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sssuuusssaaannn
Known Participant
July 30, 2012
Question

How do I keep a paragraph on one page?

  • July 30, 2012
  • 2 replies
  • 4452 views

Hi,

I have FrameMaker 10 and Windows 7 and I'm a newbie, having worked with InDesign.  I've reviewed the answers in the forum that include instructions about the paragraph designer, but those solutions, such as keep with paragraph, orphan lines, etc.,  don't help.

Sometimes when I'm typing, the next line jumps to the beginning of the next page even though there's plenty of the current page left.  I guess I must say that this happens when I'm typing into a document that also has material following.  This material usually seems to be an anchored frame.  I've looked at the anchored frame parameters, tried every option, and still I'm stumped. Right now I'm using a workaround; a paragraph style with a font of one point that I insert where necessary to force things to stick together.  Otherwise, my broken line often travels below the anchored frame.  BTW, when I backspace before the line, more material from the previous page jumps down, instead of that piece of sentence being backspaced back up.

Also, in Indesign it's very easy to size content into the frame.  In FM I'm always shift-dragging to picture after import, to get it to the size of the frame.  Is there a better way to do this?

Also, is there a way to change the defaults?  I never want the frame to be cropped but the checkbox is checked and I have to uncheck it every time.

Also is there a keyboard shortcut for getting a page break to the next page?  The popup is very annoying.  I don't even know what 'wherever it fits' means; doesn't a page break mean, the next page?  And how can I get the default to change to 'next page' or better still get rid of that box altogether?

There is no symbol for a page break, so what happens if I want to remove one?  Does this happen automatically if a break is no longer necessary?  Maybe this is connected to my paragraphing problem?

I hope you experts out there can make some sense out of my questions.  PLEASE help, these things are driving me crazy!!  Thank you so much in advance.

PS  This also has nothing to do with master pages or the template; I'm working in a very smooth template that was prepared by experts.  (Luckily.)

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 30, 2012

    > Also is there a keyboard shortcut for getting a page break to the next page?

    Yes, but what it actually does is just set a Top_of_Page override in the Pagination properties of the current paragraph.

    Also check the Keep_With_Previous settings of the next paragraph. Even if Keep_With_Next is turned off in the current para, it can get dragged by the next.

    S
    sssuuusssaaannnAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 30, 2012

    Thank you for the reply!

    Actually I've tried every comination of 'Keep With's and nothing seems to

    work.

    Van Kurtz
    Van Kurtz
    Inspiring
    July 30, 2012

    This is probably not the answer to all your questions, but I am sure it answers some.

    Unlike Word and InDesign, FrameMaker's anchored frames, which hold graphics, "hang" from their insertion points, typically at the end of the paragraph. An anchored frame that follows a paragraph is set to be below the line, the line being the last line in the paragraph. If you turn on View > Text Symbols, you will see a marker that indicates the point from which the anchored frame is hanging.

    If the anchored frame is taller than the available space, it is moved to the next page ALONG with that last line. If the paragraph style/tag has a widow/orphan lines number that is more than 1, then that number of lines are also moved to the next page, because the paragraph tag says to keep that many together, EVEN if there is space at the bottom of the previous page.

    So, you can set the widow/orphan lines number smaller OR as you have done put a blank line before the anchored frame, which now holds the marker for the anchored frame, and set its font size to 2 pt (the lowest FrameMaker allows) and its line height to zero. This is the standard workaround UNLESS you use the line above the anchored frame as the title/caption of a figure, which is also a typical way of dealing with FrameMaker's ways.

    To my knowledge, one cannot change the default of the checked cropped box. Maybe others know of some way to change this.

    There is no page break in FrameMaker, hence there is no symbol for it. In the paragraph designer for the paragraph, you set to Start of the paragraph to Top of page. Top of page is FrameMaker's equivalent to a page break. To "remove" a page break, set the Start of the paragraph to Anywhere.

    Since you are new to FrameMaker, I suggest reading throught the User Manual that comes with FrameMaker. You will likely find the answers to most of your questions there.

    Hope this helps,

    Van

    S
    sssuuusssaaannnAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 30, 2012

    Van,

    Thank you so much for replying!

    There is a 'page break' dialog in FM which I just discovered today that I

    should keep open at all times. And I discovered that if you want to remove

    a page break, you just backspace. The first line melts into the previous

    paragraph at first, but it can be easily changed to the corect style.

    I'm breathing easier now that you've told me my workaround is a legitimate

    solution. Now I know why I see so many 'figure' styles at the tops of

    illustrations..that really isn't the correct way to do things.

    Thanks for your suggestion, I will read through the help one day. As it

    is, I find Adobe online help all but impossible except for these forums;

    you put in a simple search term and get a hundred things you don't want.

    Thanks again!

    Susan

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 30, 2012

    Select the option for “local content only” in the Community Help to narrow down the number of hits you get.

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