I'm a fairly new Framemaker user. I develop tech manuals for a high-tech equipment manufacturer using FM8. I have no direct training in FM8, but decades of computer background in other products. FM8 is running on WXP Pro with all updates, yadda yadda yadda
Some of the electrical and mechanical drawings that go into these tech manuals are in 11x17" format. The chapters that include these drawings are usually at the back, or NEAR the back of the book.
My problem is trying to PDF the entire book in one step, and having the 11x17" content actually get PDFd in that size.
I've aleady gone to the Format->Document->PDF Setup for each individual chapter, and set each chapter's individual settings to the correct size. I can PDF the 11x17" chapters individually, and that produces the correct result.
The problem is trying to PDF the whole book. No matter what I do, the PDF process defaults the 11x17" content to 11x8.5" - it seems to be smart enought to know that it should be Landscape... it just can't seem to figure out that those chapters use Ledger-size page size - even though it's specified in the PDF setup of the individual chapter. So the content gets chopped off.
When I use File->Save As PDF, I get the same dialog box as the individual chapters. It has the fields for Page Size Width and Height, just like the individual chapters.
The problem is that I can't seem to find the super-secret combination of characters to use in these two fields so that the PDF process knows to use individual chapter page size settings, and not try to use something global.
I've tried leaving the fields blank, but the dialog won't allow that - I get a message box saying the entry needs to be a positive number. That's not necessarily true - I can type any gobbledy-**** in those fields I want - they just can't be blank, OR have a negative number.
Since there isn't a drop-down box with a selection saying "Use File/Chapter Settings" (or something similar), I'm now asking the community here if there's some combination of characters or a command to enter into the Page Size Width and Height fields that will instruct the PDF process to use the page size of the individial chapters. I mean, it lets me SET individual page sizes; somehow I need to make it LISTEN and USE the individual page sizes.
Any help?