What you see is not what you get

[Cfournier]

Hello,

I am new to somewhat new to Flare. I've created some simple projects without any problem. However, my current project is a one page label the size of a standard piece of paper.
I've created it using various text boxes and a table.

Visually, within my project, everything is exactly how I want to print it. But when turn it into a PDF there is a tonne of extra space and nothing is lined up the way I had it in the project.

My view settings are: Layout (Print) - (Medium Print) - Page Layout

Can someone please explain to me what is happening and how I can print exactly what I see on my screen?

I'm obviously missing the plot...
With regards,
CJ

[Lydia]

Hi, how do you "turn it into a PDF"? Are you previewing or building a target?
You've described your view settings, except for the Page Layout setting. Can you check which layout and page type is being used? If you click the arrow button next to "Page layout" first he layout, then the page type option becomes available. That describes what you see in Flare.
Next you have to check the target settings to verify if the same page layout AND page type are used. If that is not the case, the PDF may look different from what you see in Flare.

[ChoccieMuffin]

Unfortunately, the UI is not WYSIWYG, but WYSIAMWGBNQ (What You See Is Almost What You Get But Not Quite). Even when ensuring that page layout, medium and stylesheet for the GUI are the same as what you use for the output, there are often differences - I find the most annoying is the bullets.

I can't add anything useful, just sharing your pain.

[Cfournier]

Hi,

Sorry, I meant to say - "when I building a target" as PDF.
The settings under Page Layout says "Default.flpgl"

Lydia, I'm sorry, but how do I check the Target settings?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

CJ

[Cfournier]

Okay - I found the Target settings, and as far as I can tell everything is now the same, but the PDF always ends up being different than what I'm seeing visually within Flare.

So you can visualize what I am doing - I have svereal text boxes and I have sized them exactly to the dimensions of the text I placed in them. I also have a table within one of them. When I build my target (PDF) - the text ends up being about 2/3rds the size of the text box.

Thanks,
CJ

[ChoccieMuffin]

Clutching at straws, do you have your display set to anything other than 100%? I seem to remember other people mentioning this messed things up for them.

[Cfournier]

Clutching at straws, do you have your display set to anything other than 100%? I seem to remember other people mentioning this messed things up for them.

It's set for 100%.

This is really frustrating. We switched our office over to Flare from FrameMaker, and while I realize there is a period of adaptation, if it's going to be this much trouble to build something as simple as a one-page sticker, then I'm in trouble...

[LTinker68]

My view settings are: Layout (Print) - (Medium Print) - Page Layout

Do you have more than one stylesheet in your project? If so, you need to know that view settings are based on which target is specified as the Master Target. So if the target used to make your one-sheet label isn't the Master Target, and the target that is the master target is using a different stylesheet, then you'll be seeing the print medium and layout of that target and not the stylesheet and page layout you're using for your one-sheet output.

[Cfournier]

My view settings are: Layout (Print) - (Medium Print) - Page Layout

Do you have more than one stylesheet in your project? If so, you need to know that view settings are based on which target is specified as the Master Target. So if the target used to make your one-sheet label isn't the Master Target, and the target that is the master target is using a different stylesheet, then you'll be seeing the print medium and layout of that target and not the stylesheet and page layout you're using for your one-sheet output.

Hello Lisa,

I have two stylesheets - though I do not know why - as I have not built either one of them. I have deleted the one that is not indicated as my Master Stylesheet.
Nothing has changed.

I redid the entire project using a table instead of text boxes. That has given me a more accurate PDF in regard to the text, however, I have an image at the bottom that fills up all of the space available on the screen - but when I build my target as a PDF there is a huge amount of blank space at the bottom of the document.

Also, using tables isn't ideal because it lends zero creativity to the project, because it forces the text into dull uniform boxes - when Ideally I need to space the text boxes differently around the page. But one problem at a time...

CJ

[LTinker68]

I have deleted the one that is not indicated as my Master Stylesheet.

Double-check that your target file is pointing to the remaining stylesheet file. You'd think that if there was only one stylesheet in the project that it would default to that one, but it doesn't, even if it's set to default. That might have changed in recent versions, but I seem to recall always having to specifically set the stylesheet file by name in the target.

After that, then 1) check your stylesheet and 2) check for inline styles in the content to make sure you don't have an errant style defined, like a margin-bottom of .5 inches or something like that. And make sure there aren't a bunch of empty paragraphs or whatever at the bottom of your topic.

