Adobe Acrobat X: Using Acrobat for Electronic Plan Review

by Barb Binder

I had an opportunity last week to teach an Advanced Acrobat X class for one of the well-known ski towns in Colorado. The folks in my class were responsible for reviewing building plans from architects, engineers and even the untrained homeowner scribbling on a napkin to make sure that the plans adhered to the local building codes. In the past, this was a painstaking process, handled on paper. I was hired to help the reviewers implement an electronic workflow.

As a long-time Acrobat trainer, this took me into an area I’ve rarely spent much time: using the engineering tool set. We looked at controlling layer visibility and print options, learned how to measure distance, area and perimeter, including how to control the measurement scale which is anything but obvious in Acrobat X, and became adept at controlling magnification with the Pan & Zoom and Loupe tools (which turn out to be really useful on large, detailed drawings while being barely worth a mention on 8.5 x 11” documents.)

Adobe Acrobat X: The Engineering tools include Layers, Measurement, Pan & Zoom.

The students were excited to be able to verify the size of windows, to double-check ceiling heights and the distance between gaslines and electrical outlets. They learned to enter their feedback directly on the drawings using the Annotation and Mark-up tools. The Cloud tool was a favorite, because it stands out from the usual straight lines found everywhere else on the drawings.

Adobe Acrobat X: The Cloud Tool was a favorite

We learned how to add links from the drawings to the specific sections on code they were concerned about and how to add stamps like APPROVED or REJECTED as they finished up their edits.

Adobe Acrobat X: The final stamp of approval

We wrapped up the class by learning how to initiate a Shared Review with Live Collaboration so that the reviewers could collaborate in real-time with the other reviewers, and eventually include the architects and engineers.

This was the first class in a long time (Acrobat or otherwise) where I felt like I learned almost as much as the participants. And I loved seeing how happy they were as they started the move to an easier, more streamlined plan review process.

2012
01/26
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Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Document Properties

by Barb Binder

It’s easy to ignore the Description tab of the Document Properties dialog box in Adobe Acrobat. You may never even think about it as you create, enhance and review your PDFs. But if you start amassing a large collection of PDFs, that would be a grave mistake. The Description fields are easily searched (both locally and online) and taking a few minutes to fill them out as you go will save you the headache of realizing a few years down the road that you should have been doing it all along. My personal rule is to make sure I get those fields filled out when I make a PDF. I set the fields up in advance for files created in InDesign, FrameMaker & Word, so that they are saved with the source file and simply appear each time I create a PDF.

The general steps are the same for all three applications (and many others that I won’t address in this post). Basically, it’s:

  1. Open up a native file in your source application.
  2. Determine where to enter the description fields.
  3. Create the PDF.
  4. Open the PDF in Acrobat or Reader.
  5. File > Properties > Description to view the fields.

For the specifics on setting this up in InDesign, FrameMaker & Word, read on.

Adobe InDesign

  1. Open any InDesign document.
  2. Choose File > File Info > Description (Mac & Win) and fill out the description fields and click OK.
    Adobe InDesign: Use File | File Info to enter your description fields
  3. Use File > Export to create the PDF document.
  4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
  5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields.
    Adobe Acrobat X: Use File | Properties | Description to see the Description fields imported from InDesignTo see any additional fields, click the Additional Metadata button.
    Adobe Acrobat X: Use the Additional Metadata button to view additional fields imported from InDesign

Adobe FrameMaker

  1. Open any FrameMaker document.
  2. Choose File > File Info and fill out the description fields and click OK.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Use File | File Info to enter your description fields
  3. Use File > Save as PDF to create the PDF document.
  4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
  5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields.
    Adobe Acrobat X: Use File | Properties | Description to see the Description fields imported from FrameMaker

Microsoft Word

  1. Open any Word document.
  2. Choose File > Properties (Mac) or File > Prepare > Properties (Win) and fill out the description fields.
    Microsoft Word: Use File | Properties (Mac) or File | Prepare | Properties (Win) and fill out the description fields
    On Word for Windows, the fields appear at the top of the document. If you want to see the dialog box, you have to click on Document Properties, and navigate to the Summary tab. On a Mac, you are taken right to the dialog box.
    Microsoft Word: Click Document Properties on Windows to see the Summary dialog box
  3. Use File > Save as PDF (Mac) or PDFMaker (Win) to create the PDF document.
  4. Open Acrobat or Reader.
  5. Choose File > Properties > Description to see the fields.
    Adobe Acrobat X: Use File | Properties | Description to see the Description fields imported from Microsoft Word

So I know all this, right? And yet yesterday, I found myself with 50+ PDFs that I just created and was ready to send off to the client, only to realize that I forgot to enter the description fields… on all of them! If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, check out Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Multiple PDFs.

