demystifying dita to pdf publishing
DESCRIPTION
This session, from DocTrain West 2009, explores the pros and cons of using InDesign, FrameMaker, or the DITA Open Toolkit for publishing DITA content.TRANSCRIPT
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Demystifying DITA to PDF Publishing
Sarah O'KeefeScriptorium Publishing
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Housekeeping
Slides and some demo files available after the presentation; email me.I will have several question breaks.Please ask questions.Emphasis will be on Open Toolkit and InDesign; no extensive FrameMaker demo.
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The five stages of DITA-based PDF publishing
“How hard could it be?”“Why is this so $#@!$#@ hard??”“Maybe I can get this to work with different tools/people...”“At least I got our logo on the front page and nobody knows that I did this.”“It looks adequate and it publishes in seconds.”
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PDF publishing is hard because:
Printed page layouts have more options than HTML layouts.Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects (XSL-FO) needs to support sophisticated page layout options.Pushing XML into page layout tools is challenging.Automation means giving up page-by-page formatting.
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Please choose one of the following terrifying options:
DITA Open ToolkitPage-based layout tool
FrameMakerInDesignQuark
Help authoring/conversion toolRoboHelpePublisher ProFlare?
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What are your PDF priorities?
For typography, choose InDesign or similar.For automation, choose the DITA Open Toolkit.For a middle ground, choose FrameMaker.
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Lower your standards.
Does your audience care about fine typography?Less copyfitting = greater automation
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What about the help authoring tools?
Yes, if you need cross-browser, cross-platform help.Not the best choice for PDF only.
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PDF through the DITA Open Toolkit
Very difficult to configureNo “tweaking” to fix copyfitting problemsAlmost certainly the long-term winner
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DITA Open Toolkit process
Install the DITA OT (!)JavaAntXSL processorXSL-FO processor
Modify XSL-FO files to get the output you wantGenerate PDF from the command line
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DITA Open Toolkit challenges
FontsFormattingFoggy FOFOP foibles
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DITA Open Toolkit demo
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Questions about DITA Open Toolkit?
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PDF via FrameMaker
Configuration requires modifying a formatting templateNice PDFCan tweak to adjust pagination
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FrameMaker process
Modify the template to meet your requirementsOpen the map file(v8 and earlier) Generate intermediate bookSave as PDF
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Only sort of fake FrameMaker demo
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FrameMaker pitfalls
Sensitive to whitespaceDITA specializationsRound-trippingAuthoring
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FrameMaker recommendations
Use DITA-FMx plug-in
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Questions about FrameMaker?
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PDF via InDesign
Beautiful typographyCan tweak to adjust paginationNo default support for DITAExtensive configuration requiredWhitespace in XML results in anaphylactic shock for InDesign
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InDesign process
Transform DITA content into “InDesign-friendly” XML via XSLT
Flatten map filesResolve and flatten content references (conrefs)Modify structure of images and tablesControl whitespaceDo something about xrefs with InDesign scripts
Set up template in InDesignImport modified XML into InDesign
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InDesign challenges
Extensive preprocessingRound-trippingAuthoringWhitespace
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Questions about InDesign?
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Factors to consider
Platform requirementsTechnical resourcesTypography requirementsVelocityVolumeVersioning
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Questions