Bleeds and a FrameMaker graphics oddity

[Rick Quatro]

When I say that the FrameMaker UI needs to be "modernized," this one of the 
things that I mean. FrameMaker needs a "pasteboard" like other DTP 
applications.

Rick

> I've been trying to set up a bleed margin on a rectangular graphical 
> ornament on the master page. The visual appearance of the ornament is 
> required to be a .25 point rule 'flush' with the page edge. (Uh-huh). 
> Thought someone might be interested in the problem and one possible 
> solution...
>
> Try this: on a master page, use the graphics tools to draw a rectangle. 
> Now use the nudge keys to nudge it off the right-hand side of the page. No 
> problem.
>
> Now try the same thing with a horizontal line: no problem.
>
> Now try it with a vertical line. Uh? Seems like FrameMaker's coded so that 
> a graphic object is not allowed to be made invisible by moving it 
> completely off the visible page. Makes sense, I guess, *but the rule is 
> applied even if the object being made 'invisible' is part of a group*. 
> This means that it's impossible to set up a bleed area for a rectangular 
> ornament by grouping a thick line with the right-hand edge of the thin 
> rectangle.
>
> Workaround A: create a solid rectangle, then mask it with a white 
> rectangle to leave the required borders, and nudge it off the page edge? 
> Nope: this doesn't work with other solid color on the page, as a 
> transparent object is required.
>
> Workaround B: create the rectangle by grouping four lines of differing 
> thicknesses? Nope: fails the 'object cannot be made invisible even if part 
> of a group' rule.
>
> Workaround C: try the same sort of thing with graphics boxes with solid 
> borders. Fails for more or less the same reasons - an object cannot be 
> made completely invisible.
>
> Workaround D: create the required graphical object elsewhere and import it 
> into the master page. Bingo! An anchored frame in a text frame can be 
> nudged off the visible page, therefore so can its contents. This allows 
> precise positioning of the imported object, even if some of it is off the 
> page edge.
> -- 
> Steve
> _______________________________________________