2012
01/25
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Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Multiple PDFs

Yesterday, I found myself in the undesirable situation of having just created 50+ PDFs that were ready to be sent to the client, only to realize that I forgot to enter the description fields… on all of them! (If you are not familiar with description fields, check out Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Description Fields to Document Properties.)

The files were all articles within one large FrameMaker document, and needed the exact same fields. I could have sighed (read: cursed), returned to FrameMaker, entered the File Info into the book document, and recreated all of the PDFs, but it seemed like a good time to try out the new Actions Wizard in Adobe Acrobat X Professional. Turned out to be pretty darn easy to retrofit all the files with their description fields. And even better, I now have the action ready to go, in case I make the same mistake again.

Here’s what I did:

  1. In Acrobat X Professional, I started by opening the Actions panel with View > Tools > Action Wizard. (On a Mac, you have to have a file open to access the panels.)
    Adobe Acrobat X: The new Actions panel
  2. I chose Create New Action from the top of the panel.
  3. This opens up a dialog box that makes things very easy by breaking actions down into four simple steps: 1.) Start with; 2.) Steps; 3.) Save to; and 4.) Save the action.
    Adobe Acrobat X: The Actions Wizard
  4. Since all of my PDFs were sitting in a single folder, I began by choosing Start with: A Folder on My Computer, and navigated to the folder. (In this example, it’s html docs:pdfs:.)
  5. Next, I moved to Steps. A new action begins with the instruction to “Add steps from the Panels on the Left.” I opened the Content panel on the left side and selected Add Document Description. This adds the step into the right column (shown above with a blue background.)
  6. If I wanted each description to be unique within each PDF, I could have selected the check box for Prompt User, and had the opportunity to enter the fields individually when I ran the action. In my case, I wanted all the fields to be the same, so I left it unchecked. Instead, I clicked the box under Options to enter the description fields for all of the files, and then clicked OK:
    Adobe Acrobat X: Adding Document Description fileds to multiple documents
    If you are creating actions for others, you can add optional instruction steps. Since this action was a.) for me, and b.) just one step, I decided not to bother.
  7. Next, I needed to tell Acrobat where to save the updated PDFs, and I chose Save to: Same Folder Selected at Start and Overwrite Existing Files. (That may not have been the smartest choice, but I knew I could recreate the PDFs from FrameMaker in a matter of minutes if I messed things up. As a general rule, work on copies of your files!)
  8. Finally, I was ready to save the action and give it a try. I clicked on Save, gave the file a name and description, and clicked on Save again.
    Adobe Acrobat X: Saving a new Action with a name and description

The action appeared in my Actions Panel, and even better, worked like a charm on all 50+ files when I clicked it. From a production standpoint, it would be better to add the fields into the source files, so that they are there each time the PDFs are created. But, as my first foray into Acrobat X Actions, I was quite happy with the results!

2012
01/25
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Adobe FrameMaker: Complex Table Columns

by Barb Binder

I received the following inquiry from one of my recent Advanced Adobe FrameMaker students.

I have a question about formatting tables in FrameMaker 9. My document has a large table that is built with 6 columns (example below):
Adobe FrameMaker: Original Six-Column Table

I need to create additional rows at the bottom of the table, that evenly divide the table into two columns (see example below):
Adobe FrameMaker: Two Column Addition to the Six-Column Table

I’m stumped. Can this be done?

The answer is yes, and I offered up two options:

  1. Create two separate tables. To make them touch so that they appear to be a single table, remove the spacing between them, and have the anchors sitting directly next to each other. Make both tables the exact same width, and play with negative Space Above Table in the Table designer to remove any lingering space between the two tables, so that they appear as a single element.
  2. Work with merged* cells. He could take column three in the top image, add a column to the right, merge/size the original column 3 and the new column 4 to look like they do now. Then, merge the cells in the new rows to look like the second image.

When I followed up a few days later, he said that the table turned out just fine. He ended up choosing to merge the cells, and was satisfied with the results.

Adobe FrameMaker: The Completed 7-Column Table

* Remember, FrameMaker uses Table > Straddle to merge two or more selected cells into a single cell, and Table > Unstraddle to break them apart.

