Graeme, Are you using any xml / structured functionality on ID ? Does ID have anything comparable to a FM edd ?
Amnon. Graeme R Forbes (Graeme.Forbes at Colorado.EDU) said on 12/09/08 at 2:18 : >Well, I've started to move from FM to ID, so that I do not remain >forever stuck with G5 hardware and Tiger. It's with immense >reluctance that I reward Adobe with more purchases after they dropped >MacFM...no, let's not get started on that. > >The ID learning curve is much steeper. I bought FM3 in 1992/3 and >immediately started writing a book in it, picking things up as I went >along (need an idea for Xmas presents? -- Modern Logic by Graeme >Forbes -- every home should have one). I don't think you could do >that with ID -- hors categorie compared to category 3, Alpe d'Huez vs >the foothills of the Jura. > >Anyway, I've done a few short docs, and am slowly, with many >expletives deleted, getting the hang of it. I don't use the features >Dov mentioned -- structure, conditional text, equation editor -- but >maybe you can get a lot of FM functionality with 3rd party plug-ins. >For me, the lack of xrefs was a deal-breaker until I discovered that >DTP Tools, an FM-knowledgeable company, has a plug-in that appears to >cover, or even improve on, FM's functionality. It's 99 euros, so >assuming they bill you in euros, the dollar price is steadily >dropping at the moment. > >One thing that bugs me are the ludicrous file sizes. A two-page >abstract, entirely text, came in at 1.2MB. An FM equivalent would be >around 28K, which was what the pdf I made from the 1.2MB file also >came in at. I haven't been able to find anything online about why the >files are so big or what, if anything, you can do about it (issues >about graphics are irrelevant in my case). > >An attractive feature of ID for me is that it's got correctly >implemented footnoting. No more text frames in anchored frames and >trial-and-error guessing about how much to cut to get the remainder >to jump back to the right page, then having to redo it all when you >realize you've made an appalling error on p.2 and fixing it changes >all subsequent page breaks. > >So: although ID isn't specifically intended for writing technical >documents, nothing appears to make it irrational to use it for that. >Make a list of what FM features are important/indispensable, and >check that ID can do the same. Then go to Configure Plug-ins and >disable all the ones that pertain to the production of eye-candy only. > >One really maddening issue is "activation". A single-user license >only lets you have 2 activations, so if like me you have a home >desktop, an office desktop, and a laptop, something has to give. I'm >going to try to appeal to Adobe's sense of natural justice to get a >third activation for my laptop. Pray for me. > >It would be very useful if there were a book, or even if someone just >had personal notes they were willing to share, about ID from the FM- >user's point of view: the sort of thing that would say, you can do >such-and-such in FM easily enough, here's a sequence of steps in ID >that will also accomplish it. > >Graeme Forbes > > >_______________________________________________ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as amnon.yaish at free.fr. > >Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/amnon.yaish >%40free.fr > >Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >