Printing Error with FM

[Tim Lewis]

I have been referencing .eps files into the FM file. The reason I had been
printing directly from the FrameMaker document was because it is easy for me
to proofread a hard copy (a whole another issue) as I work on a document. 

>From the excellent suggestions I've received, it looks like I should be
making a PDF and then print from that. However, it takes twice as long to
get a copy that I can proofread. Obviously, the finished document can be
printed from the PDF and that is what I always deliver to my clients. 

Dov mentions the .AI format. I've always saved as .EPS because that is what
I was told to do several years ago. Most of my illustrations are line art
and some .BMP files that I added callouts or edited in Illustrator. Frankly,
I do not know the difference between .AI and .EPS. The online Help does not
give me enough information. So, what is the difference and what should I be
using in my FrameMaker documents? 

Tim Lewis
Lewis Technical Communications, Inc.
ltc.writer at comcast.net

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dov Isaacs [mailto:isaacs at adobe.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 12:52 AM
> To: Tim Lewis; framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: RE: Printing Error with FM
> 
> What is not clear from your description is exactly WHAT you are
> referencing
> in your FrameMaker documents. If you are referencing a .AI file, you
> are in
> effect referencing a PDF 1.3 file; FrameMaker really knows nothing
> about
> the Illustrator document format but rather is able to convert the PDF
> inside
> a .AI file saved with the PDF compatibility option to EPS when
> importing;
> that's what really happens.
> 
> Thus, what probably happened was the equivalent of placing an EPS file
> with
> PostScript 3 constructs into your FramMaker document. When you printed
> directly
> from FrameMaker, the PostScript 3 is what choked your printer. Of
> course,
> if you created PDF and printed from that (by the way, a much better
> solution
> in general than EVER printing directly from FrameMaker!!!!), as you
> found,
> Acrobat (or Reader) has the smarts to downgrade to PostScript language
> level 2
> constructs as necessary for your PostScript Level 2 device.
> 
> Here are your alternatives:
> 
> (1)     Continue what you are doing and always print from Acrobat or
> Reader
> instead of FrameMaker (not a bad choice in the general case -- this is
> something I personally do with most all applications these days! I get
> to
> see on-screen what I will print and do some cursory pre-flight to avoid
> wasted printing).
> 
> (2)     Save your Illustrator documents as EPS language level 2 and
> import
> those into FrameMaker instead. This will pessimize things such as
> gradients,
> but otherwise you should be OK.
> 
> (3)     There is a maker.ini setting for controlling the conversion of
> PDF
> to EPS (I don't have a reference with me for the exact setting). Change
> that
> to indicate PostScript language level 2 instead of 3 (ironically, I
> thought
> that the default for that was 2, not 3!)
> 
> (4)     Go out and buy a new printer. If you are happy with the printer
> you
> currently have, this is the most ridiculous solution!
> 
> Personally, I'd go with solution (1).
> 
>         - Dov
<snip>