PDF to framemaker

[Daniel Emory]

--- Peter Ring <pri at ddf.dk> wrote:
> Dov is of course correct in stating that PDF should
> be considered a final form document format. But, 
> nevertheless, PDF can be used as an 
> input (to Frame)
===============================
Another effective way to use PDF as an input to
FrameMaker is to use it to import graphs for display
in FrameMaker documents. In this case, however, the
graphs are first created in FrameMaker. The method is
described below.

Step 1. On a new FrameMaker master page, create a
background frame in which you create (using
FrameMaker's drawing tools) the graph's frame (i.e.
the X and Y axes with labeled tickmarks (and perhaps
corresponding horizontal and vertical lines), plus any
additional static text.

Step 2. On a body page in which the background master
page from step 1 is used, employ FrameMaker's drawing
tools to to overlay the background created in step 1
with the foreground graphical plots (lines, curves,
wedges, etc), using different colors diferent dashed
lines, etc as needed. Additional text labels might
also be created in the overlay, as needed, using the
drawing tools.

Step 3. Save the body page created in step 2 as a
1-page PDF with an appropriate filename.

Step 4. Open the PDF created in step 3 and crop it as
needed to eliminate all the white space surrounding
the graphic, and then re-save it as a single-page
document.

Step 5. At the location in a FrameMaker document where
you want the graph to appear, import the PDF produced
in step 4 into a graphic frame, scaling it as needed.

This methodology is particularly useful when the basic
graph background created in step 1 above is used
multiple times to produce different graphical plots.
In that case, each graph created in step 2 is saved to
a separate PDF file in steps 3 and 4.

And of course, the resulting PDF graphics are not
restricted to use in FrameMaker. They can be used in
any software product which can import PDFs.

 

Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
<danemory7224 at sbcglobal.net>