Image with special captions

[QuadraQ]

Hello all,

First of all I just wanted to thank everyone for their help. I've asked a bunch of questions before and have really appreciated the wonderful community here on the forums.

OK now on to my new question. I've finished pulling over all the text from our InDesign documentation and now I'm trying to pull in the images (not really that many). Some are very straight forward, others not so much. I have no idea how I'm going to pull something like this off:

Layout.png

Any suggestions on how I could accomplish something like this?

[KevinDAmery]

Actually, I wouldn't do it with topic text at all. I would take the toolbar image into Capture and use callouts to indicate the functions. Since XHTML doesn't have the concept of tab spacing, trying to set something like you have there up would be a nightmare of class definitions. Placing the callouts in the image sidesteps that problem, and at the same time allows you use colour and outlining to help the visual design.

[SteveS]

I'm with Kevin.

Export the images via a tool that can add callouts - Capture or Snaggit spring to mind. (You can create callouts in programs like Photoshop, but it's a lot of work.)

Might even be an opportunity to update screenshots by grabbing new ones - Vista Aero, anyone?

<insert Vista rant here/>

[QuadraQ]

I hadn't thought of that. We did purchase the MadPak so we have Capture. As it happens we had already purchased Snaggit as well. I don't really have any experience with Capture, because there was an issue with the capture application function.

I thought that I could add the callouts and they would remain resolution independant in Capture. Do I have that correct?

[KevinDAmery]

Sorta. The callouts are vector based, so if you need to scale them you can, and the text can be edited whenever required (plus they can link in to the Variable sets in your Flare project, which can be handy). However, the end result is still a bitmap image of some type (PNG, GIF, JPG, etc.) so once the image is in Flare resizing it in your topic would have the same quality issues as any other bitmap image.

Still, for what you're doing I think it makes far more sense they trying to integrate text and graphics together.

[stephgl]

Interesting information on the callouts!

I solved this a different way in our app - I image-mapped the screencapture and put the label in the screen tip, and a description in a topic pop-up. I wish there were the option of putting a text pop-up in a mapped image.

[KevinDAmery]

Interesting information on the callouts!

I solved this a different way in our app - I image-mapped the screencapture and put the label in the screen tip, and a description in a topic pop-up. I wish there were the option of putting a text pop-up in a mapped image.

There is - each hotspot can be set up as a hyperlink, which can point to a topic file. The link can be defined as a popup rather than opening to a full screen, the same as any other hyperlink. I've done this in a couple of topics in my help - works fine for me.

[LTinker68]

I think the request is to have it as a text popup, not a topic popup. If you select text in a topic then go to the Insert menu, you have an option to select Text Popup. When you're in an image map, though, you're restricted to the normal insert hyperlink options, which don't include a plain text popup like you get with the Insert > Text Popup option.

[stephgl]

Yep, that's what I meant Lisa. I did make a separate master page for topic popups sans breadcrumbs and footers, and with size restrictions, which helped.

[QuadraQ]

I know there's supposed to be some integration with Flare and Capture. How would I use that to capture the image above from our application, then add the call outs and pull it into Flare, so that I could edit the call outs in the future and it would update in Flare? Or is that even possible?

[LTinker68]

I actually haven't played with Capture much, but I believe you get the screen capture and add the callouts in Capture and save the image. Then in Flare you tell it to insert the image and to save it inside the project, if necessary. I believe Flare will automatically include the .props file that Capture creates automatically when you saved the file. The .props file is what includes all of the picture info, including the callouts, so you can modify the callouts later, if you want. Make sure you keep the image file and its associated .props file together so that you can modify it later. The .props file also includes other picture info, like the DPI, so you can use the same image for online (96 dpi) and print (300 dpi) output.

[forfear]

I actually haven't played with Capture much, but I believe you get the screen capture and add the callouts in Capture and save the image. Then in Flare you tell it to insert the image and to save it inside the project, if necessary. I believe Flare will automatically include the .props file that Capture creates automatically when you saved the file. The .props file is what includes all of the picture info, including the callouts, so you can modify the callouts later, if you want. Make sure you keep the image file and its associated .props file together so that you can modify it later. The .props file also includes other picture info, like the DPI, so you can use the same image for online (96 dpi) and print (300 dpi) output.

We use capture exclusively here. i'd go with with everything that LTinker68 mentions. take note, if the straight line callouts have to be exactly like the one you show, you may find it a bit of a hardsell with Capture. Polyline doesn't have autosnaps to right angles yet. But the other built-in Capture bubble type callouts (so i use this instead), work lovely. i have submitted a request for some snapping to draw simple line callouts, which are more common, more minimalist, less distracting for print. i urge you to do the same. i still use Capture anyway. The ability to edit the callout text has proved immensely useful.

[KevinDAmery]

I know there's supposed to be some integration with Flare and Capture. How would I use that to capture the image above from our application, then add the call outs and pull it into Flare, so that I could edit the call outs in the future and it would update in Flare? Or is that even possible?

That's correct. As Lisa said, you create and edit the callouts in Capture rather than in Flare. Additionally, you can link the captures to the Flare project, which makes the Variable sets from Flare available in the caption editor in Capture. As long as both the image and the Props file are in the Flare content folder tree, if you update a Variable it gets applied to the Capture image when you make a build of your Flare output.