FrameMaker's functionality missing in the InDesign...

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Looking for people using both programs - to pick their brains 😉

What kind of functionality would you like to see in the InDesign?

Please either post here or privately. 

TIA 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

More of Frame's Book features (been asking for years...). 

Per-document pagination in a book (not one setting for all documents). 

Variables that can break across lines.

Ability to add partial Character styles to variables, x-refs, etc. 

Multiple indices.

I'm sure there's more. I'll edit or add as I think of them. (Not at my main computer.)

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

[...] 

Variables that can break across lines.

[...] 

By @Dave Creamer of IDEAS

That's pretty much done 😉 will work even in the free version of my tool - but will require a bit of extra clicking 😉 

Variable -> to text -> back to Variable. 

Plus ability to use only part of the contents of the variable - e.g. only part of the File Name. 

Plus auto applying dedicated Para / CharStyle - so different "locations" can be easily found and processed. 

Next step - full management on the document level - editing, creating, importing, etc. 

So there is only one step to auto-updating bunch of documents based on the new File Name - with automatic PDF generation and upload. 

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

I wonder if you'd get better results asking this question in the Id forum, where folks are looking for things Id doesn't do (or do well)

For myself, I like Fm's ability to manage content across VLB (Very Large Books) and InDesign's ability to microdesign a specific page.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I wonder if you'd get better results asking this question in the Id forum, where folks are looking for things Id doesn't do (or do well)

[...] 

By @Matt-Tech Comm Tools

Yeah, I'm already there 😉 but was hoping to get more ideas. 

[...] 

For myself, I like Fm's ability to manage content across VLB (Very Large Books) [...] 

Could you please elaborate? I'm not FM user. 

[FrameMaker-dk]

My main gripe with InDesign is mainly speed and the lack of fast book handling. InDesign is slow when the number of pages rise. And the book feature is a mess. That said, I sure wish FM had some of the good features of InDesign like guidelines, better color management, better font support and better print engine.

[frameexpert]

I agree. Give me a pasteboard, ruler guides, configurable paragraph rules and paragraph shading.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

I agree. Give me a pasteboard, ruler guides, configurable paragraph rules and paragraph shading.

By @frameexpert

If only scripting through VB would be possible in FM... 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@FrameMaker-dk

How often are you saving your document with a new name - to get rid of the Undo History, etc?

Could you please be more specific about the functionality? INDD Document can be opened WITHOUT UI - which speeds up things >30%. Lack of UI isn't a big deal 😉 

My tool - paid version - can do pretty much anything in the InDesign. Free version can still do a lot - but requires extra clicking. 

[FrameMaker-dk]

I very, very rarely save documents under a new name.  Next to never. And books only when I absolutely have to. I never use the undo history. 

Regarding InDesigns book file, it has an annoying tendency to insist on updating everything whenever you move files around in the book. And the update process can not be cancelled. While you can export to HTML5 on a per document basis, the book can not be exported to html5. As far as I know, that is.

I believe the publish panel in FrameMaker is actually excellent. One can start multiple publishing process at the same time, like HTML5/Epub and PDF. AND you can save the publish settings into a settings file.

I really wish, though, that somebody would realize that "Print" is ALSO publishing and put a print option into the Publish panel too and remove it entirely from the File Menu. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@FrameMaker-dk

Then you REALLY need to do Save As with a new name more often.

When you do Save - InDesign just adds Undo History to the "end of the file" - then, when you open your document again - InDesign NEEDS to analyse all those small steps - kind of replicate AGAIN all the changes you've made. 

Which takes time and can lead to corruption. 

Updating files in the Book - you could work on each file separately - without opening it through the Book - which should help. 

Then, either synchronise / update things at the end of the day - or use a 3rd party tool 😉 instead of the Book built-in feature 😉 

About export to HTML5 - I'm working on it - would probably go much faster if soumene would like to help me test it 😉 

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Just for anyone reading this thread... @Robert at ID-Tasker  is describing a quirk in InDesign, not FrameMaker. Doing Save As in FrameMaker has no value in speeding things up. In fact, using Save As would likely break all the referencing between documents that FrameMaker is so good at.

[frameexpert]

FrameMaker has anchored frames that can contain multiple images, callouts, etc. As far as I know, InDesign doesn't have anchored frames that allow you to have multiple objects in it. Is that still correct?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

FrameMaker has anchored frames that can contain multiple images, callouts, etc. As far as I know, InDesign doesn't have anchored frames that allow you to have multiple objects in it. Is that still correct?

By @frameexpert

You can group your objects and then "Paste Into". 

Or you can "Paste Into" a single object into a Rectangle / Oval as well. 

That was available long time ago. 

Group is kind of like any other graphic object.

[Barb Binder]

That's correct, Rick, we still can't do it natively in InDesign like we can in Fm. Grouping is the workaround, but it's fussy. To add call-outs to existing groups—or add another image—you'd need either mess with layers or cut the group from the frame, paste it on the page/pasteboard, add the new content, select, group, cut and paste into again. When you multiply those extra steps by the sheer volume of images so many of us—and our clients—work with, it's still a limitation.

~Barb

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@frameexpert 

[...] When you multiply those extra steps by the sheer volume of images so many of us—and our clients—work with, it's still a limitation.

Simple variants - even with a free version of my tool - would be piece of cake. 

With full / paid version - whole document can be automatically processed - without any limits in complexity. 

[frameexpert]

I am not opposed to using custom tools; after all, I make a living developing them for FrameMaker. Send me a link off list. Thank you. rick at frameexpert dot com

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@frameexpert

Sent.