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I have FrameMaker 10. I want to improve the quality of the arrows in my documents. I want to have black arrows with a white outline, so that they are clearly visible on a variety of different backgrounds. I know this is possible in InDesign. Can something similar be done in FrameMaker? Is there any add-on program that can facilitate this?
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afaik, the FM graphics tools don't let you set different fill and stroke colours. I usually prepare graphics with callouts in Illustrator, with the callouts on a separate layer, and reference the complete graphic in FM – but even with Illustrator I haven't yet found a way to outline an arrow and the arrowhead with a second colour :-{
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Niels,
This can be done in Illustrator using the Appearance Panel. Draw your arrow and select it. In the Appearance Panel, choose "Add new stroke" from the dropdown. Make another arrow and format/scale it to be a white arrow sitting below your original arrow.
I have my black arrow at 1 pt, arrowhead scaled at 100%. The white arrow is 3 pt, arrowhead scaled at 50%.
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In Framemaker I create one white line at 3 points with an arrow head. I then copy and paste that line, change its point size to about 1 and color it black. I align both, zoom to 400% and adjust the black line/arrow to "align" visually. Grouping keeps them together. A little labor intensive but it works.
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Thanks, marylynnc – but my best result with Appearances so far has been either (say) a blue arrow sitting on a white rectangle (where the points of the arrowhead touch the edge of the rectangle) or a a blue arrow with a white outline but a grotesquely out-of-proportion arrowhead. It's something I go back to and experiment with every now and then, though :-}
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If the arrow sizes and lengths can be constant, you can (at 1600% zoom) create a white masking polygon behind a standard black arrow, then group these two objects. We have an assortment of these on a Reference Page.
You can see the outline of the arrow when moving and rotating. They do not scale, however.