¿Is there a substitute for MicroType TimeSavers?

[Guest]

2009-04-07-02T12:40Z

My apologies to you, Shlomo, but I have to ask.

FrameMaker 7.1p116

Acrobat Professional 8.1.3

As they might say in New York, "Not for nothing, but . . .."  I have been unable to post to FrameUser's list and to Free Framers list.  If you subscribe to one or both, will you please post this there for me?

¿Is there a substitute for TimeSavers?

¿If yes, what?

¡Thanks in advance for your prompt responses!

Dave Stamm

dave.stamm@gdc4s.com

[Guest · Accepted solution]

As far as I know, a very, very small number of the very basic things that TimeSavers does could be done directly in FM, if -- and that's a big IF -- you new the correct pdfmark syntax and you knew where / how to insert the codes, and then how FM uses (or doesn't!) the codes while creating PDFs.  Examples of relatively basic features that I've personally done through pdfmark code are things like colorizing PDF bookmarks and adding additional bookmarks.

However, the vast majority of the TimeSavers capabilities cannot be duplicated any other way. AFAIK there aren't any other apps that do the same things, definitely nothing within FM and nothing in the "post-FM production" stage in the PDF-manipulation world.

Sheila

[Arnis Gubins]

As Sheila said, if you're proficient at pdfmark syntax and grammar, can shoe-horn in postscript text frames and/or EPS files, then you could accomplish some of the same things. But why re-invent a not so round wheel?

[Guest]

btw, for anybody reading who might not be familiar with the way TimeSavers works, the biggest, most important advantage -- aside from the cool, incredibly useful PDF effects and added functionality that TimeSavers accomplishes -- is that the setup for everything is handled entirely through FM markers and .ini files. So, the settings can be retained, re-used, customized, and modded up the ying-yang, and applied across books / users / companies in a manageable and controlled way.

Dave, if you need another way to check for alternative solutions, you might try Scott Prentice's tools / tools search page, on http://www.leximation.com

Sheila (are we doin' the due diligence two-step yet?)