PDF split topic

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Aitch
Posts: 544
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 4:52 pm
Location: Manchester, UK

PDF split topic

Unread post by Aitch »

Hi all.

Hope someone can help with this simple solution... I can't find the setting to split topics in PDF without having to add manual page breaks. I have searched the forum and help file, but no joy.

In Print Manual Designer, the Page Options for [Topics] > This Section Only > Topic Text > Page Break option is set to None. I want them to follow on and fill as much space on the PDF as possible.

What am I missing?

Thanks!
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Tim Green
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Re: PDF split topic

Unread post by Tim Green »

The Topics section of the template has separate page break options for every topic level, so you can decide which levels should have page breaks and which should follow on from the previous topic without a break. For example, you will probably want at least the top level topics to start on a new page, so you should set a page break for that.

In the Topics section, select Pages > Page Options (or double-click on an empty section of the page). You can then define the page break options separately for each level in the table at the bottom of the page.

Note 1: The page break setting for "Section starts..." at the top of the dialog is only for the beginning of the entire Topics section, i.e. for the very first topic in the project.

Note 2: When you set page breaks for odd pages you must also make sure that you turn off the option "Ignore blank pages in PDF" in your PDF project properties (Project Explorer > Configuration > Publishing Options > PDF > PDF Layout). When this option is on all blank pages will be suppressed and it often won't be possible for topics to start on odd pages.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Aitch
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Location: Manchester, UK

Re: PDF split topic

Unread post by Aitch »

Hi Tim

Thanks for the response.

I've tried setting the page breaks to 'none' so they all continue - but no luck.

I have one section for example where the content of two topics are quite short, but the one following is much longer, but starts on a new page, leaving nearly 2/3 blank page. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I want it to continue in book format without large gaps between the headers.

Thanks!
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Re: PDF split topic

Unread post by Tim Green »

Aitch wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:08 am I have one section for example where the content of two topics are quite short, but the one following is much longer, but starts on a new page, leaving nearly 2/3 blank page. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I want it to continue in book format without large gaps between the headers.
There are a couple of possible causes for this, which may also be working together.

1) Height of your topic text placeholder
Check the height of your topic text placeholder in the Topics section of your PDF template. It should be about 3 lines high and exactly the same height as the band containing it. If it is higher, more content will get bumped to the next page, because its height defines the amount of content that must be kept together when pages break.

2) Multiple paragraphs with "keep together" attributes
This happens most often when you define a body text style with the attributes "keep lines together" and "keep with next". The result is an unbreakable block of text that will either get bumped to the next page (if it actually fits on a single page) or sometimes even text just running off the bottom of the page because it doesn't fit anywhere. Keep together settings should only be used very carefully, normally just for a single heading to keep it together with the paragraph that follows it. Even when used for headings, it's a bad idea to then apply the "keep lines together" setting to the paragraph that comes after the heading, because if the paragraph is long it will bump the heading and the entire paragraph to the next page together, leaving the kind of gap you describe.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
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