Anchored frames

Do one of the following:

• Paste an object into text at the insertion point by cutting or copying the object, clicking in text where you want to insert the anchor symbol, and choosing Edit > Paste.

• Import a graphic into text by clicking in text, choosing File > Import > File or Insert > Image, and selecting the graphic file you want to import. You can also import a graphic in other ways, depending on the platform. (See Import and link methods.)

The pasted or imported object appears in an anchored frame that is centered below the current line. After the frame is created, you can change its properties.

1. Click in text where you want to place the anchor symbol and choose Insert > Anchored Frame. You can create an anchored frame in a text frame or in a table cell, but not in a text line.

2. Choose the frame’s anchoring position and specify its properties. The properties that appear in the Anchored Frame dialog box depend on the anchoring position.

3. Click New Frame. An anchor symbol appears at the insertion point when text symbols are visible.

To position an anchored frame in a column of text, choose the Below Current Line, At Top of Column, or At Bottom of Column anchoring position in the Anchored Frame dialog box.

Below current line and at top of column

An anchored frame positioned at the top or bottom of the column moves only when its anchor symbol moves to another column.

When you choose the Below Current Line, At Top of Column, or At Bottom of Column anchoring position, you can set the following properties.

Horizontal alignment

Choose the frame’s horizontal alignment from the Alignment pop-up menu. You can align the frame at the left, center, or right. In a double-sided document, you can also align the anchored frame closer to or farther from the binding edge.

Farther from binding

Cropping

To prevent a wide frame from extending beyond the edge of the column, use the Cropped option.

Cropped off and on

Floating

Use the Floating option to let the frame float to the next column that can hold it if the frame and its anchor symbol won’t fit in the same column.

Floating off and on

When Floating is off, both the frame and anchor symbol move to the first column that can hold them. White space remains at the bottom of the column. When Floating is on, the anchor symbol doesn’t move, but the frame floats to the next column that can hold it. Text from the next column fills the space between the anchor symbol and the frame.

An anchored frame in a multicolumn text frame can straddle columns, and its position may be affected by straddle paragraphs.

In a straddle paragraph

When a frame is anchored in a straddle paragraph, the frame straddles columns just as the paragraph does.

Wider than a column

An uncropped anchored frame that extends into a second column of the body area straddles columns in the body area. A frame that extends into the side-head area straddles the side-head area as well.

Straddling side-head area and all columns, and straddling only columns

A cropped anchored frame straddles columns only when it’s anchored in a straddle paragraph.

At top or bottom of column

When the anchor symbol for a top-of-column anchored frame appears below a straddle paragraph, the frame appears in the column just below the straddle paragraph rather than at the top of the column.

Anchored at top of column and at bottom

A bottom-of-column anchored frame is positioned similarly when the anchor symbol appears above a straddle paragraph.

You can force the anchored frame to appear at the top or bottom of the column (above or below a straddle paragraph) by making the frame straddle the columns. To do so, turn off Cropped in the Anchored Frame dialog box and resize the anchored frame until it extends into another column.

To position an anchored frame outside a column of text, choose the Outside Column anchoring position in the Anchored Frame dialog box. For information on positioning an anchored frame so it always appears in the page margin, even in a multicolumn document.

When you choose the Outside Column anchoring position, you can set the following properties.

Side of column

You can position the anchored frame at the left or right side of the column, or along the side that’s closer to or farther from the edge of the page.

Anchored at left and at right

For a double-sided document, you can also position the frame closer to or farther from the binding edge.

Farther from binding

Distance above baseline

You can adjust the frame’s position up and down relative to the baseline of text by dragging the frame or by specifying a value for the Distance above Baseline option in the Anchored Frame dialog box. A value of zero aligns the bottom of the frame with the baseline of the text. A positive number moves the frame up; a negative number moves it down.

Zero distance and negative distance above baseline

You can’t position the anchored frame above the top or below the bottom of the text frame. If the setting would place the anchored frame above or below the text frame, FrameMaker puts it as high or as low as possible. If you later edit the text so that the anchor symbol moves away from the top or bottom of the text frame, FrameMaker adjusts the anchored frame’s position.

Distance from column

You can adjust the frame’s position left and right relative to the edge of the column by dragging the frame or by specifying a value for the Distance from Column option in the Anchored Frame dialog box. A value of zero aligns the edge of the frame with the edge of the column. A positive number moves the frame away from the column; a negative number moves it into the column.

Zero distance and positive distance from column

The distance is always relative to the edge of the column, so the frame may appear between columns on a multicolumn page. You can change the page margins and column layout to widen the gap between columns to make room for the frame. Or, if you’re working in a structured document, see your developer to widen the gap between columns to make room for the frame.

To position an anchored frame so it always appears in the margin (even in a multicolumn layout), choose the Outside Text Frame anchoring position in the Anchored Frame dialog box. You can then specify the options described in the previous section. However, the distances you specify are from the edge of the text frame, which may differ from the edge of the text column on multicolumn pages.

Closer to page edge and farther from page edge

In a single-column layout, the Outside Text Frame option has the same effect as the Outside Column option.

To position an anchored frame in the top corner of a paragraph (with the paragraph text in that column running around the frame), choose the Run into Paragraph anchoring position in the Anchored Frame dialog box. For example, you can set a small graphic or a drop cap at the beginning of a paragraph.

When the anchored frame is taller than the paragraph, the text from subsequent paragraphs runs around the frame unless the paragraph that contains the anchor symbol is a straddle paragraph.

