Generating a TOC in Pagemaker

You can create a table of contents from those heading styles that are marked for inclusion in your PageMaker publication. The TOC can reside in the same document as your eBook body or in a separate publication for use with PageMaker’s Book utility. I cover both methods in the following steps for creating a table of contents with hyperlink tags that can be exported to Acrobat.
To create a table of contents in the same publication as your eBook body, follow these steps:

1. In PageMaker, select the first page in your publication and choose Utilities➪Create TOC. The Table of Contents dialog box.
2. Type a new title or accept the default “Table of Contents” title in the text box provided and select one of the radio buttons in the Format area to specify the appearance and position of page numbers in the TOC. You can also specify a special character to appear between the entry and the page number (a tab space is the default) here.
3. Click OK to generate your table of contents story. A story in PageMaker terms is an independent text object with unique formatting that can be positioned anywhere in a page layout. The mouse pointer changes to the story flow cursor. Now you need to create empty pages in which to flow your TOC story.
4. Choose Layout➪Insert Pages and enter the desired number of empty pages you want inserted, select Before the Current Page from the drop-down list, and click the Insert button.
5. Go to the first of your newly inserted pages and click to flow your TOC story onto the empty pages from there.

To create a table of contents in a separate publication from your eBook body, follow these steps:

1. Create a new document from your eBook template containing the desired number of pages for your TOC and then save and name the publication.
2. Choose Utilities➪Book. The Book Publication List dialog box opens, This dialog box is used to specify the order of the publications you want to include in your book. Your current TOC document appears in the Book List on the right side of the dialog box.
3. In the list on the left, locate the documents you want to include and add them to the Book List by clicking the Insert button located between the two lists. Click OK to save your changes. You can remove files and change the order of files in the list using the appropriate buttons.
4. Choose Utilities➪Create TOC. The Table of Contents dialog box opens.
5. Type a new title or accept the default “Table of Contents” title in the text box provided and select one of the radio buttons in the Format area to specify the appearance and position of page numbers in the TOC. You can also specify a special character to appear between the entry and the page number (a tab space is the default) here. Note that when you’re creating a TOC from a document listed in a book publication, the Include Book Publications check box is automatically selected.
6. 6. Click OK to generate your table of contents story; then go to the first page of your TOC publication and flow your TOC story from there.

Your brand-new table of contents contains tagged hyperlink entries that will produce accurate bookmarks and page references in your eBook when converted to PDF and viewed in Acrobat. You can check your links in PageMaker by selecting the Hand tool on the floating toolbox. PageMaker inserts a text marker in front of every entry in the placed table of contents story in order to create hyperlink tags that will function when exported to tagged PDF. These text markers are visible only in story editor, (PageMaker’s text editing window) and if they are removed, the links will not operate. For this reason, if you are editing a TOC entry, be very careful not to press the Delete key when the insertion point is directly in front of a TOC entry or page-number reference, because this will remove the text marker from the publication. Your only recourse in such an event is to either close and reopen the document without saving (if you haven’t saved the changes already) or regenerate the TOC.
You can make text edits to your TOC entries (heeding the warning in the preceding paragraph), but if you decide to add any new entries in either the TOC or the body of your eBook, you will have to regenerate a new TOC to create links for those entries that will export to tagged PDF.

Setting up your eBook document in Pagemaker

The following list provides a number of important tips to utilize that will ensure high-quality output when you convert your eBook to tagged PDF. Some of the items deal with conversion settings that you specify in Acrobat Distiller prior to exporting your eBook document to PDF.

• When creating eBook content in PageMaker or any other layout program, make sure to set up a smaller page size so that your text won’t be distorted when rendered in the smaller screen area provided by your eBook reader of choice. A 6-x-9-inch page dimension with 1⁄2- or 3⁄4-inch margins all around translates well to desktop and laptop screen resolutions.
• Target output resolution should be 300 dpi or better to ensure clear, crisp text when the file is down-sampled and compressed during the PDF conversion process.
• Try to use your system’s Base 14 fonts in your eBook document. Otherwise, choose fonts that have strong serifs and strokes. If these font properties are too delicate, they’ll distort and cause reading difficulty when displayed in the Adobe Reader or Acrobat. In addition, be sure to embed those fonts you decide to use in the converted PDF. You can experiment with the readability of a chosen font by converting a test document to PDF and viewing it in Acrobat or Adobe Reader using a variety of magnifications and CoolType settings. You might also check for differences when viewing the eBook on a CRT or LCD computer screen.
• The minimum font size for body text should be 12 points. Use at least 2 points of leading. If you want to spread out your text, select a wider tracking value for your chosen font rather than using character kerning. Tracking can be applied globally and produces more significant visual enhancement than kerning, which also bulks up the size of your file.
• When creating paragraph heading styles in PageMaker, make sure you specify their inclusion in your table of contents by clicking the Include in Table of Contents check box in the Paragraph Specifications dialog box. You can open this dialog box by selecting the heading text in your document and choosing Type➪Paragraph or pressing Ctrl+M (Ô+M on the Mac). You can also access this dialog box while editing styles. Choose Type➪Define Styles, select a heading style in the Style list box, click the Edit button to open the Style Options dialog box, and finally, click the Para button.

