Landscape image.

[Kat se gat]

Guys, I'm experimenting with a landscape-like image. Ideally I'd like to change that particular page to landscape without affecting either that which preceeds it or follows it in other topics.

I found this link http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... 10&t=18812 that goes back to April 2014 which describes something not disimilar to what I'd like to achieve. In the thread's replies it looks like you have to do some jiggery-pokery and pull some rabbits out of the proverbial hat. All of that is way beyond my current skill level with Flare, and believe me, I'm doing my darndest to improve.

The other alternative I could look into is to keep my pages in portrait orientation but to see if I could rotate the landscape image 90 degrees to fit on the portrait page. I'd be happy with that as a solution.

The two questions then are:

1. Is there an easier way now in the light of any Flare updates where I could isolate one page-cum-topic and target it for landscape alignment?

2. If rotating the image is viable, can anyone suggest how I might do it? I'll do a bit more testing myself to see if I can work that out so chime-in with some other suggestions if you'd like to.

Edit: I just noticed I have been promoted to Propeller Head. Even admirals started off as midshipman or ensigns.

[NorthEast]

1. Create a new page type (in new or existing page layout), and in its Page Properties set the Orientation to Landscape.
2. In the TOC entry for the topic, open Printed Output tab and set a Page Layout Break that uses your new landscape page layout.
3. In the following TOC entry, set it back to the normal portrait page layout.

If you're unfamiliar with page layouts, take a look at Flare's help first; it even includes this scenario about page orientation changes:
webhelp.madcapsoftware.com/flare10/Default.htm#Output/Printed_Output/More_About_Printed_Output/Page_Type_Flow_Scenarios.htm

[Kat se gat]

Dave,

Many thanks. I almost got it working; just a few tweaks to refine things but when I generated the output I got the landscape page I was looking for and I reverted back to portrait on the next page. So far, so good.

That leads to another question: When I added the image to the page I had to keep resizing it and generate the output until I got it to fit without it being cropped on the page. Is there some automagical property I can set that will resize the image automatically so that it fits the available width of the page, sans margins? I don't know if it's something I would do to the image or the topic, or something else.

[MattyQ]

Is there some automagical property I can set that will resize the image automatically so that it fits the available width of the page, sans margins? I don't know if it's something I would do to the image or the topic, or something else.

I usually do something like this, applied to the image:

Code: Select all

img.fullwidth {
    width: calc(100% - 20px); /* Where 20px is whatever the total value of margin-left + margin-right is. */
}

But you could get away with setting the width at a specific percentage, like

Code: Select all

img.80percent {
    width: 80%;
}

You can do that via the Image Properties window/dialog box in Flare, too. Just make sure to let the height be governed automatically (Length: Automatic).
(Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/MattyQ/u9v6L4pw/)

[Kat se gat]

Thanks for the suggestions Matty. I'll try them in the morning and will report back if I stumble.

[Kat se gat]

Matty,

I found a "gotcha" in the way I want to do things. Some images I've put together must retain the same aspect ratio for the width and height so I need to avoid stretching the image in one dimension only. I think I will look at doing some manual resizing in the IDE and then look at adding a new style class that will set the horizontal position to centered. I don't need to take float into account. I'm not sure if I'm creating a problem for myself but I'll experiment further and see what I can achieve.

[MattyQ]

Some images I've put together must retain the same aspect ratio for the width and height so I need to avoid stretching the image in one dimension only.

Sorry about that, I think I tucked my not-so-clear warning in the last line of my first post, but should have emphasized it. The aspect ratio should remain the same depending on the method. For example, in CSS, only setting one "size" property (e.g. width or height) should result in the other being governed automatically. Example: https://jsfiddle.net/MattyQ/x2djhajh/

In my experience, Flare isn't as kind if you're setting the size using the Edit Image box. I believe you need to implicitly tell Flare you want one of the dimensions governed automatically, if you've set a hard value for the other. NOTE: My bypassing of the Edit Image/Insert Image size box is showing -- apparently Flare doesn't allow you to set a percentage-based size for images via the Edit Image box, so one would need to do so by creating a class in the stylesheet.

In any case, here's where you can maintain the aspect ratio:

printsize.png

As long as one dimension is set to Automatic, you should see the same ratio.