processing' product appropriate only for long-document production.

EDITsphere (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker Resources

This site contains links of interest to users of Adobe FrameMaker, the industry-leading tool for creating long or complex technical documents. Paired with Quadralay's WebWorks Publisher, it is also an excellent tool for single source solutions that involve some combination of print or PDF, online Help, and Web-based information.

Knopf Online. Resources>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker: Structured or Unstructured?

At the 2004 WritersUA and STC Conferences, structured FrameMaker and XML were among the more popular session topics. There is obviously significant interest in the user assistance community about authoring XML documents with structured FrameMaker. This is not surprising, as many organizations are struggling with the problems of creating and delivering increasing amounts of user assistance in multiple formats, and managing their content in a way that maximizes their capabilities to reuse content across multiple publications.

Houser, Alan R. WritersUA (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker Template Browser

I modified the FrameMaker template browser to display our department's templates rather than the generic ones that come with the software. The writers no longer have to dig through the company's folder structure to find the template they need.

Henkel, Rick. Docspages. Resources>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker vs. FrameMaker+SGML

Everything that is in FrameMaker is in FrameMaker+SGML. FrameMaker+SGML has capabilities that FrameMaker does not have.

Bright Path Solutions (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: An Introduction to Writing Scripts

FrameScript is a lot like FrameMaker; it has a fairly steep learning curve, but once you learn it, you’ll find it a real workhorse. The best way to start is to read the FrameScript Scriptwriter’s Guide. And the Quick Reference will provide you shortcuts to learning the FrameScript syntax. This tutorial will introduce some foundational concepts of writing scripts that will help you get started.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: Cross-References

There are two types of cross-references in FrameMaker: paragraph cross-references and spot cross-references. (There is a third type, element cross-references, available only in FrameMaker+SGML. This tutorial will not discuss element cross-references) Both paragraph and spot cross-references are similar, in that you have to insert an Xref object that points to a Cross-Ref Marker. The Xref object has an XRefSrcText property that must exactly match the marker text of the Cross-Ref Marker. Let’s start with spot cross-references, since they are a little simpler to work with.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: Loops and Linked Lists

In the previous lesson, we introduced a simple FrameScript loop to process all of the paragraph formats in a document. In this lesson, we will introduce a variation of the loop, and the important concept of linked lists' of FrameMaker objects.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: Navigating Paragraphs

Being able to navigate paragraphs in FrameMaker documents is an essential FrameScript task. This tutorial will explore several methods. For background information, see the Loops and Lists tutorial.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: Scaling Tables to Fit the Text Column Width

Here is a simple script that proportionately scales a table to fit the text column that contains it. This script works with the current table but can be easily expanded to work with all of the tables in a document or book.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameScript Tutorials: Styles for FrameMaker Graphics

If you are making a lot of FrameMaker graphics, such as lines with arrowheads, the thought of having to change them later can give you nightmares. Wouldn’t it be nice to have 'stylesheets' for graphic objects? With FrameScript, you can apply 'styles' to your graphics so that their properties can be globally changed.

Carmen Publishing. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Free QuarkXPress Templates

Templates for Quark products to create newsletters, business cards, brochures, and other documents.

About.com. Resources>Document Design>Software>QuarkXPress

Full-Blast PageMaker  

The next best thing to buying a new system: getting the most out of PageMaker's performance on the one you have.

Cutler, Jim. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker

Get 100% Accurate Copyfitting

In the publishing world--when every word counts--knowing exactly how much space you have to work with is crucial. Because Adobe InDesign® 2.0 and Adobe InCopy 2.0 are tightly integrated and share the same composition engine, content.

Adobe (2003). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

Get It Inline  

Inline frames in Adobe InDesign help you keep your text and graphic frames (or text frames or groups) sticking together.

Kvern, Olav Martin. Adobe Magazine (1999). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

Getting the Lead In  

Working with leading grids can make your PageMaker layouts faster, easier, and better-looking - and you don't even have to be Swiss.

Cole, Tim. Adobe Magazine (1995). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker

Getting the Most out of Guides  

If you're used to other layout applications, you may be unaware of all the things you can do with ruler guides in InDesign. If you use guides in your work, read on.

Cole, Tim. Adobe Evangelists (2006). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

Growing Up With Acrobat  

PDF moves toward its destiny as the full-service, customizable digital file format we all want.

Kvern, Olav Martin. Adobe Magazine (1998). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too  

Tips and advice on creating PDF files that are attractive, readable, and easy to download.

Nordling, Tamis and Wendy Katz. Adobe Magazine (1996). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

How to Open a PDF With Highlighted Words  

The goal: to launch Acrobat Reader from an external application, automatically highlighting some words.

PDFzone (2003). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Implementing New Desktop Publishing Tools  

When faced with having to respond to increased demands for online documentation using outdated tools, the technical writing staff of Hughes Network Systems (HNS) realized the need for a whole suite of state-of-the art tools and techniques. The challenge lay in convincing management to spend the time and money to acquire them. By coupling an understanding of their own needs as well as those of their customers with an appreciation for the HNS corporate culture, the writers were able to effect a strategy that guaranteed success.

Lipkin, Regina M. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Document Design>Software>Case Studies

Import Text Without Surprises

With a little forethought, placing text in InDesign becomes almost effortless.

Adobe (2003). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign