Creating a Caution Table, having issues

[jbarkerhill]

Hi, 

I'm trying to create table styles for all the notations within my manuals (Danger, Warning, Caution, Note).

I currently have a decent looking format, but want to add a caution logo on 3 of the tables (Danger, Warning, Caution). I'm trying to figure out a good way to do that. My currenty method I'm trying is:

- Add caution logo to reference page, within a graphic frame

- On body page, create a table with two columns in the header

- In the left column of the header, use a paragraph styles that uses Frame Above Pgf and references the Caution logo

It should work, but FM is glitching out and showing a white background on the logo

I altered the logo in Photoshop so that it's transparent and doesn't have a white background. But FM isn't honoring the transparent background

Also, using the Frame Above Pgf feature adds a bunch of extra space to the header I don't want. 

The white background on the logo shows up in the outputted PDF also, so it's not just a display artifact in FM

Here's proof that the logo has a transparent background, which works in Word:

Any suggestions for adding a Caution logo to my Caution tables so that the logo populates automatically when I insert the table, and also so that the logo doesn't have a white background?

Thanks 

[jbarkerhill]

Might have found a solution:

Set the background color of the graphic frame to same color as the heading of the table 

Still need to address all the extra space from using Frame Above Pgf

[jbarkerhill]

It looks pretty good in outputted PDF

I used "Straddle" feature to merge the body cells of the table.

Also used tab in top ruler to center the text in header, since with having two columns the text is off center. 

I don't understand why, in the Paragraph designer, the Space above and below text options have no effect. I think I read that those features don't work on the first line of a paragraph. How am I supposed to remove excess space before a paragraph? 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

What format is your graphic in?

As to the spacing, check your table and cell insets. Paragraph space only works when there is another paragraph above or below. Your style with the symbol is sitting in a cell all by itself. 

I uploaded some files you might want to inspect at:

https://www.ideastraining.com/PDFs/WarningCaptionStyles.fm

[jbarkerhill]

Hi, 

My graphic is a .PNG file. 

I put the graphic in a cell by itself because if I put it in same cell as the text, the Frame Above Pgf method for inserting the graphic will mess up the spacing between the text and the logo

I want the Table style set up so that the graphic and text in header populate automatically when somone inserts the table. I'm using Autonumbering for the text.

I got the table looking pretty good with spacing, using your suggestion of the changing the cell padding in the table style 

Another issue now is that when I insert a new table, the "straddle" feature I applied to join the two body cells resets, even though in the table style I saved it with the Straddle function applied to the two body cells 

Just one glitch after another. Might abandon adding the logo and come back to it later 

If anyone has a better method than mine would be interested to know 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Unfortunately, straddle is not saved with a table style.

[jbarkerhill]

And is Straddle the only way to merge two table cells? There should be a function to permanently merge two cells, like you can do in Word

If Straddle doesn't get saved in the table style, any suggestions for accomplishing my aim of having a table style with a caution logo and caution text auto-populating, and having closely cropped spacing around the text and graphic 

Having to reset the straddle every time is unacceptable to me 

[LinSims]

Try the AutoText plugin from Silicon Prairie. You can save all sorts of things for insertion in other docs. When it comes to tables, it'll bring in straddles, formats, and graphics. I have all my notations in my AutoText, preformatted for a full page width, indented one place, and indented two places. 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Sorry--I forgot this site won't allow .fm or .mif files (go figure...). I guess Adobe doesn't trust their own file format.

[Bob_Niland]

Simplicate and add deletions.

The alert symbol no longer needs to be done as art (and was never ideal as raster art). The glyph is now part of Unicode:
⚠ U+26A0 WARNING SIGN
Find a font that populates it, and renders it in your desired style. It's inherently transparent, and the stroke can be colored as desired (perhaps white over safety red for DANGER).

The admonishments don't have to be tables. I used to do them as named frames on a Reference Page (as as EPS vector art in those days). They might even be done as a Variable these days.

Also review your colors. Check whatever safety standards apply to the field of interest for the document, and of course ANSI Z535.1 and/or ISO 3864.2. Since I last had to try to harmomize those, the stds committees may have narrowed the gap, and perhaps even provided useful color specs for electronic publications (such as sRGB primaries).

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

I recieved a call and forgot to hit post, but here is my approach.

Assuming you want the black lines that surround the warnings, you will need a table. Also, I grabbed a graphic, but you can use Bob's recommendation of the glyph, as well.

• Put all of the elements in the named frame on the reference page: gylph/image, text and background color. Adjust the spacing/position there. 
• Back on the body pages, add the 2-row, 1 col table. 
• Create a paragraph style.
  • Anchor below current pfg, not above. 
  • Create a paragraph style and set the type size to 2, the table cell margins (still in para designer to -2, 0, 0, 0). 
• Create a table style and set the cell padding to 0, 0, 0, 0.

~Barb

[jbarkerhill]

Awesome, thanks to all for the advice 🙂

I'll try Barb's method and report back if it works for me 

[jbarkerhill]

The method from Barb seems to have worked 

The formatting for the heading of the table populates automatically when I insert the table

To be determined if it works consistently 

Thanks for the help 🙂 

[Barb Binder]

Looks great!

Just a final comment – you needed to pull out all of the padding from the table designer to get the orange frame to fill the first cell.  You can add some cell margins back in through the paragraph designer > table cell properties for the CellBody style. 

~Barb

[jbarkerhill]

Another issue came up

I'm trying to copy the frame from the reference page to create the other two table header styles 

But when I paste the frame, nothing shows up. I can set a name for the frame but then nothing shows up

If I open a new blank document, go to reference page, and paste the frame, it does show up...

[jbarkerhill]

To clarify, I have a frame on the Reference page that is defining the table header style for the Warning table.

I want to duplicate this frame and adjust the color / text to create the table header styles for the Danger and Caution tables. I want to have three frames total on the reference page. 

But nothing shows up when I select the Warning table header style frame, and click paste. This issue has happened before and I never found a solution. I just had to create a new frame because I couldn't copy and paste an existing one

[jbarkerhill]

* copy the Warning table header style frame, then click paste 

Can't edit these posts apparently... 

[jbarkerhill]

Well, I just re created each graphic frame, and eyeballed them to get them the same size

I also can't multi-select frames on the Reference page to use the Align features to line them up and ensure they're the same size

Man FM can be a pain sometimes

Here's the style that I have though

[Barb Binder]

What's happening is FrameMaker is pasting the copy inside of the original frame. Be careful, you probably have several in the original frame at this point.

Here's a video that shows what's going on and how you can separate them. I also have the Align panel open to remind you that you can use the Align panel to align multiple selected objects. And you can use Graphics > Object Properties to set the width and height values. That should take care of all the issues.

~Barb

[jbarkerhill]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. One final issue is that when I print the page, the Caution logo on the red Danger table has a lighter color of red surrounding the logo. In the PDF the header has the solid red color throughout the header, which is the way it should look. I might go to the length of editing the caution logo in Photoshop and giving it a red background of the exact same color as the red in the table header. That might introduce some new glitch though

I've spammed the forums enough for now so I'll revisit it some other time 

[Barb Binder]

We are always happy to help, @jbarkerhill. Come back any time with questions. 

I have used the technique you specified—adding a background color that matches the actual background color for an image. My guess is that it is the anti-aliasing (edge blending) on the PNG file. You might try a native .ai vector file, or use the glyph that Bob recommended. Vector content should be just fine. 

~Barb

[Bob_Niland]

re: …has a lighter color of red…

If the logo is still raster, that could just be edge "ringing" due to some curve-matching compression being applied. If so, switching to a vector icon would make that go away (Unicode, SVG, EPS).

But also check that the same color model (RGB vs. CMYK) is being used for colors that are supposed to match, as well as that in-FM or post-processed application of any color profiles is the same.

FM has improved color management a bit, but still can present color matching problems.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Nifty thought to include a video...I'll bet you recorded it faster than if you'd written out the whole procedure, eh?