How to create a link in FM9 to open a PDF in a new window?

Report · Jul 29, 2010

I'd like to create a hypertext link in my FM9 document that will open a new window containing a PDF document. Also, will this link hold if I transfer the file to Robohelp to create a help site using PDF?

Thanks in advance for your time!

Report · Jul 30, 2010

b, an alternative place to ask about links from Robohelp would be here:

http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_general_discussion

As far as the link from FM to open a PDF, I'm not clear whether you mean that the the user would be in FM when the link to the PDF is being used, or do you mean that the user would be in a PDF or in the help sites created by Robohelp?

FM can maintain some hyperlinks, but there are often gotchas with paths because FM's capabilities are fairly modest; you might find some of the examples from the FM addon called TimeSavers utility useful, as it signifcantly expands what can be achieved with links from within FM.

http://www.microtype.com/showcase.html

Report · Jul 30, 2010

Thank you Sheila,

The final output for my project would be a help system run through Acrobat as well as a print version. I have several links to .pdf's in the project and I am wondering if I can set the links as I type out the project in FM. On the last project I ended up setting all the links in Adobe at the very end of the project and I would like to avoid that in the future. I'm just hoping there is a better way! I have RoboHelp available to me and I am looking into the advantages of using it. When using TimeSavers, would the links set in FM transfer over to RoboHelp? As you can tell, I am new to these programs so any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Report · Jul 30, 2010

Using TimeSavers the links would definitely transfer to the PDFs, yes, that's one of the significant advantages of it, because you can put the links into markers when you're working in FM and those links are retained in the PDF -- pretty much eliminating any tweaking in Acrobat.

As far as the links going into Robohelp, though, I'm going to have to pass on that one, hopefully somebody else here can jump in with some advice. Are you using the integrated TCS suite (FM + Robohelp), or do you have a standalone version of Robohelp?

As far as creating a help system from FM there are several routes to go; unfortunately there are so many considerations that it's not easy to give a 10,000-ft view on the forum. You might also take a look at a product called Mif2Go from http://www.omsys.com that works with FM to output several different types of help file formats. For a first-time project it might be quite daunting but don't lose hope, everybody on the OmSys site and in their mailing list is extremely helpful.

Another great resource is the TechWhirlr's site, at http://www.techwr-l.com

Sheila