Visio (2003) drawings into FrameMaker

[David Creamer]

> In our group we use EPS because that is a native file format for
> Illustrator.  Illustrator can have problems with certain PDF file format
> versions and may not be able to successfully open and edit any
> given PDF file.

Technically, Illustrator uses a form of PDF as its native file
format--however, it is not considered a general purpose PDF editor (although
it is often used as such). Officially, Illustrator can only _truly_ edit it
own PDFs that have the AI file embedded; other PDFs may be damaged upon
opening, especially complex ones. Similarly, Photoshop can only open its own
PDFs that have the PSD file embedded; Photoshop will try to rasterize any
other PDF. Basically, in AI and PSD, PDF is merely a "wrapper" for the
native file.

That being said, with older page-layout programs (Frame, Quark, etc.), I
would stick with EPS for most vector art. So I would save an Illustrator
file as an EPS. An old trick to improve the preview is to make the vector
graphic larger than necessary, then reduce in the layout program. Since it
is vector, the file size should not grow proportionally.

As far a Visio is concerned, if you don't want the files to be (easily)
edited from Frame, I would use SVG or PDF 1.3. (You can export the PDF into
EPS through Acrobat if desired.)
If you want to edit them "in Frame", you can import as an object.

David Creamer
I.D.E.A.S. - Results-Oriented Training
http://www.IDEAStraining.com
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