2012
01/15
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Adobe FrameMaker: Resolving Chapter Numbering Issues

by Barb Binder

I was asked this question twice today: once during today’s Introduction to FrameMaker 9/10 class, and again via email by a student from a past FrameMaker class:

I’m […] trying to get book chapters to auto-number. I have added them to my book, carefully following instructions in the guide, but I am getting duplicate numbers. If it’s worth anything, I did reuse chapters from another manual to create this book. I have kept everything in a folder and I built the book in that same folder. I’ve tried several times to build this book – the very definition of insanity – trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. All I want for Christmas is to get this book off my desk!!

Adobe FrameMaker: Chapter Numbering in the Book Window

The good news is that there is a very easy fix. Here’s how:

  1. Start by opening the book file as shown in the screen shot above.
  2. Next, tell the first chapter in the book window that it gets to be chapter 1: Click once to select the first numbered chapter in the book window. (In this example, click once on Chapter 1- Course Overview.)
  3. Choose Format > Document > Numbering (or Right click > Numbering).
    Adobe FrameMaker: Numbering Properties | Chapter tab
  4. Select the Chapter tab.
  5. Activate the radio button for Chapter #. Set the # to 1, and the Format to Numeric (14).
  6. Click Set to update the book.
  7. Finally, tell all the other chapters to number consecutively down the list: Click the 2nd chapter in the book window, then SHIFT click the last chapter. (In this example, click on Chapter 2 – HCCT Navigation, then hold the SHIFT key and click on Chapter 1 – Document Manager.)
  8. Return to Format > Document > Numbering.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Numbering Properties | Chapter
  9. Activate the radio button for Continue Numbering From Previous Chapter in Book.
  10. Click Set to update the book, and voila, the numbers are fixed.

I love getting to play Santa! Happy holidays, everyone. See you in 2012.

2011
12/21
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Adobe FrameMaker: The Page Count Variable for Books—Part II of II

by Barb Binder

In a previous post (Adobe FrameMaker: The Page Count Variable for Chapters—Part I of II), we learned how to track and reference the page count of a single chapter. But what about trying to keep track of the last page of a multi-chapter book? That question was posed recently by one of my Advanced FrameMaker students. Turns out it can be done, it just takes a little creativity and more than a little patience. (If you need it, though, it’s well worth the effort.)

Here’s the big picture: you are going to insert a frame on the first page of the last chapter of your book, add the page count variable into the frame, and hide the evidence. You’ll finish up by adding a cross-reference to that variable in the running heads of all the master pages of your book.

Note: Before you start, make sure you have your page numbers displaying properly in your running heads, and that you have set your Page Number properties set to Continue Numbering from Previous Page in Book.

To add the final page count of the book to your running heads:

  1. Open the last chapter in the book list and add a frame in the margin:
    • Choose View > Toolbars > Graphics Toolbar.
    • Select the Place a Text Frame tool.
    • Draw a small text frame in one of the margins and pick OK when presented with this dialog box:
      Adobe FrameMaker: Create a New Text Frame
  2. Add the Page Count variable to your frame:
    • Click inside the new frame. The frame should be empty, except for your blinking insertion point (and the End of Flow marker, if showing).
      Adobe FrameMaker: The text frame that will hold the Page Count variable
    • Choose Special > Variable to open the Variables pod. Add the Page Count variable (double click to insert, or click once on the name, and click the Insert button on the Variables pod toolbar).  The last page number of that chapter will appear at the cursor position.
  3. Hide the variable from your readers:
    • Create a paragraph format for the variable and store it in the Paragraph Catalog. I called mine PageCount.
      Adobe FrameMaker: Create a paragraph format for the variable.
    • You don’t want anyone (besides FrameMaker) to see the variable in the margin, so set the paragraph’s color to White, and click on Update all. The frame will still be visible, but the text disappears.
  4. The next step is to add a cross-reference to this now-hidden text.
    • View > Master Pages
    • Locate your Page Number variable (it’s the #) and click an insertion point to the right of it. Tap the spacebar, type the word “of” and tap the spacebar again.
    • Choose Special > Cross-Reference.
    • In the Cross-Reference panel, set the Document to Current, the Source Type to Paragraphs, your Paragraph tag to PageCount, and click on the page number in the Paragraphs list. (Even though it is the only item in the list, you still need to click on it.)
      Adobe FrameMaker: Add a Cross Reference to the Page Count variable
    • Click the Edit Format button to set up a custom cross-reference format: give it a name (I again called mine PageCount), delete the current definition, and replace it with <$paratext>. Click on Add, Done, and then Insert to insert the variable into the running head.
      Adobe FrameMaker: Create a new cross reference format for the variable
  5. Wow—almost there! Finish up by putting the cross-reference in the running heads on each master page of that file. Save your work!
  6. To add the updated running head to all the other files, use File > Import > Formats to import the new cross-reference format, the page layout format and the new paragraph format to the other chapters in your book.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Import your formats from document to another

Fussy? Yes! But it works.

