Chapter 6. Making the Most of FlashPaper
| What You Will Learn In this lesson, you will:
Approximate Time This lesson takes approximately one hour and 15 minutes to complete. Lesson Files Media Files: None Starting Files: LessonFiles/Lesson_06/report/Financial Report.doc LessonFiles/Lesson_06/report/financial_report.htm LessonFiles/Lesson_06/pr/fieldtrip_photos.htm LessonFiles/Lesson_06/images/fieldtrip/theBaby2.jpg LessonFiles/Lesson_06/pr/releases/pr_fieldtrip.htm LessonFiles/Lesson_06/extensions/FlashPaperViewer.mxp LessonFiles/Lesson_06/hr/info/employee_records.htm LessonFiles/Lesson_06/media/osha3110.swf Completed Files: FinalFiles/Lesson_06/report/Financial Report.doc FinalFiles/Lesson_06/report/financial_report.htm FinalFiles/Lesson_06/report/financial_report.swf FinalFiles/Lesson_06/report/financial_report.pdf FinalFiles/Lesson_06/pr/releases/pr_fieldtrip.htm FinalFiles/Lesson_06/media/fieldtrip.swf FinalFiles/Lesson_06/hr/info/employee_records.htm FinalFiles/Lesson_06/media/bg_emp_records.swf FinalFiles/Lesson_06/media/pdfs/financial_report.pdf In Lesson 5, you learned several methods for working with external documents. These methods basically boil down to two strategies: convert the content to HTML, or link to the file. The first approach is good for text-based documents with images and (to some degree) for spreadsheets; the linking technique is completely dependent on the programs available on the client machine. If the page visitor has a program capable of reading the file type, the file is downloaded, and the proper program is launched. If an installed program has made a plug-in or ActiveX control available for the browser, the plug-in is launchedtypically taking over the browser pageand the file is displayed. Although both techniques for handling external documents have their uses, they also leave a lot to be desired. FlashPaper makes it easy for Dreamweaver designers and Contribute users to embed any kind of printable document directly in a Web page.  Macromedia FlashPaper, a companion product installed with Macromedia Contribute, was introduced to convert any printable file to a Flash document and display it with a consistent user interface within a Web page. How does FlashPaper fill the gap when it comes to external files? Not all documents are meant to be converted to HTML; architectural drawings, for example, lose a great deal of readability when converted to GIF or JPEG. FlashPaper uses the originating program's own print drivers to create output, which results in extremely accurate rendering. Moreover, because Flash documents are vector based, images and text don't pixelate when magnified. FlashPaper is great for adding an "instant zoom" feature to standard graphics. Although FlashPaper also requires a plug-in, the necessary Flash Player enjoys very wide market distribution and is essentially ubiquitous. The use of a single plug-in to view documents from many programs is perhaps the biggest advantage of FlashPaper. Because FlashPaper relies only on Flash Player, Web page visitors can view printable output from any programMicrosoft Project, AutoDesk's AutoCAD, or Intuit's Quicken, to name just a fewwithout the visitor's actually having the corresponding program. Moreover, Flash documents load almost instantly and are presented self-contained within the Web page. Both factors contribute to a more consistent Web experience. FlashPaper installs alongside Contribute, which provides some advantages for the Macromedia Dreamweaver administrator. First, Contribute's own facility for converting any printable document to FlashPaper can easily be tested. Second, Dreamweaver developers can convert files to FlashPaper and then make them available for Contribute users as shared assets. This process adds a degree of control to the process, which some designers might find useful. Finally, FlashPaper 2 provides Windows users with a handy facility for saving converted files in PDF formatwithout requiring a separate program. All these advantages and more are explored in this lesson. |
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 130