FM9 and Text Frames

[Combs, Richard]

Well, I just got a message from the list for the first time since the
19th, and http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/listinfo/framers is once
again accessible. So I think I'll try sending this once more, just as a
test (previous attempts were undeliverable). Apologies if this becomes a
repeat of a repeat. 

Alison Craig wrote:
 
> In Word, I use Text Boxes to highlight various items in an image. Each
Text
> Box is surrounded by a border of a specific weight that sits a
specific
> distance from the actual text.
> 
> I have not been able to achieve this effect in FM9 with Text Frames.
After
> a bit of trial and error I managed to get the side borders to sit a
> specific distance from the text (eg, 1mm) but the text on the top
always
> touches the actual text as if it were an underline (or "overline" as
it
> were). The Paragraph style I created to use inside the Text Frame
specifies
> the indents and spacing but the text doesn't seem to obey the Above
and
> Below Pgf settings - no matter how big I make them.

The Above and Below settings determine the relationship of that pgf to
the pgfs before and after it. They don't affect placement in the text
frame -- if they did, the first pgf on a page wouldn't start at the top
of the page. 

As is often the case in FM, there are a multiple ways to accomplish your
purpose. I can think of the following, presented more or less in the
order of my preference: 

-- On a reference page, create a graphics frame (not text frame) and
name it something like callout-spacer. Make its height about what you
want the space above the callouts to be (width doesn't much matter). For
your callout pgf format, go to the Advanced tab of Paragraph Designer
and set Frame Above Pgf to callout-spacer. Tweak the height of the
reference frame if necessary. I like this best because it's a one-time
setup. Each time you use the callout pgf format, the frame above will be
there automatically.

-- Put a small empty pgf above the callout text. You can make a pgf as
small as 2 pts in FM. Low-tech and manual, but if you define the spacer
pgf to have the callout pgf as its Next Pgf Tag, it's nearly
instantaneous. Create spacer pgf, press Enter, and start typing.

-- Put a single-cell table in the text frame, anchored in a small pgf.
You can control space above with the anchor pgf, and of course, you have
complete control of how far the cell pgf sits from all the edges (via
the Table Cell tab of Paragraph Designer, plus the alignment settings in
Table Designer). Variation: Make text frame borders invisible and use
the table's Ruling settings to create border. This gives you greater
control (you can add shading, too). 

-- Make the text frame border invisible. Then, create a graphic
rectangle with no fill and the border thickness, color, etc., that you
want. Size and position the rectangle properly in relation to the text
frame and group the two. 

-- Use nested frames, as Nadine suggested. 


BTW, you can't send images or other attachments to the list (nor can you
send HTML or Rich Text messages) -- these are security risks. 

HTH!
Richard


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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