2011
11/28
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Adobe FrameMaker: The Page Count Variable for Chapters (Part I of II)

by Barb Binder

FrameMaker makes it easy to track (and reference) the page count of a single chapter. FrameMaker ships with a Page Count variable that makes it easy to set up running heads with page numbers that look like this: 1 of 10, 2 of 10, 3 of 10, etc.

Here’s how:

  1. Choose View > Master Pages
  2. Click an insertion point into a header or footer frame.
  3. Choose Special > Variables to open the Variables pod.
  4. Add the Current Page # variable (double click to insert, or click once on the name, and click the Insert button on the Variables pod toolbar).
    Adobe FrameMaker: Using the Current Page # and Page Count Variables
  5. Tap the spacebar, type the word “of” and tap the spacebar again.
  6. Finish up by inserting the Page Count variable and return to the body pages. The Page Count variable works by inserting a reference to the last body page of the chapter. As you add and remove pages via editing, the variable updates.

Easy enough. But what about trying to keep track of the last page of a multi-chapter book? That’s another whole ball of wax! See Adobe FrameMaker: The Page Count Variable for Books—Part II of II.

 

 

2011
11/21
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Adobe FrameMaker: Change Bars (Part I in the Editing Series)

By Barb Binder

Once upon a time, the vision for FrameMaker was to be one of those 3-in-1 programs that were popular back in the ‘80s (remember Lotus 1-2-3?). The three components were word processing, illustration and page layout. Fast forward 25 years and FrameMaker is not the first program you are going to consider for word processing or illustration.

It has, of course, emerged as the program of choice for technical writers who need to produce very complex, technical documentation. However, the early features still remain in the software, and recently the word processing features have been improved on. This is first in a series of articles introducing the editing features, starting with change bars. From there we’ll move on to the compare document utility, track changes, importing PDF comments.

A frequent request from my Adobe FrameMaker students is how to indicate were changes have been made to a document. We have a few options, but let’s start with a look at change bars. Here’s how they work:

  1. Open a FrameMaker document.
  2. Choose Format > Document > Change Bars.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Format | Document | Change Bars
  3. Decide how you want the bars to look (distance, thickness, position and color). Don’t forget to enable the Automatic Change Bars check box before you click Set.
  4. Start typing and editing. The bars will appear automatically next to any line that you change.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Change Bars appear in the margins
  5. When you decide that you are ready to remove the change bars, simply return to Format > Document > Change Bars and enable the Clear All Change Bars checkbox. Click on Set and they will be permanently removed.

But what do you do when you make edits before you remember to turn on the change bars? In that scenario, the Compare Documents utility will be just the thing.

2011
11/17
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Adobe FrameMaker: Compare Documents (Part II in the Editing Series)

By Barb Binder

Another question I regularly hear from my Adobe FrameMaker students is how to quickly compare two different versions of a single file. There’s an easy answer, but because the command isn’t readily visible, it’s often overlooked. Here’s how it works:

  1. Open two versions of the same file in Adobe FrameMaker.
  2. Use Window > Documents to navigate to the newer version of the file.
  3. Choose File > Utilities > Compare Documents. The newer document will be preselected, based on the fact that the comparison was initiated in the newer file. Select the file you want to compare from the Older Document list. (It must be open or it will not be listed.)
    Adobe FrameMaker: File | Utilities | Compare Documents
  4. I recommend starting by requesting the Summary and Composite Documents so that you can see what they do. If you don’t find the Composite document useful, you can always opt to see just the Summary document in the future. You also have to ability to customize the output options with the Options button, but I think the defaults work just fine.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Document Comparison Options dialog box
  5. Click Set to close the Comparison options dialog box, and click the Compare button to initiate the comparison.
  6. FrameMaker responds by creating and opening two new files for you: the composite document (if you requested it) and the summary document. The composite document will show you the actual changes, using conditional text and change bars. The red strike-through shows you which words have been removed, and the green underline indicates the additions to the file.
    Adobe FrameMaker: Document Comparison Composite
  7. In addition, you can use the summary file to see an overview of the changes. The page numbers are hyperlinks, so you can click them to jump to the actual location of the correction in the Composite file, the Newer file or the Older file. (This is a locked FrameMaker document, so you can simply click to follow the link.)
    Adobe FrameMaker: Document Comparison Summary

One more thing, it’s worth noting that Adobe Acrobat has the exact same feature available, so if it’s easier for you, you can initiate the comparison on your PDF files. In Acrobat X, the command is found in View > Compare Documents. In Acrobat 9 and earlier, it was Document > Compare Documents. The dialog box looks a little different, but the results are very similar. A new PDF is produced: the first page has the summary, the changes are noted via markup annotations on the pages that follow.
Adobe Acrobat X: Compare Documents

Looking for more information on the FrameMaker editing commands? See Adobe FrameMaker: Track Text Edits (Part III in the Editing Series) and Adobe FrameMaker: Importing PDF Comments (Part IV in the Editing Series).