Frame spanning paragraphs and in a straddle paragraph

When you choose the Run into Paragraph anchoring position, you can set the following properties:

Alignment

You can align the anchored frame on the left or right side of the paragraph. For a double-sided document, you can also choose Side Closer to Binding or Side Farther from Binding.

Closer to binding

The frame is aligned with the paragraph’s left indent when it appears at the left side of the paragraph, and with the right indent when it appears at the right side. When the paragraph has a first-line indent, the anchored frame does not change the position of the indent.

Graphic extending beyond first-line indent

Larger first-line indent

When you want to preserve a first-line indent, make the first-line indent setting for the paragraph larger than the width of the anchored frame. Or, if you’re working with a structured document, ask your Structured Application developer about making the first-line indent setting for the paragraph larger than the width of the frame.

Gap

You can specify the gap between the anchored frame and the paragraph text that runs around it.

In a structured document, a graphic element provides an anchored frame for holding graphic objects. The frame is anchored to a specific location in text. As you edit the text, the frame and its contents move in the document along with the text.

When inserting a graphic element, you specify where you want to anchor the element’s frame. For example, you might anchor the frame in a Para element (and the graphic will be a child element to the Para), or you might anchor it in a Section element (as a sibling to Para and other elements in the Section). It depends on how the elements are defined for your document. The formatting properties you set are independent of the element’s format rules, not overrides to them.

In the document window, an anchor symbol appears at the anchor location in text when View > Text Symbols is turned on. The frame can appear in various positions on the page—including in-line with text, next to or below a paragraph, or in a page margin. You specify an anchoring position relative to the anchor symbol.

Several positions for anchored frames

A graphic element appears in the document’s structure where it is anchored to text, regardless of the frame’s position on the page. In the Structure View, the element is represented by a square-cornered bubble with the snippet <GRAPHIC>.

Graphic element

In a structured document, you can draw graphics in an anchored frame, drag, or paste graphics from another part of the document, or import or paste graphics from another document or application. Although the graphic element is part of the document’s structure, the contents you put in the frame are not.

You can even use an anchored frame to hold text, such as text in a sidebar. To do this, draw a text frame in the anchored frame. Keep in mind, though, that the text is not part of the document’s structure.

A frame’s contents are preserved when you export to XML or SGML. FrameMaker writes the contents to a separate file and adds an entity reference to it from your XML or SGML file.

After filling a frame with graphics, you can edit the graphics in many ways—for example, by changing line widths, applying fill colors, and aligning, stacking, or grouping several objects.

1. Do one of the following:

   • To draw a graphic or add text, use one of the tools on the Tools pod.

     Important: Be sure to start drawing the object inside the frame. Otherwise, the object is placed on the page and not in the frame.

   • To move a graphic into a frame, drag the graphic until the pointer is within the frame’s borders. The object jumps into the frame when you drag across the frame’s border.

   • To paste a graphic into a frame from the Clipboard, select the frame and choose Edit > Paste.

   • To import a graphic into a frame, select the frame and choose File > Import > File or Insert > Image. You can also import a graphic in other ways, depending on the platform.

   Note: If a graphic looks as though it’s in the anchored frame, but it doesn’t move with the frame as you edit the surrounding text, the graphic is probably in front of the frame rather than in the frame—perhaps because you pasted it on the page rather than in the frame. Drag the graphic away from the frame and then drag it back into the frame.

Do one of the following:

• If there’s room outside the anchored frame, make the frame larger.

• If there’s room inside the anchored frame, move the object away from the edge of the frame.

• If the contents are clipped only by the width of the border, use the Tools pod to make the anchored frame’s border narrower or to change the pen pattern to None (see Apply and change drawing properties).

• If a frame and its contents are clipped by the edge of a column of text, choose Insert > Anchored Frame, turn off Cropped, and then click Edit Frame.

Select the frame and do one of the following: choose Insert > Anchored Frame.

• To change the frame’s anchoring position, choose Insert > Anchored Frame. Change the settings and click Edit Frame.

• To change the drawing properties, select the frame and use the Tools pod to specify the properties you want. For example, you can change a frame’s pen pattern to make the frame’s border printable or change its fill pattern to shade the interior of the frame.

Do one of the following:

• To resize the frame quickly but approximately, select the frame and drag one of its handles. The size appears in the status bar as you drag.

• To resize the frame precisely, select the frame and specify its size with the Graphics > Object Properties, Graphics > Scale, or Insert > Anchored Frame command.

• To resize an anchored frame to fit the object in the frame, press Esc M P.

• To resize a graphic within an anchored frame, select the object and drag one of its handles, or choose Graphics > Scale and enter the dimensions.

• Right-click on an anchored frame and choose Fit to Image to resize the anchored frame to the size of the image.

If you plan to export your document to a tagged PDF or to XML, you can include object attribute information for your anchored frames.

Alt text is different from graphics or standard text. Alt text is typically used for describing an image so that screen readers can read it aloud. Actual text is for reading aloud the actual text, as in the case of a drop cap. For example, if the author is using a drop cap for the letter A in the word “Adobe” but still wants the screen readers to read the word as “Adobe” and not as “dobe,” this can be done by filling in actual text. The attribute will be saved to alt text and actual text in tagged PDF and XML.

When you provide alternate text attribute on an anchored frame, the corresponding figure elements in PDF and graphic elements in XML get an “alt text” attribute. Actual Text attribute is processed only for tagged PDF. XML export ignores this attribute.

1. Select the frame and choose Insert > Anchored Frame.

   The Anchored Frame dialog is displayed.

2. Click Object Attributes.

3. In the Text Attributes section, add your alt text and actual text, and then click Set.