Reasons for using graphic and table anchor tags

[DeRosier, Edward]

Hi Linda
 
In a previous company, I used a special "anchor" tag with graphics to
facilitate conversion of FrameMaker files to HTML, in order to match the
company style guide.
 
In my current company, I am doing the same thing for the same reason,
although the anchor tag has different design specifications.
 
In both companies, I was instrumental in encouraging the style control
group to design the anchor tag with very small font size and little or
no space above and below the paragraph.  The reason for this is that
some documents use the same template but have different purposes that do
not require anchoring a figure or table to a separate paragraph.
 
When a frame can be anchored to a body paragraph or to its own separate
paragraph tag, one may sometimes need to conserve line space.  The best
way to conserve line space is to put the frame anchor at the end of an
existing paragraph.  This may force the entire paragraph to the next
page.  Sometimes that is not desirable.  In order to minimize the use of
space on the new page (upon which the anchored frame is the top
element), an anchor tag can be designed to take up minimum space.
 
Summary:
1. To separate graphics or tables from other paragraph elements for
conversion to HTML or for other design purposes
2. To minimize the space required around an anchored frame
 
Ed DeRosier
Technical Writer
Anritsu Company