Re: FrameMaker 6.0 to PDF -- Graphics Nightmares, Deadline Approacheth...

[Goober <techcommgoober -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> Problem #1:    I'm a hired gun filling in for
> another writer for two weeks.
> I'm on his Windows2000 (quasi NT) machine, but
> logging in with my own
> password.  I'm editing books in FrameMaker 6.0 and
> converting them to PDFs.

Sounds OK so far.

> The other writer showed me that he creates PDFs by
> using the "Save As"
> feature in FrameMaker.  

I'm cringing already. You should NEVER use Save As PDF
with FM versions 6 and previous - the feature is
broken. Adobe reps have been saying this for a while
now. Print to PS using the Distiller print driver and
then use Distiller to convert PS to PDF.

> His PDFs were HUGE.  Well,
> after incorporating
> edits, I did the same thing...but my PDFs were TINY.
>  For example: His user
> guide PDF was 8Mb and mine was 500K.  I hadn't
> changed any of the
> settings -- not a one!  I then discovered that most
> of his graphics (all
> GIFs, by the way) were imported by reference (I
> always import by copying).

Import by copying is not a good idea, especially if
the writer you're filling in for imports by reference.

> The graphic artist took one of my PDFs and put it on
> his Mac, which is not
> connected to the server.  The result: THERE WERE BIG
> BLACK HOLES WHERE
> GRAPHICS SHOULD HAVE BEEN.  That is, everywhere a
> graphic had been imported
> by reference, nothing showed up.  He said that this
> has never happened
> before.  If this is true, then somehow, when the
> other writer was saving as
> PDF, he was embedding the graphics in his file.  BUT
> HOW?
>
> The problem kinda-sorta seems to be fixed by
> printing to a .ps file and
> dropping it into the Distiller (the Adobe
> techsupport guy suggested this).
> I saved the PDF to my desktop (there are no graphics
> or Frame files on my
> harddrive), and all the graphics seem to be okay. 
> But, because I was too
> stressed out to think of it, I forgot to send a file
> home last night to make
> extra-extra sure that I can still see the graphics. 
> I mean, when you print
> to a .ps file, it embeds the graphics, right?

Um, in your words, kinda-sorta. You should read the
FAQs in the User to User forums on Adobe's web site.

> Problem #2:  There is one graphic that is possessed
> by the devil.  Whenever
> I import it (by either copying or reference -- it
> doesn't matter), it
> becomes blurry after conversion to PDF.  All the
> other graphics are fine.
> I've cursed so much that I think any holy water
> around here has probably
> gone off, so whatever you suggest I will try.

Recreate the graphic. I've seen this before (looks
like scrambled cable channels). You need to recreate
the image from scratch. That's the only workaround I
found, and couldn't reproduce it. I dunno what's up
with it.

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