Re: Update to 5.5.6?

[Shlomo Perets <mtype@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thomas Michanek considers whether to upgrade to FrameMaker 5.5.6 from 
5.5.3. 

Some PDF-related comments as to the comprehensive list of 5.5.6 
features and bugs he compiled:

...
>New features in 5.5.6

> - Provides a method for reducing the size of generated PDF files

I doubt that this item deserves to be included in a list of "new features".
Adobe themselves kindly included a comment in the "header.ps" file - where
you turn this feature on or off - more or less saying "use this at your
own risk - it might result in damaged links". And in fact, it does
damage links, even in a small and relatively-simple files.

So as painful as the PDF file size might be (because of the excessive
named destinations written by FrameMaker), it is surely less painful
than having PDFs where various "random" links do not work.
(and if you are not concerned with links and interactive features, turn
off the Generate Acrobat Data option altogether, and the PDF file size
will be much smaller).


> ...Crash when printing a file with generated hypertext links with 
> Generate Acrobat Data on

This is indeed an irritating problem. Despite knowing about the workaround
(printing the file through a book), I find myself "instinctively" using
the Print to file in a TOC file, especially in the context of demonstrations
and troubleshooting, with the inevitable reminder following soon after.
I assume it is less encountered in the context of regular work with 
FrameMaker, when you naturally work with books regardless of this.

Note: This problem occurs only with generated lists (and not with generated
indexes)


> - Doc.Info. no longer picked up from imported EPS when saving as PDF

For this purpose, FrameMaker 5.5.6 writes DSC comments in the beginning
of the PostScript file it creates - which are used by Acrobat Distiller
to populate the Document Info fields. This causes /DOCINFO commands 
embedded in PostScript text frames to be ignored.
The problem of having EPS comments being picked up by Acrobat Distiller
to populate DocInfo fields is surely an irritating one, but it does not
have anything to do with FrameMaker, and takes place with other applications.
(The automatic conversion of DSC comments to DocInfo fields - Author, Title,
and Creator - is on the list of "new features" in Acrobat 3.0; seemingly 
the problem of DSC picked up from EPS files was not anticipated).


Note: There are various nuances in the way FrameMaker 5.5.6 writes the 
"Acrobat Data" in the PostScript file. Generally of no significance to 
"standard" FrameMaker-to-Acrobat process, these are described in the
context of one of the questions in the FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers 
FAQ 1.5.2b available on my web page (http://www.microtype.com/TMS-FAQ.html).


Shlomo Perets

MicroType * http://www.microtype.com
FrameMaker-to-Acrobat: TimeSavers / Advanced Techniques Course / Solutions






** To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@omsys.com **
** with "unsubscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.   **