Initial Review of FrameMaker 2019

[seanb_us@yahoo.com]

I just got FrameMaker 2019. I'm moving there from FM 12. I use primarily unstructured content, and have been using FM on and off for a lot of years. My initial thoughts are these.

The installation is one of Adobe's best for FrameMaker. The software came as a single Zip file, that I downloaded. Running Set-up.exe in the Zip prompts you to unpack everything, which I did. And then, nothing. Nothing. So, I ran Set-up.exe again, and still nothing. The issue was, the second time, I selected the same Set-up.exe file I selected the first time: the one in the Zip. However, when I unpacked the lot, a second folder was created outside the Zip. When I selected that Set-up.exe, the installation began. Yay! Although the installation itself estimated "2-4 minutes remaining," the installation took closer to 25 minutes on my 4-year-old Windows 8.1 Lenovo laptop; I can't blame all of that slowness on Adobe. And, after the installation, I was not prompted to reboot, which made me happy.

The first thing I did, though, was reboot, just to be sure. Then, I checked FM 12, which seems to work fine. I used FM 12 with Acrobat 11 Pro to create a PDF using Save as, and that went seamlessly, also. I did not expect FM 12 to be hobbled by installing FM 2019, because FrameMaker's track record has been to support old versions alongside new ones. I was nervous about Acrobat, but the news seems good there. (The only issue with running an old version alongside a new version of FM is really the copyright. If you upgraded to the new version, and I did not, then you really are obligated to shelve the old version because you used its license for the upgrade.)

So, I opened FrameMaker 2019 ( 15.0.0.393) seemed to work okay as well. I brought in an FM12 book and files, and that went smoothly. Them, I used File > Save as PDF, which did not prompt me to set up bookmarks or even a name for the PDF. I need to dig into this more on this, but the PDF was good.

Next, I tried File > Publish and then selecting PDF presented a default location I did not want. I need to see if I can make that default to the current book directory. It also seemed to give me no options for naming the PDF or setting bookmarks. It did create a PDF subdirectory structure that I did not ask for. But, the PDF looked good. So, I have some way to go to set up PDFing.

Because I use third-party vendors for translation, I took a look and found that FM 2019 will save back to FM 2017, which seems groovy, but I have FM 12, so would probably have to MIF it (or keep using FM 12 for my projects until my vendors catch up).

More later, but I thought I would share my experiences so far. Looks ok; well done Adobe.

Cheers,

Sean

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Hi Sean,

Bookmarks are a catalog-dependent thing, so they're set up under Format > Document > PDF Setup.

See Faster PDF publishing – Adobe FrameMaker (2019 release) - YouTube for an overview. Bookmarks are about 2 minutes into the vid.

I'm not sure about the concurrent usage of old versions being a copyright issue, and would love to hear Adobe weigh in on this. As long as you're not running licenses concurrently I'd expect you're still in Adobe's good graces.

Also, if you have significant localization expense, look to switch to structure to slash your localization costs.

-Matt

[seanb_us@yahoo.com]

Hi,

Yeah, am going to run through some of the online tutorials to get up to speed, such as here: Installation instructions | Adobe Framemaker (2019 release) .

It doesn't matter to me, I bought a new license not an upgrade one. I think Adobe made a stink about this years ago; maybe they have mellowed?

So, I don't see DTP as a big expense for my translations. That said, I plan on moving to structure, I just need a class to give me a boost to get there. Maybe this year.

Cheers,

Sean

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

I'm a big fan of the one at the bottom of that Installation instructions | Adobe Framemaker (2019 release)page...

Regarding the localization...it's not the DTP, but the localization itself that benefits from structure.

Structured files are perhaps 1-10% the size of .fm or .mif files, so there's better and more organized use of translation memory, less hand work.

For my clients, moving to structure results in faster, cheaper, better localization. Of course there are benefits to reuse, SEO, accessibility, and consistency as well.

Let me know when you're ready for that (beyond Intro) training!

-Matt

[seanb_us@yahoo.com]

Yeah, so I haven't watched that FREE COURSE, but I'm turned off from spending three hours on it (your recommendation aside).

"

Introducing FrameMaker 2019 FREE COURSE

Learn about FrameMaker and learn how to convince your organization to adopt a more cost effective FrameMaker workflow.

• "FREE COURSE" Really, all caps?
• Cost effective needs a hyphen.
• I don't need to learn about FrameMaker. I need to get up to speed with FM 2019.
• I don't need to learn how to convince my organization, as we have FrameMaker.

So, it sounds like the video would waste a lot of my time and has a different audience in mind than me.

Cheers,

Sean

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Wow, strong reaction!

Thanks for the typo, and I also took your advice and shortened the course title.

Many here might benefit from this Adobe-sponsored program, so hopefully they find the link to the course and the feature videos more useful.

-Matt

[seanb_us@yahoo.com]

Oh, no worries. And, I suspect you read more into my reaction than I intended; it just sounded like it covered a bunch of stuff I wasn't interested in. ALL CAPS is just a pet peeve. I see quite a few videos on YouTube about the new 2019 version of FrameMaker, though, so am going to be watching more than a few of those (I watched some even before I bought).

Cheers,

Sean

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

(I watched some even before I bought)

Yep, that's the idea...

[joesuburbs]

We produce and publish user reference guides for our software solutions - each one is 100 pages to - 300 pages. We distribute them via PDF and probably 80 percent are not printed, but only viewed on screen.

Is FrameMaker 2019 any good at viewing and displaying png or jpg screen captures in PDF files?

thanks,

[Stefan Gentz]

Hi,

not sure, if I understand what you mean with your question "Is FrameMaker 2019 any good at viewing and displaying png or jpg screen captures in PDF files?" … You can import/link JPEG, PDF, and PNG files in FrameMaker. You can also create PDFs from FrameMaker files containing JPEG/PDF/PNG files.

Kind regards,

Stefan Gentz

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Hi Joe,

Yes, FrameMaker is great at placing, viewing, and delivering screen captures in PDF. My own 500-page  book, FrameMaker - Working with Content, has multiple screen captures per page.

*I don't recommend using JPG in for screen captures in ​any application, as the compression process results in poor display of type and gradients.

[anneq090909]

Hi Sean,

I'm curious if you've learned anything more about publishing .pdfs, specifically the annoying dialog that pops up when you click 'save as pdf' and the pdf not saving with the .fm book or document. My department is ready to revolt and string up their leader (me) for putting them through this every time they need to generate a .pdf. Any ideas or tips you've learned?

Thanks!

[Stefan Gentz]

Hi anneq090909,

the "Save as PDF" issue has been addressed in Update 1. You can now do a simple File > Save as PDF, the "Save as File" dialog will open (defaulting to the document's folder), click "Save" and you document will be saved as PDF using the settings defined in the STS file.

See also my blog post here.

Kind regards,

Stefan Gentz

[anneq090909]

Thank you,  Stefan Gentz (Adobe) I just updated our software to the most recent release and it does, indeed, seem to solve the issue. Thanks to Adobe for making this correction.