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Re: PhrameMaker 7.0 Phont Phunnies, and regular FM crashes when printing
Subject:Re: PhrameMaker 7.0 Phont Phunnies, and regular FM crashes when printing From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 27 Jun 2003 05:52:22 -0700 (PDT)
> While waiting for a boxed version of FM 7 to arrive,
> I've installed and am
> using the demo version (320MB!). I need to first
> produce PDF files, and then HTML files.
I thought the demo didn't allow saving and printing...
did they finally change that?
> I know on a high level that FM "sees" fonts in part
> based on the printer
> driver. When I began working on this book, I was
> getting regular messages
> that Times and Helvetica couldn't be found and it
> was substituting instead.
Those fonts are used in FM's default templates. You
can ignore (turn off "Remember Missing Font Names" in
Preferences), or you can make sure all your templates
are updated to not use these fonts (includes all para
and char styles, master page elements, and reference
page elements including the frame names on the
reference pages). But, if you're not using these fonts
at all and they aren't in your paragraph/char styles,
then you can safely turn off "Remember Missing Font
Names".
> I also found that FM 7 requires Acrobat 5.0.5, so I
> downloaded and installed
> the update from the Adobe site.
You'll need to reinstall that after you install your
official FM 7 copy.
> I have 2 Acrobat-related printer drivers: Acrobat
> Distiller and Acrobat PDF
> Writer. I assumed that setting Acrobat Distiller as
> my default printer for
> this project would be the right thing to do. No go.
> When I try to open
> documents when that is set as the default, I get a
> FM Console error: it
> can't find 2 variations of Helvetica. The same with
> Acrobat PDF Writer.
Turn off "remember missing font names and then open
and save all your documents. Then set Distiller as
your default printer. You should then be good to go.
Also, make sure you configure the Distiller printer
using the latest PS driver from adobe.com/products and
use the distillr.ppd that's in your Distiller's
program directory folder "Xtras" instead of "Generic
PostScript Printer" that is shown to you by default
when running the PS driver installer.
> So I went to a workaround: print to a PostScript
> file, the use Distiller
> itself to create the PDF. So I use the PostScript
> printer as my default
> printer driver, which I have set to print to a file.
> But 9 times out of 10,
> FM 7 crashes near the end of producing the .PS file.
> Oh, it writes a file
> out all right, but it is corrupted somehow because
> Distiller can finish
> producing it.
Do you have enough scratch space on your computer for
this?
> On the rare occasions when FM doesn't crash (and it
> crashes near the end of
> producing the .PS file), Distiller produces a very
> nice PDF file, and I'm
> happy. But in this whole process, I am happy rarely,
> and I cannot figure out what's going wrong.
Hmmm... so FM craps out after producing the PS file
in-tact? Dunno, maybe the demo version is buggy or is
designed to do this to thwart people from using it for
real work... Let us know if your "official" version of
FM does this when you get it and install it.
> I am reluctant to call tech support; I doubt they
> provide support for the demo anyway
Probably not.
> I should note also that I have ATM installed,
> although I don't know if that
> makes a difference.
Full version of ATM on XP, yes, it makes a difference.
ATM Lite is useless on XP as XP has its own build in
font manager that's comparable to ATM Lite. Plus, if
using OT fonts like TNR and Arial, you don't need ATM
at all to manage them.
> What I am surprised about is
> that on none of my
> computers do I have the Times and Helvetica font
> files (I thought they came
> with ATM).
Nope. They're referenced in your FM files' styles,
Master pages, and Reference pages.
> I don't know if this makes a difference.
> Maybe I'll have to shell
> out to buy those fonts to clear up these problems?
Nope. Just tag EVERYTHING with the font you want to
use.
> (I'm not making great
> rates on this contract, so spending money left and
> right to solve these
> problems isn't an option I want to make the highest
> priority--but hey, I'm
> glad I am working right now.)
Well, you shouldn't have to shell out big bucks to fix
your problems, but aside from that, what you spend on
one contract can be made up on the next. It's the
nature of the game.
Let us know how you make out.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
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