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Bob_Niland
Community Expert
Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 1, 2011
Answered

Switched or Conditional Page Size

  • June 1, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 2145 views

Some recent work has involved manuals for export products, and the issue of page size could be on the horizon. We presently render to US letter size (USL), but A4 might become needed ...

... ideally from a common shared set of book files ...

Content scaling is not an option, as some graphics are 600 dpi bitmap. optimized for our 600 dpi pub engine, and they develop visible artifacts if
rescaled.

The USL page layout contemplated this possibility way back when, so we have a column layout solution that allows keeping the same column and gutter sizes, yet leaves ample margins for printing and hole punching on USL or A4.

The content already re-flows onto the taller A4 page with no particular difficulty. And it does reflow, because condition codes switch some content on and off depending on target English-speaking market. Update Book is required in the workflow already.

The issue is how to quickly switch between USL and A4 page layouts.


FM 7.1 does not have conditional page layouts, and it's not clear if later versions (we do have FM9) have anything comparable.

Two workarounds that come to mind are:

  • Create (one time) two separate sets (USL and A4) of empty book component files, used only as the source for Master Pages.
    Workflow:
    Open each book component
    Import MPs (Master Pages)
    Set Condition Codes
    AMP (Apply Master Pages)
    Update Book
    Print
    Rinse and repeat for other page size
  • Create (one time) a single separate set of empty A4 book files, used only for printing. These call in the entire Flow A of the USL files content as Text insets imported by reference.
    Workflow:
    Open A4 clones
    AMP
    Update
    Print

_______

Any other ideas?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Van Kurtz

    I would avoid the text inset (second workflow you mention) workflow, because you will have problems with cross-references.

    In the first workflow, you can save some steps by naming the master pages in each version (letter, A4) the SAME. It is even better if you use the default names Left and Right. When you import the master pages from the OTHER template, the change is immediate; no need to reapply master pages, because the imported ones write over the existing ones with the same names.

    In addition, whenever importing any formats and EDDs, you can select ALL files in the book file (no need to open them) and import the master pages from the other template. No need to open each one separately. Again, no need to reapply master pages. When you open any of the files, it will have the correct master pages automatically.

    Of course, you have to update the book, because changes in pagination.

    1 reply

    Van Kurtz
    Van KurtzCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    June 2, 2011

    I would avoid the text inset (second workflow you mention) workflow, because you will have problems with cross-references.

    In the first workflow, you can save some steps by naming the master pages in each version (letter, A4) the SAME. It is even better if you use the default names Left and Right. When you import the master pages from the OTHER template, the change is immediate; no need to reapply master pages, because the imported ones write over the existing ones with the same names.

    In addition, whenever importing any formats and EDDs, you can select ALL files in the book file (no need to open them) and import the master pages from the other template. No need to open each one separately. Again, no need to reapply master pages. When you open any of the files, it will have the correct master pages automatically.

    Of course, you have to update the book, because changes in pagination.

    B
    BEPubs
    Participating Frequently
    June 2, 2011

    The way our company gets around this is to use a special paper size with the smaller width of A4 and the smaller height of US letter. We use a 210 x 279 mm page size. Since our documents are usually distributed/downloaded as pdf files and available worldwide, a user can print locally at 100% using his local paper (A4 or letter) and no scaling occurs, provided he has set his Acrobat/Reader properly. Acrobat just centers the content on the page and the extra margin is either top/bottom or side/side. There is a paper size called PA4 which is close to this (210 x 280 mm) that Wikipedia lists as a transitional size.

    For high-end printing we use this size as well and the service bureau just cuts the paper to size (I think they would typically do this anyway because of running 4-ups, 8-ups, etc.). Since we need to provide a pdf file for printing (haven't found a service bureau yet that wants FM files), this could be sized to whatever size you want, provided you have the bleeds extending far enough off the page.

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity ExpertAuthor
    Community Expert
    June 2, 2011

    The way our company gets around this is to use a special paper size with  the smaller width of A4 ...

    I basically already have that. Our column, header and footer widths were selected so that our PDFs could be printed on USL or A4 without rescaling (as long as the user turns off scaling in Reader - most people have it on by default).


    ... and the smaller height of US letter.

    If we decide to recast for A4, one reason for doing so would be aesthestic - fully using the A4 page space as we do the USL space. If the extra top/bot whitespace is not a problem, we can just print to A4 from today's PDFs.

    ... haven't found a service bureau yet that wants FM files ...

    Apparently they used to exist. My guess is that FM revision churn, plus a large heap of font issues (largely solved by .ps or .pdf with embedded fonts) made it easy to decide to cease accepting jobs in native DTP formats.

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