Automatically add shadow to image?

[MHP]

Hi folks - I've been very grateful for all the help I've received here so far...

Is there a way of tricking/fooling/configuring Flare to add shadows to images, in this case screencaps for PDF output?

I've tried tinkering with borders and margins, but to no avail.

Cheers and thanks in advance
MHP

[RamonS]

In those cases Google is your friend...or Bing if you prefer and have a few seconds more to spare waiting. Anyhow, this is what I found:
http://www.alexallied.com/tutorials/lea ... -using-css

Not sure how well that will translate into PDF output, but worth a try.

[MHP]

Thanks. Strangely, I was rather expecting a powerful expensive tool such as Flare to have a button for this...

[RamonS]

The powerful tool is a CSS editor and most of them are for free, but you can also do that with Flare. The problem with having a button is that (as seen in the web page) not all browsers behave the same and there are a bunch of variables to consider, such as shadow color, position, and thickness. So now the button grows into a dialog and a feature that is likely to require constant changes, typically right after a release of new browsers. And why stop there? The amount of things that can be done via CSS are endless. Do we really want buttons and dialogs for everything? I don't want to sound obnoxious, but that Google search took two seconds and I reported the top result. The rest is copy and paste followed by a few modifications to taste. After that you have the applicable style available in Flare and you know exactly how it works and what it is doing. Something a button wouldn't tell you.

[MHP]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect WYSIWYG from a HAT. And, as a general rule of the thumb, if MS Word has a button for it, then I think it's reasonable for Flare to also do so. Some of us don't enjoy messing around with .css and just want to get the documentation done.

[NorthEast]

Note that the new CSS standards include support for shadows; although these will only work in more recent versions of browsers such as IE9, FF4, and Chrome.
This is pure CSS, so there are no extra tags, images or fuss.

http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css3_pr_box-shadow.asp

I tend to use this in my stylesheets, but on the basis that it'll make things look a bit nicer for people using more recent browsers. If it is important that it works for all browsers, then you need a solution like the one previously posted.

[RamonS]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect WYSIWYG from a HAT. And, as a general rule of the thumb, if MS Word has a button for it, then I think it's reasonable for Flare to also do so. Some of us don't enjoy messing around with .css and just want to get the documentation done.

Maybe then an advanced HAT like Flare that relies heavily on CSS knowledge might not be the best tool. MS Word is in a different (lower) league, but may be a better fit.

[i-tietz]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect WYSIWYG from a HAT. And, as a general rule of the thumb, if MS Word has a button for it, then I think it's reasonable for Flare to also do so. Some of us don't enjoy messing around with .css and just want to get the documentation done.

I once worked for a company that produced a webbased CMS, means: ran in browsers and online. WE prepared the CMS by programming the GUI just the way the customer wanted it. Those users would have had a button - they wouldn't have to care about css ... only: that CMS cost some 6-digit-number of bucks ...
If you don't want to fuss around with css: Have somebody else do it! Somebody who knows css and can do the appropriate settings ... but even that is gonna cost you ...

To compare Flare with Word is like comparing apples with asparagus. You can eat them both, right, but you use them for completely different purposes ... Just try to build a WebHelp with Word, three frames (TOC, toolbar and topic) ... You would need half a ton of programming outside of Word to achieve that ... Would you then ask Microsoft to add a button for doing that?