Something else that can help speed up the translation to PDF: if any of
the artwork uses Illustrator's Effects, have the artist expand the
appearance of all objects, then do an object cleanup (Object > Path >
Cleanup) and resave. Reimport to FrameMaker. Especially if the objects
are appearing on each page, even a small improvement in processing time
will add up.
Tori Muir
tm...@spot-on-creative.com | 650.430.8674
www.spot-on-creative.com
On 4/14/10 2:42 PM, Combs, Richard wrote:
Pete Roebber wrote:
You're not using OLE (File> Import> Object), are you? Use File> Import
File. What format are the graphics?
IIRC, FM 9 supports native Illustrator (.ai) file import. What file size
are they?
I'm using File> Import> File to import .ai files. The graphics files are
~1MB each.
I'd look at two things. First, if the AI files are really big, see if
they can be "optimized" to cut down the file size,
or try exporting to other formats.
Is 1MB really big? I've also tried JPG, with file sizes around 200K. Didn't
seem to make a big difference, though I didn't try doing a whole manual
that way.
Well, it strikes me as big for vector drawings, but I'm not very knowledgeable
about AI files. Are there gradient fills, or something similar?
I'd strongly advise against JPG, which should be reserved for continuous-tone
images, i.e., photographs. But you might do a timed test comparing AI files
with, say, PNG. Presumably, you're only talking about changing three or so
master pages, so comparing two complete versions of the manual shouldn't take
any longer than it takes to import page layouts to all the files in a copy of
the book.
Second, look at your Distiller joboptions settings. Depending on the
intended destination
of the PDF (on-screen vs. office printer vs. high-quality press), you may
be able to use a different joboptions file or
tweak the compression/downsampling settings.
I always use "Standard." I publish the PDF to the Web so it has to be high
enough quality in case customers want to print, but still keep the file
size reasonable.
In Distiller, select Settings> Edit Adobe PDF Settings to look at and tweak
the Standard.joboptions file (you can save changes under a different name). Or
just for grins, try using the Smallest File Size setting and compare the speed and
quality.
Oh, and one other thing. When you say ">1 hour print times," are you
talking about the time to create the PDF or the time to
print the PDF on an office printer? If the latter, check how much memory
the printer has and/or try different printers.
If the former -- wow. You _are_ using the Adobe PDF printer instance,
right?
Former. I use, from the book file, File/Save AS PDF, and select "Standard"
as the quality setting. Wow is right!
Unless you have Sundorne's SetPrint plug-in or you manually change it in Print
Setup, FM uses your system's default printer for Save As PDF -- that's the
chief cause of the problems people have with Save As PDF. Use only the Adobe
PDF printer for PDFs, either by manually changing to it or by using SetPrint to
automatically change FM's printer when it starts.
That's all I've got, so I'm directing the conversation back to the list in case anyone
else has something to contribute. "Wisdom of the crowd," you know. :-)
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
------
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to framers as tm...@spot-on-creative.com.
Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com
or visit
http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/tmuir%40spot-on-creative.com
Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit
http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
_______________________________________________
You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com.
Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com
or visit
http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com
Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit
http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
