Caption Manager

An Adobe^® FrameMaker^® Plug-in that Captions Graphics

now compatible with FrameMaker 8

Table of Contents

Overview

Table of Contents

This help document is designed to help you fully understand the capabilities of Caption Manager, a plug-in which can add power to your FrameMaker experience.

Caption Manager frees structured and/or non-structured FrameMaker users from manually generating and updating captions on imported graphics. This plug-in also helps users manage captions on Frame-native graphics. Automatic caption generation, which occurs by default, can be disabled to ensure that a caption is only placed on a graphic which requires a caption. Caption Manager also provides a context-sensitive menu option which can be used to place captions on non-referenced graphics.

Caption Manager derives the caption text from the root name of the referenced file or by prompting the user for such text when an internal graphic is detected.

Caption Manager builds and applies a caption in the lower right corner of the graphic against a white backdrop to contrast with dark backgrounds.  You can caption individual insets within an anchored frame or caption the anchored frame itself.

When a Caption All operation is initiated, Caption Manager will prompt you for the desired method of captioning as follows.

Answering 'No' is useful here if you know that none of your anchored frames contain more than one imported graphic and you want to ensure the caption will be placed at the lower right corner of the anchored frame instead of the inset.

This dialog is immediately followed by a confirmation dialog as follows.

The behavior of captioning is different depending on platform.  On Windows, FrameMaker is minimized while captioning occurs.  On Macintosh, FrameMaker remains up and flickers while captioning occurs.

Caption Manager will not apply a caption to a graphic if the caption itself would exceed the width of the graphic.

Additional Features

Caption Manager allows for "batch" captioning (and uncaptioning) FrameMaker documents located in a specified directory (and in any subdirectories that lie beneath). 

Caption Manager allows for captioning one or more open books in a session.  You can click the book icon in a book and caption an entire book (or books), or you can select specific files in the currently active book and caption only those.

Caption Manager allows for spot captioning specific graphics by choosing "Caption" from context-sensitive menus whenever an inset or anchored frame has been selected. "Caption All" and "Uncaption All" options have been added to the "Graphics" menu to facilitate captioning. You can turn off automatic captioning which occurs (by default) whenever a graphic gets imported into a document.

Caption Manager provides various processing options for dealing with internal or native graphics when they are encountered during "Caption All" and "Uncaption All" operations.

Caption Manager works on either structured or non-structured documents and is available for Windows and Macintosh users.

Important Considerations

When exporting to SGML/XML, remember that graphics get rasterized. When importing such graphics back into a FrameMaker document, this plug-in will not detect a rasterized caption, so re-captioning over the top of a rasterized caption will result during a subsequent "Caption All" operation.

Before You Begin

Table of Contents

Caption Manager requires FrameMaker 6.0 or higher.

It is available on either the Windows^® or Macintosh^® platform.  This Help document uses snapshots from the Windows version.

Caption Manager requires a character format named "CaptionId" in the character catalog of the FrameMaker document or template. This character format allows you to customize the text that appears in a caption and allows the plug-in to recognize previously captioned graphics.

Main Menu Items

Table of Contents

The Caption Manager plug-in adds eight new menu items to the end of the "Graphics" menu in the FrameMaker main menu bar.  When a document is opened, the batch file commands, Caption Documents and Uncaption Documents, are grayed out.  When no document or book is open in the session, these two commands become active and the Caption All and Uncaption All are grayed out.

You can determine the version and other information about the plug-in by choosing "Custom Plug-ins" from the FrameMaker Help menu.

Auto Caption

Table of Contents

Auto captioning is turned on by default.  This is indicated by a checkmark beside the "Auto Caption" menu item.  Selecting this menu item switches auto captioning "off" (unchecked) and "on."  This setting gets saved externally, so it is remembered from one FrameMaker session to the next.

Auto captioning comes into play when a graphic (either a graphic imported by reference or a graphic copied into the document) is imported into a document for the first time.  If "Auto Caption" is turned "on," a caption will automatically accompany the graphic being imported.  If "Auto Caption" is turned "off," no caption will be applied. 

Include Suffix in Caption

Table of Contents

By default, captioning uses only the root name of the graphic's filename to produce the caption.  To include the suffix portion of the filename in captions, check the option in the menu. Once checked, future captions will include both root and suffix portions (e.g., "graphic.gif") of the filenames from which they're derived. 

