Adobe FrameMaker 8: Text Insets

by Barbara Binder

 

Text Insets are great when you need to publish the same copy in several locations. Perhaps it is your mission statement, or a description of your company. Rather than rely on a Copy & Paste technique, which necessitates editing multiple documents when the need arises to revise the copy, you can work with just one file as a Text Inset.

 

Here's how it works:

1. In FrameMaker, create a document that contains the copy you wish to include in several publications. This file will be referred to as the source file.
   
   
2. Save and close the source file
   
   
3. Open up the first FrameMaker document that you would like to insert the copy into and use File > Import > File to import it. Be sure to select Import by Reference at the bottom of the Import File dialog box.
   
   The Import Text by Reference dialog appears. There are three parts:
   
   Flow to Import: choose Body Page Flow to place your copy onto the Body page.
   
   Formatting of Imported Flow:  Pick the first option to have the text formatting match the current catalogs, and the last option to retain the formatting from the source document.
   
   Updating of Imported Flow: if you select automatic, the changes will automatically be reflected in the current document when you update the source document. Otherwise, you have to request the update.
   
   
4. Click Import
   
   The text appears on the page. You import the same source files into multiple documents.

Now, here's the cool part. When you get an edit to the source file, you just open it up directly, make the change and save your work. The next time you open up the files with the Automatic Update turned on, the changes will be reflected. If you opted for a manual update, just double click the Text Inset in the document and choose the Update Now button.  

If you wish to change the update status, click the Settings button. Sure makes editing and reusing text easy!

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Want to learn more about Adobe FrameMaker? Come to our upcoming Introduction to FrameMaker 8 classes on October 7-8 or November 3-4. Both classes will be held in a virtual classroom--so you can attend this live, interactive class from anywhere in the country. All you need is a computer with fast Internet access, a headset and the current version of the FrameMaker (the 30-day trial version of the software works fine). You can ask all the questions you like because all virtual classes are led by a live instructor--this is not pre-recorded content. 

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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and was recently recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide for 2007.