Adobe FrameMaker is an authoring tool (like Word or PageMaker) but in many ways is more advanced - especially when handling large documents. FrameMaker can be used to build content-rich documents in formats such as PDF, HTML and XML. An example of where FrameMaker is more useful than say Word is when preparing a large book or manual containing chapters, an index, appendices and so on. You prepare your document in FrameMaker and then convert it to PDF.

It must be said that FrameMaker takes more time to get used to than applications like Word but for serious developers of manuals and books your time will be well spent. FrameMaker is designed for professional documenters.

As far as how Acrobat relates to FrameMaker is simple. It has the ability to automate a lot of the interactive aspects that can be included in Acrobat:

• cross references are automatically converted into Acrobat links



• most hypertext commands are converted into the corresponding Acrobat features. Hypertext markers can be inserted automatically by FrameMaker in generated files (eg TOC, index); you can also insert hypertext markers manually as needed.



• bookmarks are created for the specified paragraphs, with the specified hierarchy



• article threads created for interconnected text frames or columns ("flow")

For large manuals and books it makes it simple to assemble all its parts.

FrameMaker also enables you to place your own pdfmarks in "PostScript Text Framers" to get even more control over your final PDF. This way, Acrobat features you define in FrameMaker are consistently reproduced each time you generate a PDF after revising your source document - saving you manual work in Acrobat Exchange.

For those of you who have spent hours/days slaving over a PDF, adding the interactive content then of course trying to review it, I'm sure you'll attest to the fact that it is tedious and inefficient. For large, complex documents Acrobat is not the place for adding interactvity.