Formatting Hypertext Links

[Shlomo Perets]

Doug,

You wrote:

>I currently am inserting hypertext links into my FM documents linking
>to PDFs.  The links work fine; after I PDF Document A, the link opens
>the PDF Document B in Acrobat when click the link in PDF A.
>
>What I want to know is this:  I want the keyword I lighted when I
>created the link to be formatted with blue color and underlining.  Is
>there a way to add this automatically when I create the link, or do I
>need to create a format with the appropriate characteristics?

Applying a character format to the link text is essential (even when you 
don't want to show the link distinctly), because it lets you limit the 
link's area. Numeric underline is recommended, as it somewhat lower 
compared to the regular underline, and also thinner.

FrameMaker lets you create the link, but does not let you control the 
visual properties of the link (as available in Acrobat): highlight style or 
border/underline associated with the link as an object.

[ With my FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers add-on it is possible to to have an 
underline that behaves and looks differently: it can be visible on-screen 
but not printed, so that paper output is not cluttered. Properties that can 
be controlled include underline color, thickness, baseline offset, link 
highlight style.
These underlines are displayed uniformly in Acrobat, regardless of the zoom 
level; FrameMaker's underlines -- whether single or thin -- are thick and 
are displayed inconsistently (some may show up as thick and other as thin; 
zoom in or out and what was thick may now be thin and vice versa).
Acrobat/Reader 6 or higher are needed to display the PDF.
A sample PDF is available at http://www.microtype.com/showcase/VisLinks.pdf 
(60K); see http://www.microtype.com/improvePDF.html#19 for more information.
The entire active area created by cross-references and hypertext markers 
can be automatically handled this way; applying a character format is still 
needed to control the link area. ]

Shlomo Perets

MicroType, http://www.microtype.com
Training, consulting & add-ons: FrameMaker, Structured FM and Acrobat