pdf bookmarks

[byrdye]

FrameMaker is SO much fun when you barely know what you're doing!

However, I am persevering. Got all the glitches worked out (for this five minutes). For now.

The client distributes the FM doc as a pdf. No problem, I can do that. BUT!! (you knew that was coming, didn't you?). When I generate the pdf, the TOC is expanded:

- Chapter 1 Whatever

  This Heading

  That Heading

- Chapter 2 Whatever

  This Heading

  That Heading

They don't want that, they want the TOC condensed:

+ Chapter 1 Whatever

+ Chapter 2 Whatever

I can't figure out the setting. I've checked the online help and found it as useful as expected (meaning not at all. What is it about Adobe and their online help?).

Where do I find that setting? What do I set?

Thanks!

Jo Byrd

[Arnis Gubins]

Jo,

You really don't have much control over how FM expands the bookmarks when creating PDFs. IF you really want to control the appearance of the PDFs, you need to get Shlomo Perets' TimeSavers tool. See http://www.microtype.com/timesavers.html

The alternative is to create the PDF, then configure the bookmarks as required manually in Acrobat and save the PDF. However, whenever you re-create the PDF from FM, you'll have to do this all over again...

[Be.eM]

Arnis Gubins wrote:

Jo,

You really don't have much control over how FM expands the bookmarks when creating PDFs.

Arnis,

this isn't quite true. I hope to make it clear, although (using the German version) I don't know the exact names of dialogs and screen objects in English.

On the second tab "Bookmarks" of the PDF export dialog, you've got the entry box "Expand bookmarks through level" (or similar). By default, there's always an astronomical number of thousandwhatever. Change this to "0", and only the top level headings are visible, as the original poster asked for. Change it to "1", and the first two levels of headings will be visible in the PDF.

Edit: Meanwhile the entry box doesn't contain a number by default, but "Standard/All/None". Didn't notice that, because all of my books are set to "1".

Bernd

[byrdye]

Well, I tried setting the Expand to 0, but it expanded anyway.  I ended up taking Arnis' advice, closing them and saving the pdf. They stayed closed when I reopened, so the client will be happy Monday when she looks at it. That's the important thing (and I get paid by the hour, so...)

Thanks, guys! I appreciate all the help I've gotten here.

Jo

[Be.eM]

byrdye wrote:

Well, I tried setting the Expand to 0, but it expanded anyway.

Hmmm… strange. It works here as expected. But if your problem is solved in an other way, good

Bernd

[Arnis Gubins]

Bernd,

You are correct. Over the years, I have been ignoring it, since it behaved in an unpredictable manner in earlier versions of FM and I always used Shlomo's Timesavers to control bookmarks.

However, I checked it out and as you said the drop down list only gives three choices: Default, All, None. There is no indication that one can actually enter a value here. I checked the help and this direct entry option is somewhat obfuscated in the description.

To specify at which level bookmarks appear expanded in the exported PDF, select an option from the Bookmarks Expanded through Level pop-up menu. You can type a value, such as 2, to specify that only the top two levels are expanded.

However, it really does appear to be working in FM9, when an explicit value is typed in. This is an excellent example of what NOT to do in GUI design. Thanks Adobe!

[byrdye]

It may not have worked because the client has FrameMaker version 7 and I'm working on a remote desktop (talk about your torture!). Not 7.2, seven point zero. There was a reason I upgraded to 7.2 the moment I found out it existed! I have version 8, now, and it's a LOT more user-friendly.

I've always found Adobe's help to be just this side of worthless. It's a little better, now, but not by much. It's REAL annoying when using RoboHelp - I mean, it's a help authoring tool, and the help just....well, let's say it isn't worthy of a HAT (Help Authoring Tool)!

Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.

Jo

[Van Kurtz]

For what it is worth, I set the expansion level to None and it works just fine. 0 may also work, but I have not tried it. I have noticed, however, that the setting is not always saved with the book/files; therefore, I always check that it is indeed None before making the PDF.