Highlight text in FrameMaker.

If you have a FM->PDF workflow, highlighting is possible through hypertext with my FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers add-on.
Sample PDFs (authored with FM, no extra actions in Acrobat):
http://www.microtype.com/showcase/highlight.pdf
http://www.microtype.com/showcase/MultimediaAsst/transport.pdf#page=2

For additional info, see http://www.microtype.com/ImprovePDF08.html

Shlomo Perets

MicroType * http://www.microtype.com
FrameMaker training & consulting * FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers

"Improve Your FrameMaker Skills" live web-based training sessions

Jack,

It is not possible for an EDD to apply shading or highlighting. What you propose is a complex task involving lots of programming or scripting to implement, especially as you need to derive the highlighting from metadata in an XML source. If FrameMaker had a native feature for highlighting, this would be simple. However, because it doesn't, it is very complicated indeed.

My best recommendation is to give up the requirement for highlighting. If you absolutely need highlighting, you might reconsider FrameMaker as your XML tool. The level of complexity and inconvenience that you will have to endure just for this one feature may make another XML tool a better choice.

Russ

Hi Jack,
I'm guessing that the text that needs the shadow effect is either a title in a cover page, or a large title starting a new section in your document. Ideally, the title should require a new column or a new page. This will allow full control over where the title will occur.

You must create a special master page that will be selected when the title occurs within the flow. You also need a background text frame behind the template (flow) text frame where the title text will happen.

The background frame should be large enough to fit an exact duplicate (in size too) of the titles you can expect to find in the xml flow. It should also be slightly displaced with respect to the template frame; say lower and to the right.

You then create a "Running H/F" variable that will replicate the title text with identical font and size, but with a different fill.

This is the simplest case scenario. Different situations would require a totally different approach.

Regards,
Juan

Hi Juan
In structured documents,What trick?
In my project,My xml file will contain the infomation that need to shadow,When I open my xml file in frameMaker,FrameMaker will display the shadow result according to the EDD definition and xml content.

Hi Jack,

Since there is no support in FrameMaker for what you need to obtain, you must rely on some tricks. For instance, if you are trying to use a shadow effect on large font, a slightly displaced second flow, with identical content flowing through both, will get it done. You can use a grayscale or color fill for the font in one of the flows. If you try it, don't judge the result before seeing the printed output, since it may not look good enough on screen.

There are also a few tricks to do this even in structured documents, without altering the content.

Juan

Jack,

If you need to mimic highlighting, you're out of luck in Frame, although there are clunky ways to fake it.

One alternative would be to output to PDF and use the hightlighter in Acrobat.

Or, if you just need to mark text, use Frame's Conditional text tool and format the text to something highly visible.

Art

Hi Jack,

The only way to do it is by placing shaded rectangle drawing objects behind the text, which is generally more cumbersome than it is worth. FrameMaker has no text highlighting feature.

Russ