Caption All

Table of Contents

Choose "Caption All" to caption all graphics in your document in a single operation.  If Caption Manager detects one or more graphics imported by reference in the document, then choosing this option results in a prompt like the following:

Choose “Yes” if the document may have multiple insets within an anchored frame or to always position a caption at the bottom-right corner of the inset rather than the anchored frame.  Choose “No” to always position the caption in the bottom right corner of the anchored frame. 

NOTE: if “No” is chosen and Caption Manager finds more than one inset in the anchored frame, then the last inset it encountered will be used in forming and applying the caption text.

Either way, the FrameMaker session will temporarily be reduced to an icon while Caption Manager applies captions.  This is done for performance reasons.

Handling of Internal Graphics

If Caption Manager comes upon an uncaptioned internal graphic (one that had originally been copied into the document), it will highlight the graphic in question and prompt you for appropriate action as follows:

Caption Documents

Table of Contents

Close any open FrameMaker documents or books in the session, and choose Graphics > Caption Documents... to caption all graphics located in FrameMaker files under a specified directory.

If Caption Manager comes across internal insets, it will pause and prompt you for action (see Caption All, Handling of Internal Graphic Insets).

Caption Manager automatically opens, captions, saves, and closes each native FrameMaker file it finds in or under the directory.  For this reason, you may wish to make a backup of your files first.

Caution: Again, Caption Manager performs a save operation after captioning each file.  There is currently no undo.  You may wish to make a backup or have backup turned on during the session before performing this operation.

Uncaption Documents

Table of Contents

Close any open FrameMaker documents or books in the session, and choose Graphics > Caption Documents... to caption all graphics located in FrameMaker files under a specified directory.

If Caption Manager comes upon a captioned internal graphic or a captioned anchored frame, it will pause and prompt you for action (see Uncaption All, Handling of Internal Graphic Insets or Uncaption All, Handling of Anchored Frames).

Caption Manager automatically opens, uncaptions, saves, and closes each native FrameMaker file it finds in or under the directory.  For this reason, you may wish to make a backup of your files first.

Caution: Again, Caption Manager performs a save operation after removing captions from each file.  There is currently no undo.  You may wish to make a backup or have backup turned on during the session before performing this operation.

Uncaption All

Table of Contents

Choose "Uncaption All" to remove all generated captions from referenced graphics in your document.

Handling of Internal Graphic Insets

If Caption Manager comes upon a captioned internal graphic during an "Uncaption All" operation, it will highlight the graphic in question and prompt you for appropriate action as follows:

Handling of Anchored Frames

If Caption Manager comes upon a captioned anchored frame during an "Uncaption All" operation, it will highlight the anchored frame in question and prompt you for appropriate action as follows:

Note that this dialog can appear if you had previously chosen to Caption All and answered “No” to the prompt described in that section.  In this case, you can safely choose the last option to remove all such captions.

Book Menu Items

Table of Contents

The Caption Manager plug-in adds four new menu items to the end of the "Format > Document" pull-right menu in the FrameMaker book menu bar.  When one or more books are opened, these menu items can be found on the menu bar as follows.

Caption All (Book Menu)

Table of Contents

Choose Format > Document > Caption All to caption all graphics within one or more files of a book.  To caption the whole book, highlight the book icon (as shown above) before choosing this menu option.  Otherwise, select specific files in the book to caption.

It is possible to batch process multiple books by opening them in the session.  However, you must highlight the book icon (as shown above) and you must have the other books open in the same session before choosing Caption All.

If Caption Manager comes across internal insets, it will pause and prompt you for action (see Caption All, Handling of Internal Graphic Insets).

Caption Manager automatically opens, captions, saves, and closes each selected file in a book.  For this reason, you may wish to make a backup of your book files first.  Also, all book files should be closed at the start of this event.

Caution: Again, Caption Manager performs a save operation after captioning each file.  There is currently no undo.  You may wish to make a backup or have backup turned on during the session before performing this operation.

Uncaption All (Book Menu)

Table of Contents

Choose Format > Document > Uncaption All to remove captions from all graphics within one or more files of a book.  To uncaption the whole book, highlight the book icon (as shown above) before choosing this menu option.  Otherwise, select specific files in the book to uncaption.

It is possible to batch process multiple books by opening them in the session.  However, you must highlight the book icon (as shown above) and you must have the other books open in the same session before choosing Uncaption All.

If Caption Manager comes upon a captioned internal graphic or a captioned anchored frame, it will pause and prompt you for action (see Uncaption All, Handling of Internal Graphic Insets or Uncaption All, Handling of Anchored Frames).

