🚀 go-pugleaf

Dear Steven,

I can understand your frustration with FrameMaker's sometimes-opaque instructions and explanations. I have made my living in printing and publishing for more than 30 years and it has the steepest learning curve of any application I have tackled.

That said, it is perfect for certain types of publications. I took over production on a 400-page catalog crammed with graphics and done in Ventura. After putting up with terror-induced insomnia caused by Ventura crashing 8-10 times EVERY DAY, I talked the customer into letting me rebuild the catalog in FrameMaker. That was five years ago and FrameMaker has crashed fewer than ten times since, usually while I was placing a giant graphic.

The "MIF run-around" has proved invaluable. My first use of it was to duplicate a specific rule style the customer insisted on for his tables. As far as I know, FrameMaker is the only application that allows users access to its source code, and MIF is the means.

As for the mysterious Color Views: I did a textbook in Framemaker in two editions--Student and Teacher. The Teacher edition was output as PDF with the magenta plate visible--the Answers throughout the book. To output the Student edition, I switched to a different Color View that made the magenta plate invisible. One file--two books--in just a few keystrokes.

I assume you were forced to use Framemaker for this project. I wish you better luck with it as you proceed.