Four things to consider when optimizing e-books for mobile devices

Graphic size and page layout are definitely restricted by the screen size of handheld devices, so it’s better to develop eBooks that you want to view on those devices in Microsoft Word, which is text-based and has Acrobat 6 features built in that enable you to create tagged PDF files with the click of a button. Here are a few considerations to take into account in order to optimize eBooks designed for Palm OS or Microsoft Pocket PC handheld devices:

• Graphics: With handheld device screen resolutions running between 320 x 320 for Palm OS devices and 320 x 240 for Pocket PC devices, graphics must be optimized for the target screen size if they’re used at all. Note that while the majority of Pocket PC and newer Palm devices in use have color screens, many more older Palm devices are out there right now without color. You could consider preparing your graphics in grayscale (thus creating a smaller file) for this reason.
• Fonts: Use the common Base 14 system fonts that are installed on your computer. These typefaces have been optimized for on-screen viewing and produce the best results when viewed on a handheld device.
• Paragraphs: Separate paragraphs with an additional hard carriage return for clearer visibility on the Palm handheld screen.
• Conversion settings: For grayscale Palm handheld devices, Adobe suggests some slight changes to the eBook job option in the Acrobat Distiller.

Adobe currently offers three free versions of Adobe Reader for hand-held devices that support Palm OS, Pocket PC, or Symbian OS (which runs on Nokia Communicator devices).
The Acrobat Readers are applications that are installed on their respective handheld devices and are designed to accommodate their specific screen characteristics. In addition to the reader software, the PocketPC and Symbian OS versions includes a Windows desktop application for preparing and transferring a PDF to a user’s handheld device. The Palm OS reader includes a desktop application for both Macintosh and Windows and a HotSync conduit. To handle synchronization, the Pocket PC version includes the ActiveSync filter, which has an added feature that attempts to create tags from untagged PDF files prior to uploading them to the Pocket PC handheld device.

Designing eBooks for Different Devices

You design Adobe Acrobat eBooks in a word processor or page layout program and then convert their documents to PDF. You can then perform any lastminute tweaks in Acrobat, such as adjusting text flow or linking multimedia objects, and then view your final product in the Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader on your computer, laptop, or on a Palm OS or Microsoft Pocket PC handheld device. Note that Acrobat 6 and Adobe Reader 6 now support the purchase and downloading of eBooks. As of this writing, Adobe plans to discontinue the Acrobat eBook Reader, though users of that program can continue to purchase and download eBooks as long as current eBook distributors support that program. PDF files come in three document structure flavors — unstructured, structured, and tagged. Structured PDF files enable you to convert or repurpose a PDF for another format, such as RTF (Rich Text Format), while retaining much of the original page layout and reading structure. Tagged PDF files have the highest degree of success in retaining their original formatting when converting to RTF and are also able to reflow text, which is not the case with unstructured or structured PDF files. For the purpose of creating eBooks, then, you should always use tagged PDF files, because they offer the most flexibility when it comes to viewing the final product on the greatest number of viewing devices.
The following programs allow you to convert their documents to tagged PDF files in order to build an eBook:
_ FrameMaker SGML 6.0 (Windows and Mac OS)
_ FrameMaker 7.0 (Windows and Mac OS)
_ PageMaker 7.0 (Windows and Mac OS)
_ InDesign 2.0 (Windows and Mac OS)
_ Microsoft Office (Windows 2000 and XP only)

Adobe Reader 6 and Acrobat 6 were developed to provide a means of viewing PDF eBooks on a computer screen or laptop. Because of their size, computer screens are well suited to display graphically rich page layouts that re-create the reading experience of a printed book. For designing these types of eBooks, page layout programs (PageMaker, InDesign, or FrameMaker) are the best tools to use. In addition to allowing complex page layouts, their ability to create tagged PDF files adds a higher degree of accessibility for visually challenged users viewing PDF files in either Adobe Reader or Acrobat.

Importing/exporting form data

The Acrobat 6 Import/Export feature allows you to move data in and out of a PDF form. That data can be imported into another PDF form or archived in a file format that is optimized to save space. When you export data from your form, Acrobat creates an FDF (Forms Data Format) file. This file contains only the data found in a form’s fields, so it’s much smaller in size than the original PDF form. After converted to FDF, any other PDF can import that data, as long as its field names match those of the original form. Field names that don’t match are ignored in the import process.
After you have your form up and running, you can export its data by choosing Advanced➪Forms➪Export Forms Data. Type a file name for the FDF file in the Export Form Data As dialog box and click the Save button. To import data from an FDF file, choose Advanced➪Forms➪Import Forms Data and then, in the Select File Containing Form Data dialog box, locate the file and click Select (Open on the Mac).
Keep in mind that importing and exporting field data is not the same as collecting and distributing form data through a browser on the World Wide Web. FDF files can reside on a network server, and users can access them on a company intranet, and you can even e-mail the FDF files to others to perform import/export functions right on their computers. In order to collect your form data and distribute it over the Web, you need to use a CGI script written specifically for the form you want to use. If you’re not familiar with coding CGI scripts, you’ll have to leave it to the IT administrator of your company or Internet service provider’s Web server.
Acrobat 6 also allows you to import data from a tab-delineated text file into a PDF form. This type of file is a text table that you create by placing a tab between each entry to create table rows. The first row serves as columnar field headings for the table and is filled with names that correspond to the field names found in your PDF form. Subsequent rows correspond to the data to be entered in those form fields. You can create this text file in a word processor such as Microsoft Word, but I find it easier to create the data table in Microsoft Excel and then save it as a tab-delineated text file in that program.