Caption Manager automatically opens, uncaptions, saves, and closes each selected file in a book.  For this reason, you may wish to make a backup of your book files first.  Also, all book files should be closed at the start of this event.

Caution: Again, Caption Manager performs a save operation after removing captions from each file.  There is currently no undo.  You may wish to make a backup or have backup turned on during the session before performing this operation.

Spot Captioning

Table of Contents

On Referenced Graphic Insets

To apply a caption to a specific imported graphic, select the graphic, perform a right-mouse-click, and choose "Caption" from the context-sensitive graphic menu that appears.

One of two things will happen depending on the type of graphic. If the graphic is external, that is, it references an external graphic, Caption Manager will automatically create a caption for it based off of its filename. However, if the graphic is internal, choosing this action will result in a prompt as follows:

On Anchored Frames

Table of Contents

Applying a caption to a specific anchored frame is very similar to applying a caption to an imported graphic.  To perform such an operation, select the anchored frame, perform a right-mouse-click, and choose "Caption" from the context-sensitive anchored frame menu that appears.

In this instance, Caption Manager will simply prompt you for the caption text as follows:

Importing a New Graphic

Table of Contents

Whether you use the File => Import => File... method or structured FrameMaker techniques to import a graphic into your document, auto captioning of the graphic will depend on whether you have "Auto Caption" turned "on" or "off."  See Auto Caption for more details.

Help > Custom Plug-ins...

Table of Contents

Choosing "Custom Plug-ins" from the FrameMaker "Help" menu will result in a dialog listing of this and any other installed plug-ins from Seatech Publications, Inc.

By default, with each new FrameMaker session, all plug-ins are enabled.  To disable a plug-in during a session, select the name of the plug-in in the scroll box, choose "Disabled," and save your choice by choosing "OK."

What's New

Table of Contents

As of Version 2.3.0, the following changes have been incorporated:

1. By default, captioning uses only the root name of the graphic's filename to produce the caption.  With this version of Caption Manager, you have the option to include both the root and suffix portions (e.g., "graphic.gif") in the captions produced. 

As of Version 2.2.2, the following changes have been incorporated:

1. Several minor bug fixes have been incorporated.

As of Version 2.2.1, the following changes have been incorporated:

1. Made small changes in the way remote controlling works between plug-ins. 

As of Version 2.2.0, the following changes have been incorporated:

1. Caption Manager has been made compatible with FrameMaker 8.
2. Several minor enhancements have been incorporated.
3. Caption Manager now installs as 'Seatech Caption Manager Plug-in' in Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

As of Version 2.1.1, the following change has been incorporated:

1. Caption Manager checks for missing caption character format conditions on adhoc-captioning, auto-captioning, caption all and uncaption all events. Before, it was only reporting such errors on caption all and uncaption all events.

As of Version 2.1, the following enhancements and other changes have been incorporated:

1. Caption Manager is now compatible with FrameMaker, version 7.2.
2. Handling of conditional graphics has been handled so that Caption Manager does not try to process hidden graphics.  This was resulting in errors on the Macintosh platform.
3. Several cosmetic changes were made to certain dialog boxes.
4. Several small bug fixes were incorporated over version 2.0.

As of Version 2.0, the following enhancements and other changes have been incorporated:

1. Performance has been greatly improved when captioning and uncaptioning large documents.
2. New to version 2.0 is the capability of "batch" captioning (or uncaptioning) one or more open books in a session or captioning/uncaptioning select files within an active book.
3. New to version 2.0 is the capability of "batch" captioning (or uncaptioning) one or more FrameMaker documents located under a specified directory.
4. New to version 2.0 is the choice of caption placement during Caption All operations.  Prior to version 2.0., the caption would always align in the lower right corner of the inset.  To support this change, Caption All now includes a special prompt.  The user can choose to position captions in the lower right-hand corner of anchored frames (new) or choose to position them in the lower right-hand corner of each inset found within anchored frames (the default).
5. Especially in large documents with photos atop each page, Version 1.9 would sometimes misalign the caption, especially during a Caption All event on the first graphic on a page.  This was thought to be corrected in Version 1.7 but wasn’t.  It has been corrected in Version 2.0.
6. A Log... menu item was added to the Graphics menu to view the log file.  Messages from Caption Manager are now logged to this file instead of to the FrameMaker console window.
7. A Help... menu item was added to launch this help file in the user's browser.

back to Table of Contents