Shlomo Perets microtype.com

Making the Most out of FrameMaker’s Graphic Tools

1 My services & tools ('&')

■ Training / ConsultingFrameMaker (including Structured), Acrobat, Captivate (on-site or via web)

■ Template development■ Conversion services

(to FM; FM to Structured FM)■ Add-ons: FM Express Customization;

FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers + Assistants (Forms, Navigation …)

2 FrameMaker graphics■ Easy to handle inside FrameMaker■ Vector■ Not easily exported to other graphic

formats for re-use elsewhere

3 FrameMaker’s graphic toolssmart select select object

line arcpolyline freehand curve

rectangle rounded rectangleoval polygon

text frame text linegraphic frame

fill patternpen pattern

line widthline end style

current default dashed line patterncolor

tintoverprint

4 Set up drawing environment■ Grids

● Visible grid ● Invisible snapping grid● Choose your own spacing for the grids

■ Gravity● Makes it easier to connect to an existing

object when drawing/resizing/reshaping● Objects exert gravity along their path; corners

= double; rectangles/ovals also at their centers ● Gravity takes precedence over Snap (if active)

5 View quality ■ Often need to refresh screen:

Window > Refresh or Control-L ■ Tip: select object before zooming in,

to have it displayed in the zoomed view

6 Selecting objects■ Shift-click to select additional objects■ Shift-click an object to deselect one

object ■ With smart cursor: Ctrl-click text frame

or text line to select as an object

7 Selecting objectsCONTINUED

■ Drag selection border around objects■ Holding down Shift-Ctrl while

dragging makes it easier to select specific items

■ Select all on page or in frame (Ctrl-A)■ Select first drawn (Esc o F),

next (Esc o n)

8 Many uses of Shift key ■ Shift and drag object to move along

vertical or horizontal axis■ Shift-click when selecting a tool to

keep it active & draw multiple objects (select any tool to end)

9 Many uses of Shift keyCONTINUED

■ Shift while resizing to maintain ratio ■ Shift while using the drawing tools

to constrain the shapes drawn● Oval circle● Rectangle square● Arc circular arc● Line, Polyline & Polygon straight vertical or

horizontal lines or at 45°

10 Quick copying

Hold down Alt or Ctrl while dragging an object to create a copy

11 Group / ungroup■ Small groups can be nested inside larger

groups – may need to ungroup several times to access a specific item

■ Small groups can be useful when aligning and distributing, e.g. several pairs of graphic item + callout

12 Object styles (FM11+)■ Named styles for graphics

● Object Style Designer Esc g i ● Object Style Catalog Esc g e

■ Globally update some/all graphic properties by adjusting style definitions

■ Can use File > Import Formats to bring styles defined in other files

13 Fine positioning (“nudge”)■ Move selected objects using arrow keys:

press Alt-Arrow for a small nudge or Alt-Shift-Arrow keys for a large nudge

■ At 100% zoom, small nudge is 1 point and large nudge is 6 points; the nudge distance changes depending on zoom settings

14 Bring to front / send to back■ Controls stacking order■ When adding callouts to bitmaps, bitmap

should be sent to back

15 Align■ Single item is aligned relative to

anchored frame, graphic frame or page■ When two or more objects selected –

items align relative to last item selected

Before aligning

T/B Centers

Tops Bottoms

Before aligning

L/R Centers

Left Sides

Right Sides

16 AlignCONTINUED

■ Esc g a to open Graphics > Align(multiple choices, vertical+horizontal)

■ Use direct alignment: Esc j followed by● l (left) ● t (top)● r (right) ● m (middle)● c (center) ● b (bottom)

17 Distribute

Leftmost / topmost items remain in place

Objects as drawn

Equidistant centers

Edge gap = .0625"

Equidistant edges

Horizontal distribution

Objects as drawn

Equidistant centers

Edge gap = .0625"

Equidistant edges

Vertical distribution

18 Rotate

■ Free rotate with Alt+drag handle(rotation angle reported in status bar)

■ Shift while Alt+dragging a corner or reshape handle constrain rotation to 45°

■ Can inspect an object’s rotation angle in Object Properties (Rotation/Angle)

Objects rotate around their centers

Text lines rotate around their alignment points

Abc Abc

19 Reshape■ Reshape arc

■ Reshape polyline / polygon

Arc: 270 -306 10% Arc: 270 18 30%Start and end angles

Percentage of circle

2 Choose Reshape

3 Drag 4 Release1 Select

20 ReshapeCONTINUED

■ Reshape curveControl point

Reshape handle

2 Drag reshape handle

3 Drag control point

4 Rotate control point

1 Select Reshape

21 ReshapeCONTINUED

■ Ctrl-click to add/remove control points■ Right-drag reshape handle to crimp

a curve

Right-drag reshape handle

Select Reshape

22 Join ■ Join lines, arcs, polylines, freehand

curves – so that fill can be applied

■ Objects have to be touching end to end to be joined

Objects drawn

Objects positioned and selected

Objects joined

Fill pattern selected

23 Smooth

Smooth/unsmooth

Before smoothing After smoothing

24 Scale

Useful when you need to resize different items consistently

25 Curvature of rounded rectangle

The curvature of the “corners” of a rounded rectangle can be changed by specifying the radius of an imaginary circle drawn in the corner of a rectangle (Graphics > Object Properties)

Radius = .125 inch Radius = .25 inches Radius = .375 inch

r r r

The longer the radius, the more curved the corners are

26 Cropping a graphic

Use an anchored or unanchored graphic frame to crop (mask) the edges of a graphic

Uncropped graphic Graphic placed and cropped in an unanchored graphic frame

27 Picking up object properties

To change one or more properties of one object to match another: ● Select the object that has the properties you

want to copy● Hold down Shift, Graphics > Pick Up Object

Properties – properties of selected object are made the default in palette

● Select the objects you want to change and click the properties to apply

28 Change line cap style

Cap style determines the appearance of any line ends that don’t have arrowheads

Projecting Butt Round

29 Change arrow style

Arrow styles are determined by their base angle, tip angle, and length. They can be filled, hollow, or drawn with sticks.

B = Base angle

T = Tip angle

L = Length

T B

L

Filled

Hollow

Stick

30 Custom arrow style

You can create a custom arrow style by specifying new settings below Custom:● Style: Filled, Hollow, or Stick● Base angle: 10–175

(at least 5 greater than tip angle; FrameMaker ignores base angle setting when choosing Stick)

● Tip angle: 5–85● Length: 0–255 points

31 Custom arrow style CONTINUED

Length specified applies to objects that have a line width of 1 point. When you use a thicker line width, arrowhead is longer Arrow Base angle Tip angle Length

70 30 10 points

80 30 10 points

70 15 10 points

70 30 5 points

32 Set number of sides

Use to draw a regular polygon

Original object

Number of sides = 3

Start angle = 0

Number of sides = 3

Start angle = 45

0 045

33 FrameMaker clipart■ Ancient…, but can still be used as a

basis for development, or to learn how graphic techniques were used

■ Files are in the clipart folder(Help > Clip Art…)C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker12\ClipArt