Tabbing through a form

A form’s tabbing order is the order in which the user selects fields when he or she presses the Tab key. This order is initiated when you add the first field and continues from there as you add fields to a form. Now if you know this ahead of time and are keeping track of the way you want the form filled out as you add fields, everything will work out fine. If you’re like the rest of us, you’ll probably have to set the tabbing order after you’ve finished adding fields to your form. Here’s how:
1. Click the Pages tab on the Navigation pane to open the Pages palette and select the page containing the form fields you wish to set tabbing order for.

2. Choose Page Properties on the Options menu at the top of the Navigation pane; in the Page Properties dialog box that appears, click the Tab Order tab.

3. Select from the options on the Tab Order tab as follows:

• Select the Use Row Order radio button to tab through rows from top to bottom and right to left.
• Select the Use Column Order radio button to tab through columns from left to right and top to bottom.
• Select the Use Document Structure radio button to use the document structure tree in a tagged PDF document.
• Select the Unspecified radio button (for compatibility with earlier versions of Acrobat) to tab through rows first and annotations second. This option is chosen by default for documents created in Acrobat 4 and earlier.

4. Click the Close button to set your new tab order.

Creating form field tables

Building a table of form fields is a snap. The fields can be all the same type or different types, and the methods for creating a table vary slightly, depending on which case is true. To create a table made up of form fields that are all the same type, follow these steps:

1. Add a form field to your PDF in the area you want to serve as the corner of your table.

2. Hold down the Ctrl key (the Option key on the Mac) and draw a marquee around the single field to select it.
If you’re selecting one field only, it’s just as easy to click the field to select it. Using the Ctrl key (Option key on Mac) is better for selecting multiple fields and ensures you won’t create one big form field when what you really want is to make a multiple selection.

3. Choose Advanced➪Forms➪Fields➪Create Multiple Copies or rightclick the selected field and choose Create Multiple Copies on the context menu.
The Create Multiple Copies of Fields dialog box appears.

4. Specify the layout for your form field table by choosing options in the following areas of the Create Multiple Copies of Fields dialog box:
• Number of Fields: Use the spinner buttons or enter a value in the Copy Selected Fields Down or Copy Selected Fields Across text fields. If the Preview check box in the lower left corner of the dialog box is selected, all changes made in this dialog box are displayed for preview in the current document behind the dialog box.
• Overall Size (All Fields): Use the spinner buttons or enter a value in the Change Width or Change Height text fields to alter the size of the fields in your table. The default values in these fields reflect the size of the original field selected in the current document.
• Overall Position (All Fields): To move the entire table in the current document to a new position, click the Up, Left, Right, or Down buttons.

5. When you’re finished selecting options, click OK to close the Create Multiple Copies of Fields dialog box and view your form table in the current document.

To create a table made up of different field types, you need to vary the preceding steps slightly. Instead of creating a single field (as in Step 2), you need to create an initial row or column of different field types that will serve as a basis not only for the number of rows or columns that appear in your table but also for how the different field types will occur in the table. After establishing that, you then individually select and copy each field type in the Create Multiple Copies of Fields dialog box using the Copy Selected Fields Down or Across options, depending on the original location (at the head of a column or beginning of a row) of the selected field in the current document. Creating fields for tables in the manner just described is not the same as duplicating form fields. In this process, you give each field a unique name, which allows a higher degree of individual editing choices. Therefore, it’s not the method to use if you want to create a group of related radio buttons that must have the same name. See the “Understanding the Options tab” section, earlier in this chapter, for more on creating radio buttons. When your form is in the development stage and you’re beginning to accumulate a number of fields, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the Fields palette. Choose View➪Navigation Tabs➪Fields to display the Fields palette, as shown in Figure. The Fields palette is a floating navigation pane that provides a hierarchical, icon view of the fields in a PDF. It allows you to remotely select, rename, delete, edit the properties of, and more importantly, lock/unlock a field. Locked fields can’t be moved or edited, which comes in handy when you’ve gotten a number of fields just where you want them but are still fiddling with others in the form. To access these commands, right-click (Control+click on the Mac) a field icon in the Fields palette and choose the desired command from the context menu that appears. To lock/unlock a field, choose Properties on the context menu and select or deselect the Locked check box in the Properties dialog box that appears.