If anyone has one or more templates demonstrating the type of Master pages/Reference pages discussed in the parent subject, if they're not copyrighted, and if you're authorized and willing to disseminate them to the group, would you please store a copy in the Framers' file archive? I would love to study how they're designed, and I suspect others would like to study them as well.
Val -- Valerie Lipow vallipow at gmail.com On 8/7/07, Steve Rickaby <srickaby at wordmongers.demon.co.uk> wrote: > > Hi Framers > > In off-group discussions with Angela and others, it's become only too > clear that it's possible to create clever stuff on master pages that is > obvious to its designer but to no-one else ;-) For example, the auto > thumbtabs stuff which came up recently on the group, or anything that > involves a template with complex frames on master pages. Because this often > involves overlaying transparent objects, it can create a maintenance > headache for whoever comes afterwards, as recently witnessed by someone on > the group who had to get an expert to fox out how their template was working > [that was a thumbtabs thing]. It's real important therefore to document how > the template works, if only in a few lines. > > In the case I'm discussing with Angela, switchable page backgrounds, when > the technique is working there are multiple conditionalised anchored frames > on a master page, all the same size, all overlaying each other, and with > their boundaries and anchors nudged outside the displayed area to create the > required crop margins. That sort of thing would be enough to fox anyone. > > A way to ensure that the description travels around with the template is > to add one or more extra reference pages called 'Notes' or somesuch, and put > a brief potted description of how the template - or it's more foxy features > - operates there. That way the 'docs' can only be lost if someone > deliberately deletes the relevant reference page(s). > > When massing with multiple frames on master pages, it's a lot easier to > see what's going on if you give the various frames a temporary - and > different - fill pattern and/or colored border. When you've finished > dickering with them, you can use the Find > anchored frame feature to select > them one by one and remove the decorations. I use this when building frames > for moving thumbtabs to get the stacking order for the various frames > correct. > > Hope this helps someone. > > -- > Steve > _______________________________________________ >