PPT import into FM

[Yves Barbion]

Hi Corinne

This is how we do it with unstructured FrameMaker:

1. We print the PPT to PDF.
2. We design a FrameMaker template which looks exactly like the slides in
the PPT (background image, titles, bullet points...), but we also have
sufficient space on each page for training notes.
3. We import one page of the PDF file into FrameMaker, for example page 2.
This page appears in an anchored frame "at insertion point" and the anchored
frame is in a paragraph with a dedicated paragraph tag ("z_anchor"). A
"z_anchor" is set to appear "Top of Page".
4. We copy this "z_anchor" paragraph with the anchored frame and we paste it
a number of times, depending on the number of pages (slides) you have in
your PPT file. For example, if you have 120 slides in one PPT file, you can
just hold down CTRL+V until you have 120 pages in FrameMaker. Now, you have
120 copies of the same slide.
5. We save the FM file as MIF and open the MIF in a plain text editor
(EditPad, Notepad++, ...).
6. In the MIF file, you can see something like this:
   <ImportObFileDI `<c\>training_manual.pdf'>
   <ImportObFile `training_manual.pdf'>
   <ImportHint `0001FRAMPDF WIN3    '>
   <ImportObEditor `#PageNumber(2)'>
7. We change <ImportObEditor `#PageNumber(2)'> to <ImportObEditor
`#PageNumber(3)'>, <ImportObEditor `#PageNumber(4)'> etc.
8. We open the MIF file in FrameMaker again: now each "slide" starts on a
new page.
9. If/when slides need to be changed, we remove the PDF and recreate the
slide in FrameMaker. If the slide has graphics, you can double-click the
imported PDF file in FrameMaker to open the PDF in Acrobat. In Acrobat, you
can export the images or "extract" objects using the TouchUp Object tool.
10. When the training manual is ready, we generate a table of contents and
an index and we save our FM file as PDF. This is the training manual we give
to our students. To create "slides" from this PDF file, we just crop the
slide area with the Acrobat Crop tool and that's it. If necessary, you can
also use "full screen transitions" in Acrobat: choose Edit > Preferences >
General > Full Screen.

This is the "manual" process. To import all the pages of the PDF file into
FrameMaker automatically, I'm sure a Framescript could help.

When we create topic-based training manuals "from scratch", we use DITA and
Leximation's DITA-FMx plug-in:

1. We wrap the information which needs to go on the "slide" in an <abstract>
element.
2. Using DITA-FMx, we generate a FrameMaker book from the DITA map of our
training manual. For this FrameMaker book, we use a template which is
similar to the one I mentioned in the "unstructured FM" method. The topic
title and the abstract appear in a separate text frame with a background
image.
3. We save the FM book as PDF, crop the slide area and Bob's your uncle!

The big benefit of this process is that you have your content in a
presentation-neutral format: XML. This offers you other ways to create
presentations, for example HTML Slidy:

http://www.w3.org/Talks/Tools/Slidy/



Cheers

-- 
Yves Barbion • Managing Director • Adobe-Certified FrameMaker Instructor
www.scripto.nu  • skype: yves.barbion  • T: +32 494 12 01 89  • F: +32 9 366
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