Tips & Tricks for Creative Professionals and Technical Writers using the Adobe Creative Suite & the Adobe Technical Communications Suite

by Barb Binder

Adobe FrameMaker: Did you know that…

1. You can follow any hyperlink in FrameMaker by pressing Control+Alt as you click on the link? You can do this with manual hyperlinks (i.e., a link to a web page) or automatic hyperlinks (i.e., a cross-reference, or an index page number).
2. You can hide and show all imported graphics in an image by simply unchecking/checking Graphics under View > Options?
3. You can quickly create a new single-sided portrait document by pressing Control+N, Alt+P?
4. You can insert a user-variable by tapping Control+0 (zero, not the letter O) and typing the first letter(s) of the desired variable?
5. You can select two consecutive paragraphs with different paragraph formats and change both of them at the same time? (When you pick Update All, the Global Updates dialog box opens when you have two or more paragraphs selected.)
6. You can unlock an accidently-locked document with Esc F l k? (Shortcuts are case sensitive so you need a capital F and lower case l k.)
7. You can shrinkwrap an anchored frame and position it at the insertion point by pressing Esc m p?
8. You can add a tab within a table cell by pressing Esc Tab?
9. You can get an inch mark with smart quotes on by pressing Esc Shift ‘ ?
10. You can pose questions on the FrameMaker General Discussion forum and FrameMaker experts from around the world will rush to answer them (because they earn Adobe “community points” for each question satisfactorily answered)?

1. Character Formatting. Highlight a range of text and press the F8 function key. The left side of the status bar lights up with a blue background and offers you a list of Character tags. You can use the arrow keys  to navigate to the desired format, or tap the first letter of the format to jump right to it. After you highlight the one you want and just press Enter to accept. To remove Character formats, press  F8 and then press Enter.
2. Paragraph Formatting. Works like Character formatting, but F9 displays a list of Paragraph Tags. Here’s a tip for long lists with multiple tags that start with the same character: press a lower case letter to work through the list from the top down, and an uppercase letter to start at the bottom and work up!
3. Transpose characters. Those of us who try to type far too fast for our own good will love this one. Just place your cursor between two letters and press Control F9. They reverse position instantly!
4. Shift the focus back to the document window. When you are in a Designer, and want to shift the focus back to the document window, just press Shift F7.
5. Set dialog box to As Is. The best way to make Character Formats is to begin by setting everything in the Character Designer to As Is. What a pain in the neck. Not anymore:  Shift F8 is the way to go. (What? Still struggling with Character Formats? Check back soon for a quick review.)