[Cfournier]

Thank you, Lisa.

I made sure that the target file is pointing directly at the remaining style sheet.
There are no erroneous paragraphs at the bottom of my document either. I looked through the inline styles and see no issues.

Not sure what to do. I may have to reinstall FrameMaker at this point and redo.

I appreciate your help though. I'm glad this forum exists. I'll no doubt need it as a resource down the road.

[ChoccieMuffin]

Could it be a problem in your page layout? Is the graphic in a footer or something?

I suggest that you contact tech support as well. If you're a new customer they're pretty good at helping newbies "get their feet under the table" with Flare, so you might find they ask you to zip up your project and send it to them so they can take a good look at the nuts and bolts of your project.

[Msquared]

Hi there! Welcome to the forums. Flare is great but there is a bit of a learning curve, and a few moving parts to get your head round. Support will help, as we will. But here are some things I'd check you've done . . .

If you want to build a PDF that looks exactly like you see in the Flare editor, then work through the following. Shout if you find a discrepancy and aren't sure what to do about it.

Check what target is your primary target (if you have more than one). That's Project Organiser > Targets. The primary target will say "(primary)" after it. Some of what Flare shows you in the editor is based on the settings in the primary target, so that's a possible place where there could be a discrepancy between what you see and what you build.

In your PDF target, check the specified master page layout. Then click on the arrow beside Page Layout in the Flare editor, and check that the selected page layout is the same. Another place where a difference could creep in.

In your PDF target, check what is specified as the master stylesheet. Flare is very naughty when it imports (from Word at least) and embeds its own choice of stylesheet in each imported topic. If that has happened, get rid of it! In Content Explorer, right click the topic, select Properties, then on the Topic Properties tab, make sure the stylesheet says (default). This simply says to use the stylesheet that you've specified for the target. Under normal circumstances, you'll rarely want anything else.

In your PDF target, go to the Advanced tab, and check the stylesheet medium. It should be print (at least, that's what you've got set in the Flare editor view). Again if there is a difference, that may explain what has happened.

In your target, find out the name of the TOC you are using (on the general tab, Master TOC). In the TOC folder in Project Explorer, open the TOC. I'm expecting you'll find it contains a single topic. Right click on that topic and select Properties. On the Printed Output tab, check that Page Layout says default (that means, use the layout you specified for the target).

Those are all the places I can think of where you may have set something different for the target from what you see in the editor.

[Cfournier]

Thank you so much for attempting to help me. Unfortunately, after following all of your steps, I have the same problem. I have also been going back and forth with tech support and they have been unable to resolve the issue.
I've even re-installed the software.

It is the only project I have going in Flare right now, so I don't understand what could be affecting the layout.

I'm officially giving up and returning to FrameMaker for now. I've spent a week on something that I could have produced in an hour.

Please don't mistake my frustration for a lack of gratitude though. I really do appreciate the help. I just don't have this much time to spend fighting with something that I could have made in Word...

Regards,
CJ

[Cfournier]

UPDATE:
Tech support was kind enough to give me a call, and after some trial and error, the problem was identified.

My laptop display settings were set to 125%, which makes things easier to see on the screen, obviously. Unfortunately, it was also changing how things appear in Flare (on the screen), while teh PDF output was showing what the project actually looked like.

This is strange to me. I have never encountered this with any other software.
Unfortunately, this means setting my display at 100%, so everything I now look at has to be supersmall in order that I can use Flare. I tried changing my screen resolution, but because I use an additional monitor, any changes I make to the resolution affects the secondary screen in adverse ways.

I'm glad the source problem was traced and rectified, but I'm not so happy at being forced to use smaller display properties just because of a glitch in Flare. Hopefully they will do something about it.

Cheers,
CJ

[ChoccieMuffin]

I win!

It is a pain, isn't it. Feel free to add a feature request (or log it as a bug). The more people log it, the more likely it is to be fixed.

[Cfournier]

Yes, you were right. Although, at the time I thought you meant the scale within Flare. So it wasn't until later that I discovered that my actual display settings were set at 125%.

Cheers.

[CATERAF]

Thanks for the update on this.
This does surprise me because I have the display set to 125% on my machine and I have a problem with Capture but I've never had any problems in Flare. Even now I have it set to 125%..