First Time Framer!

[Maxwell Hoffmann]

Hello Mark,

Besides echoing the other positive reinforcement you've received on your decision, I wanted to emphasize that page layout control is a particularly compelling reason to switch from Word to FrameMaker. Because my employer provides service to a variety of clients I am required to edit and even author in Word about 25% of the time. 

I find Word's extremely limited control over anchored graphics particularly frustrating. FrameMaker's master pages, sidehead and runin paragraphs as well as sophisticated tables and anchored objects reduce the amount of time you are probably currently spending touching up page positioning. 

The Sarah O'Keefe book is excellent, but here is another book I have found very helpful for new users: FrameMaker 7 for Macintosh and Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide) by Victoria Thomas (Paperback - Feb 4, 2003) ... This is available on http://www.amazon.co.uk. Although this book does not go as in depth into XML as the O'Keefe book, it is well organized, highly visual, and chock full of advanced user tips.

Final tip, if you haven't installed FrameMaker yet, be sure to install it with "International English", which will give you A4 paper size and other UK settings as a default. For adjusting page headers and footers, do View=>Master Pages, which will put you in the zone that is the beefed up equivalent of "View=>Headers and Footers" in Word.

Maxwell Hoffmann
Manager of Consulting & Training Solutions
ENLASO Corporation
T: 805 494 9571 * F: 805 435 1920
E: mhoffmann at translate.com <mailto:mhoffmann at translate.com>  ♦ ENLASO Corporation provides quality enterprise language solutions and exceeds client expectations through continuing research, development, and implementation of effective localization processes and technologies.  Visit: www.translate.com <http://www.translate.com/>  for more information or to subscribe to our complimentary localization newsletter. 
http://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellhoffmann

>Message: 3
>Date: Fri, 25 May 2007 18:09:45 +0200
>From: "Mark Lawrence" <marklawrence at firstreadthis.com>
>Subject: First Time Framer!
>To: <framers at lists.frameusers.com>
>Message-ID:
>
>Hi,
>
>I hope you don't mind me introducing myself to the list and then asking a question straight away.  My name is Mark, I am based in Oxford, UK, and I write reports that assist pharmaceuticals with their marketing authorisations - at least that's the interesting part of my job. 
>
>I've been looking at Framemaker for some time now, basically as an alternative to grappling with changing layouts in Microsoft Word and Publisher.  The bottom line is that I enjoy writing content but I loathe the fiddling around with layout.  The fiddling always seems to involve
>1) thinking that everything looks ok 2) printing a hardcopy, and then realising that it doesn't look so good so editing it until my waste bin is, well, full of waste.
>
[SNIP]
>
>Best wishes, Mark 
>
>Mark Lawrence >Director >First Read This >+44 01865 30 40 52 >www.firstreadthis.com