Schlomo Perets
San Diego Meeting of the STC
April 2006
It has become a tradition lately to have a guest speaker attend our
STC meetings from a far-off land. Our March meeting kept with this tradition
by having Schlomo Perets travel all the way from Israel to talk about
how FrameMaker 7 can be used to create effective and efficient PDF files.
It was not so long ago that FrameMaker was a tool for the creation
of high-quality print documentation. Now, FrameMaker is also used to
create excellent electronic files as well.
Mr. Perets pointed out that the best way to create an effective PDF
file is to print the FrameMaker file to postscript, and then use Acrobat
Distiller to create the PDF document. He recommends using the Adobe
PDF driver as the default in order to avoid font and line break problems
in your electronic documents.
One of the benefits of using FrameMaker to create PDF files instead
of using another program, such as MS Word, is that the links take you
directly to the exact location on the page that you need. Other programs
take you to the correct page, but then require you to locate the exact
location manually.
Techniques to Enhance PDF Files
Mr. Perets suggested the following techniques to improve PDF files:
- Use meaningful titles
- Use the TimeSavers tool in FrameMaker
- Enhance PDFs by incorporating multimedia
- Check the links in the FrameMaker document before creating a PDF
- View PDF files before distributing them
Use Titles
Specifying the title of the document is much better than using file
names. When you use the title of the document, the actual title name
appears at the top of the file banner. In addition, search results on
the Web produce meaningful information instead of useless data. Simply
enter the name of the document in FrameMaker’s Title field. This
information is carried into Acrobat.
TimeSavers Tool
The TimeSavers tool in FrameMaker achieves the following benefits:
- The title of the document automatically appears in the title bar
- Ensures that there are no broken links
- Saves file space
- Creates better bookmarks
Using Multimedia in PDF Files
Acrobat 7 enables you to add multimedia to PDF files. This includes
Flash and MPEG files. In addition, 3D graphics are also supported.
Preparing to Distribute PDF Files
Before creating your PDF file, check all your links in FrameMaker to
ensure that none are broken. After creating the PDF file, make sure
that you view it with your own eyes to ensure that the file looks correct.
Additional Information on PDF Files
Thanks to FrameMaker, PDF files are better than ever and can be used
for a variety of instructional purposes.
If you would like to obtain additional information from Schlomo Perets
on how to use FrameMaker to create effective PDF files, visit his Web
site: www.microtype.com.
Reminder: April’s meeting occurs on Thursday, April 13,
due to the speaker’s schedule. See www.stc-sd.org
for meeting information.
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