RE: FrameMaker Graphics

Subject: RE: FrameMaker Graphics
From: "Fred Ridder" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: Sean -dot- Brierley -at- ipc -dot- com, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:25:21 -0400

The point of Ami's caveat is that using linked graphics rather
than pasted-in graphics can easily result in incomplete documents
unless there are good processes in place (and adhered to, which
is another matter...) for keeping track of the source graphics
files. If you lose track of a graphic file, all you get in the
FrameMaker file is a grey box and your document is unpublishable
until you either find or re-create the graphic. If you paste in the
graphics, you're never left with an incomplete, unpublishable
document, and it doesn't matter if you know where to find
the graphic source file unless you need to edit it (which may be
never).

When our pubs group was keeping all our source files in our
own Documentum docbase and were using the now-obsolete
FrameLink middleware product to keep track of all the relationships
between files used in FrameMaker books, we used referenced
graphics. But once we had to start using the huge corporate
docbase (which did not support FrameLink), we adopted the
standard corporate practice of using pasted graphics in the
FrameMaker source files so that any writer who accesses the
book at a later time would be checking out FrameMaker file
sets that were fully self-contained. (Graphics source files are
archived separately in a zip file in case the figures ever need to
be updated. Each zip file contains all the figures for a given
edition of a given document.) Using pasted graphics also
means that we only have to check out the dozen or two
FrameMaker component files (chapters) rather than also
checking out dozens of separate graphics files, although
it does mean that some of the chapter files are very large
(I have several books with chapter files larger than 20MB).

Fred Ridder


>From: "Brierley, Sean" <Sean -dot- Brierley -at- ipc -dot- com>
>To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
>Subject: RE: FrameMaker Graphics
>Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:53:55 -0400
>
>Well, if you move the graphics subdirectory from the FrameMaker
>directory, then the link is broken and the image is not displayed in
>FrameMaker. That is, not originals = no display in FrameMaker. An
>environment with such a workflow might just as easily delete FM files
>from the project, or support files from a WWP project.
>
>Deleting source files can be unhelpful. I don't think this is a pro or
>con for linking files, just reflective of the organization of the
>organization involved <g>.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Sean
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: techwr-l-bounces+sean -dot- brierley=ipc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+sean -dot- brierley=ipc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
>Behalf Of Pro TechWriter
>Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 12:46 PM
>To: Ami WRIGHT
>Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>Subject: Re: FrameMaker Graphics
>
>One caveat: I can't tell you how many times I've had to recreate
>Framemaker graphics as a contractor where they were (1) linked and (2)
>there were no originals.
>
>Usually, what happened was the original writer left, and the files were
>moved from one directory to another to another, which broke the links to
>the graphics, and then the orignal graphics got lost.
>
>Linking to the graphics is a good idea, but deleting the original art
>work is not. If you are short on space, copy them to a DVD or CD and
>save them, just in case.
>
>Just my $.02 based on (mumble-mumble) years of experience.

_________________________________________________________________
http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=hmtextlinkjuly07

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RE: FrameMaker Graphics: From: Brierley, Sean

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