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Beth3141
Beth3141
Known Participant
December 18, 2014
Question

PDF bookmarks not expanding for 2 chapters in my 9-chapter book. What should I look for?

  • December 18, 2014
  • 1 reply
  • 342 views

In my unstructured book, page, table and figure numbering is all correct. All 89 figures number correctly. I can't get the PDF bookmarks for chapters 2 and 8 correct. Each of the chapters have a bookmark, but no expanded bookmarks. They should have several. My TOC may have a clue as to what is wrong: only the links for chapter 1 work. All of the other chapters in the TOC show a link is present, but nothing happens with a click.

I've used the same formatting throughout the book; e.g., paragraph tags, master pages, etc. I only have 2 master pages – first and right. First is used for the first page of each chapter. When I save to PDF these 2 chapters separately, the chapter title ends up at the end of the bookmark list instead of the top. I know something is off, but I don't know what to look for. Tags that I don't see? Very frustrating.

I'm relatively new to FM and don't understand the tags in the reference pages. I haven't intentionally created any formatting tags in the reference pages. I only use them for special characters and repeated graphics.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. What I want for Christmas – a decent user manual for FM! I'd take a class, but I'm retiring in April.

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    1 reply

    Arnis Gubins
    Arnis Gubins
    Inspiring
    December 18, 2014

    Beth,

    If the bookmarks are appearing out of order, then it usually is a reflection of the order in which the contents are placed in the text flow. Do you have the chapter title in a separate flow, i.e. your "First" master page has a separate text frame for the title?

    Test your TOC links first in the FM files by holding down the ctrl+alt keys when you mouse over a link - the mouse arrow will change to a pointing hand. Click on the links to see if they go to where they should in the FM files.

    For your Christmas wish, you can try, as so many do, at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Publishing-Fundamentals-Unstructured-FrameMaker-11/dp/0982811853

    Beth3141
    Beth3141Author
    Known Participant
    December 18, 2014

    The bookmarks aren't out of order in the book. I have separate text frames for the titles, but only chapters 2 and 8 have a problem of chapter sections not showing up with bookmarks. I can print these 2 chapters outside of the book and get the bookmarks, except then the chapter titles end up at the end of the bookmark list.

    I looked at the TOC links. I get a dialog box saying, "Cannot find the file..." All of my file names look correct. I'll look at this closer to see if something has an extra space or is misspelled. Odd because the TOC is generated by the book. Seems the links would be okay.

    Thanks so much for the reply. I'll get my company to buy me a copy. I spent $50 on an on-line class that was way too basic.

    Best,

    Beth

    Arnis Gubins
    Arnis Gubins
    Inspiring
    December 18, 2014

    The title bookmarks for the chapters won't be out of order in the book, but you indicated that they are (at the end of the sub-levels) for chapters 2 and 8 when done separately. If the text frames holding these titles were created after the main flow text frames, that would explain why things are things are misbehaving.

    To specify the expanded bookmark level, you need to explicitly type in the level value that you want [ignore the drop down list and "Default" setting].

    From the Book file, regenerate the TOC before you test the links. If you get a "File not found" after this, in the TOC, then something is really messed up i nhe TOC file. I would rename it and create a new one for the book. You can then import your formatting from the older, renamed version.

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