PDF to framemaker

[Diane Gaskill]

Hi Caroline,

Thanks for the tips.  FYI, I've been using FM since 1992, so practice is not
something I need.  When I started with my current company and found they
still used Word, I immediately wrote a proposal to switch to FM.  It did not
happen immediately, but it is happening now.   I'm getting quotes from a
couple of vendors to convert the docs but I also have to do the math on how
much it will take us to do it ourselves.  We probably have access to the
original graphics, but if not, converting to HTML to extract the graphics is
a good idea.   I have several FM plugins, but not TableCleaner Pro.   I
forget, is that one of Bruce' Foster's apps or did Chris Despopulous write
it?   I'll check the website and get it if needed.

Thanks,

Diane

-----Original Message-----
From: Caroline Tabach [mailto:Caroline at radcom.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 12:56 AM
To: Diane Gaskill; framers at FrameUsers.com
Subject: RE: PDF to framemaker


The issue is that embedded graphics in Frame is found by many people to not
be a useful way of working.
If you have a large number of documents which are going to be updated, and
their graphics will change, then using referenced files is much better
(IMHO).  There are actually a lot more advantages, but I have forgotten
them.
Part of the move from Word to FrameMaker is changing from using embedded
graphics to referenced graphics. As someone mentioned, if we did not have
access to the original files, using "save as html" on the Word files got the
graphics out (it took me about a week to fix the graphics in our set of
books when we made the transfer).

Moving all of your documentation from Word to Frame is indeed a major
project, on the other hand it is an excellent way to get to know Frame's
capabilities and practice working on it.

There are a number of utilities out there to help in the transfer process,
including Table cleaner, which we could not have managed without, and
various tools for working with tags.


Caroline Tabach
Technical/Marcom Writer
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