making the most out of framemaker's graphic tools
Post on 14-Jul-2015
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Shlomo Perets microtype.com
Making the Most out of FrameMaker’s Graphic Tools
1 My services & tools ('&')
■ Training / ConsultingFrameMaker (including Structured), Acrobat, Captivate (on-site or via web)
■ Template development■ Conversion services
(to FM; FM to Structured FM)■ Add-ons: FM Express Customization;
FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers + Assistants (Forms, Navigation …)
2 FrameMaker graphics■ Easy to handle inside FrameMaker■ Vector■ Not easily exported to other graphic
formats for re-use elsewhere
3 FrameMaker’s graphic toolssmart select select object
line arcpolyline freehand curve
rectangle rounded rectangleoval polygon
text frame text linegraphic frame
fill patternpen pattern
line widthline end style
current default dashed line patterncolor
tintoverprint
4 Set up drawing environment■ Grids
● Visible grid ● Invisible snapping grid● Choose your own spacing for the grids
■ Gravity● Makes it easier to connect to an existing
object when drawing/resizing/reshaping● Objects exert gravity along their path; corners
= double; rectangles/ovals also at their centers ● Gravity takes precedence over Snap (if active)
5 View quality ■ Often need to refresh screen:
Window > Refresh or Control-L ■ Tip: select object before zooming in,
to have it displayed in the zoomed view
6 Selecting objects■ Shift-click to select additional objects■ Shift-click an object to deselect one
object ■ With smart cursor: Ctrl-click text frame
or text line to select as an object
7 Selecting objectsCONTINUED
■ Drag selection border around objects■ Holding down Shift-Ctrl while
dragging makes it easier to select specific items
■ Select all on page or in frame (Ctrl-A)■ Select first drawn (Esc o F),
next (Esc o n)
8 Many uses of Shift key ■ Shift and drag object to move along
vertical or horizontal axis■ Shift-click when selecting a tool to
keep it active & draw multiple objects (select any tool to end)
9 Many uses of Shift keyCONTINUED
■ Shift while resizing to maintain ratio ■ Shift while using the drawing tools
to constrain the shapes drawn● Oval circle● Rectangle square● Arc circular arc● Line, Polyline & Polygon straight vertical or
horizontal lines or at 45°
10 Quick copying
Hold down Alt or Ctrl while dragging an object to create a copy
11 Group / ungroup■ Small groups can be nested inside larger
groups – may need to ungroup several times to access a specific item
■ Small groups can be useful when aligning and distributing, e.g. several pairs of graphic item + callout
12 Object styles (FM11+)■ Named styles for graphics
● Object Style Designer Esc g i ● Object Style Catalog Esc g e
■ Globally update some/all graphic properties by adjusting style definitions
■ Can use File > Import Formats to bring styles defined in other files
13 Fine positioning (“nudge”)■ Move selected objects using arrow keys:
press Alt-Arrow for a small nudge or Alt-Shift-Arrow keys for a large nudge
■ At 100% zoom, small nudge is 1 point and large nudge is 6 points; the nudge distance changes depending on zoom settings
14 Bring to front / send to back■ Controls stacking order■ When adding callouts to bitmaps, bitmap
should be sent to back
15 Align■ Single item is aligned relative to
anchored frame, graphic frame or page■ When two or more objects selected –
items align relative to last item selected
Before aligning
T/B Centers
Tops Bottoms
Before aligning
L/R Centers
Left Sides
Right Sides
16 AlignCONTINUED
■ Esc g a to open Graphics > Align(multiple choices, vertical+horizontal)
■ Use direct alignment: Esc j followed by● l (left) ● t (top)● r (right) ● m (middle)● c (center) ● b (bottom)
17 Distribute
Leftmost / topmost items remain in place
Objects as drawn
Equidistant centers
Edge gap = .0625"
Equidistant edges
Horizontal distribution
Objects as drawn
Equidistant centers
Edge gap = .0625"
Equidistant edges
Vertical distribution
18 Rotate
■ Free rotate with Alt+drag handle(rotation angle reported in status bar)
■ Shift while Alt+dragging a corner or reshape handle constrain rotation to 45°
■ Can inspect an object’s rotation angle in Object Properties (Rotation/Angle)
Objects rotate around their centers
Text lines rotate around their alignment points
Abc Abc
19 Reshape■ Reshape arc
■ Reshape polyline / polygon
Arc: 270 -306 10% Arc: 270 18 30%Start and end angles
Percentage of circle
2 Choose Reshape
3 Drag 4 Release1 Select
20 ReshapeCONTINUED
■ Reshape curveControl point
Reshape handle
2 Drag reshape handle
3 Drag control point
4 Rotate control point
1 Select Reshape
21 ReshapeCONTINUED
■ Ctrl-click to add/remove control points■ Right-drag reshape handle to crimp
a curve
Right-drag reshape handle
Select Reshape
22 Join ■ Join lines, arcs, polylines, freehand
curves – so that fill can be applied
■ Objects have to be touching end to end to be joined
Objects drawn
Objects positioned and selected
Objects joined
Fill pattern selected
23 Smooth
Smooth/unsmooth
Before smoothing After smoothing
24 Scale
Useful when you need to resize different items consistently
25 Curvature of rounded rectangle
The curvature of the “corners” of a rounded rectangle can be changed by specifying the radius of an imaginary circle drawn in the corner of a rectangle (Graphics > Object Properties)
Radius = .125 inch Radius = .25 inches Radius = .375 inch
r r r
The longer the radius, the more curved the corners are
26 Cropping a graphic
Use an anchored or unanchored graphic frame to crop (mask) the edges of a graphic
Uncropped graphic Graphic placed and cropped in an unanchored graphic frame
27 Picking up object properties
To change one or more properties of one object to match another: ● Select the object that has the properties you
want to copy● Hold down Shift, Graphics > Pick Up Object
Properties – properties of selected object are made the default in palette
● Select the objects you want to change and click the properties to apply
28 Change line cap style
Cap style determines the appearance of any line ends that don’t have arrowheads
Projecting Butt Round
29 Change arrow style
Arrow styles are determined by their base angle, tip angle, and length. They can be filled, hollow, or drawn with sticks.
B = Base angle
T = Tip angle
L = Length
T B
L
Filled
Hollow
Stick
30 Custom arrow style
You can create a custom arrow style by specifying new settings below Custom:● Style: Filled, Hollow, or Stick● Base angle: 10–175
(at least 5 greater than tip angle; FrameMaker ignores base angle setting when choosing Stick)
● Tip angle: 5–85● Length: 0–255 points
31 Custom arrow style CONTINUED
Length specified applies to objects that have a line width of 1 point. When you use a thicker line width, arrowhead is longer Arrow Base angle Tip angle Length
70 30 10 points
80 30 10 points
70 15 10 points
70 30 5 points
32 Set number of sides
Use to draw a regular polygon
Original object
Number of sides = 3
Start angle = 0
Number of sides = 3
Start angle = 45
0 045
33 FrameMaker clipart■ Ancient…, but can still be used as a
basis for development, or to learn how graphic techniques were used
■ Files are in the clipart folder(Help > Clip Art…)C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker12\ClipArt
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