 

 

2011
11/17
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Adobe FrameMaker: Track Text Edits (Part III in the Editing Series)

By Barb Binder

The next topic in our FrameMaker Editing series is on Track Text Edits. (Previous articles in the series are on Change Bars and Compare Documents.) Adobe introduced Track Text Edits in version 8. This is a familiar tool to many Word users, and is a terrific way to allow an author to accept/reject the changes suggested by her editor.

Let’s say that Samantha creates a FrameMaker document and e-mails it to Jennie for editing. Jennie can open up the document in FrameMaker, enable Track Text Edits and then proceed to edit the document (adding, deleting and replacing existing text).

When Jennie returns the FrameMaker file to Samantha, Samantha can see what changes Jennie has made, and can choose to accept or reject her changes, both on an individual basis or throughout the entire document.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Let’s say you are the editor and need to mark up a FrameMaker document. Start by opening the file in FrameMaker version 8 or later.
  2. Show the Track Text Edits toolbar. (While the command location and the presentation of the tools vary slightly in versions 8, 9 & 10, the functionality is very much the same. The exception is the addition of two new options for in FrameMaker 10 users. They are documented at the end of this article.)
    • In FrameMaker 10: View > Toolbars > Track Text Edits:
      Adobe FrameMaker 10: The Track Text Edits Toolbar
    • In FrameMaker 9: View > Toolbars > Track Text Edits:
      Adobe FrameMaker 9: The Track Text Edits Toolbar
    • In FrameMaker 8: View > Track Text Edits:
      Adobe FrameMaker 8: The Track Text Edits Toolbar
  3. In all three versions, click the Adobe FrameMaker: Enable Track Text Editsbutton to enable track changes (or use Special > Track Changes > Enable).
  4. Try adding a word, deleting a word, and replacing a word with Track Text Edits enabled. The green/underline colors you will see are used to show additions, and the red/strikethrough shows words that are marked for deletion.
  5. Once you have finished entering in the edits you can return the file to the author. She will use the following buttons on the Track Text toolbar to review your work.
    Adobe FrameMaker: The Track Text Edit Accept, Reject and Navigation buttons
  6. The first pair is used to accept or reject single edits, the second pair is used to navigate from one edit to another, and the last pair is used to accept or reject all of the changes.
  7. She will have three additional buttons available to control the display of a document that still contains Track Text Edit information (which means that she has not accepted or rejected all of the edits).
    Adobe FrameMaker: The Track Text Edit preview buttons
    • The first one gives the FrameMaker user a final preview: all red/green indicators are hidden, and the document shows all of the suggested edits.
    • The second previews the original document: all red/green indicators are hidden, and the original document is shown without any of the suggested edits.
    • The third button turns off the preview mode: all the red/green indicators are restored and all the suggested edits are visible.

New in FrameMaker 10: Two new features have been added to the Track Text Edits commands in FrameMaker 10: the ability to filter edits by name and the ability to set the scope for tracking edits. These commands are accessible via Special > Track Text Edits or as buttons on the toolbar.
Adobe FrameMaker 10: The Scope menu is on the left, the Filter menu is on the right.

  • Scope: You can set the scope for tracking edits for the current book, DITAMAP, or document. (When you open a book or DITAMAP, the scope is set to Book or MAP by default.)
  • Filter: To filter the edits by author or reviewer name, select Special > Track Text Edits > Show Reviewer Name> [user name]. This allows you to navigate through the all the edits made by the specified reviewer, and to globally accept or reject all of their edits.

This is a terrific online workflow when everyone has access to (and knows how to use) FrameMaker. What do you do when the author uses FrameMaker, but the editor doesn’t? No worries. There’s a solution for this workflow as well. All the editor needs is a copy of Adobe Reader, version 9 or later. For details on how to implement this workflow, see Adobe FrameMaker: Import PDF Comments (Part IV in the Editing Series).

2011
11/17
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