Why is "Save As Review PDF" Greyed Out?

[JohnHuntington]

I want to use PDF comment importing for my book in FM10.  However, "Save as review PDF" is greyed out on my menu:

I tried selecting different files, books, etc, and I couldn't figure out what was up.  So, I saved as a regular PDF and clicked "Generate PDF for review only" in the PDF setup menu, and had all kinds of problems.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Do you have a standalone copy of FM or as part of TCS? That review feature may be a Suite feature (I don't remember).

[JohnHuntington]

Standalone...  It looks like you are right:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/special-integration-within-technical-communication-suite-3-applications/pd...

I don't need all that stuff, though, I just want to send out documents for copy editing from one person 😞 I tried "Generate PDF for review only" and used the

"Import PDF comments" and that turned into a giant mess--it keeps telling me that my FM document is newer than the PDF, which it isn't.

I hope I don't have to get this copy edited on paper in 2012!  Crazy.

Thanks!

John

www.controlgeek.net

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I couldn't remember if it was or wasn't a TCS feature. There are still some workflow bugs to be worked out - the FM file can't be changed at all (even saved) after the review PDF is created to make the import comments work. I don't bother with that - I just PDF it & have them use Reader to stick comments on & then manually look at the changes & incorporate (or not) them into my FM docs.

[JohnHuntington]

Ugh, I think you may be right--this really sucks.  I made a little test document (using the NWS weather forecast--I didn't write it! 🙂 ), and saved it in FM.  I then saved it as a PDF and checked, "Generate PDF for review only".  I didn't even close FM and I didn't touch the document at all. I put in some markups in Acrobat 10 and when I tried to import the comments I got this:

There isn't anything to "revert" to--I didn't even close FM after saving it.  The FM file didn't change at all.  I imported anyway and it's totally worthless.  Here's the test comments in PDF:

Here's how they came out in FM:

Everything's off by a few lines.  I've tested this about five different ways and can not get it to work reliably at all.  This sucks...

John

www.controlgeek.net

[Arnis_Gubins]

John,

The PDF Review feature is only enabled in the TCS version of FM. However, you can, as Jeff indicates, also accomplish this through Acrobat with a couple of caveats:

- the PDF that you create from FM has to be a "Tagged" PDF, i.e. you have establish the structure/hierarchy of the paratags so that the comments can go back into the correct locations of the PDF document. You can then enable the PDF for commenting and review in AcrobatPro.

- you can't continue to work on the FM document after you've created the PDF (i.e. you have to save it and leave it until the reviews are complete and ready to be imported back into the FM doc)

Not the most convenient, but works in about 90% of the cases.

[JohnHuntington]

Well, I must be in the 10%. 🙂

I opened a document in FM10, and then saved it.  Then I went Save as PDF, went to the "Tags" panel and clicked "Generate Tagged PDF".  I opened that PDF in Acrobat Pro 10, and put in a bunch of test corrections.  I then went back to FM, closed the open document (so it wouldn't mess up the time stamps) without making any changes, reopened the document, and imported the changes from PDF.  I got a few markers but it didn't even show the (wrong) corrections as above. 

It really sucks that Adobe would require me to buy another $1000 worth of sofware just to get this one common feature!

I can't believe I have to have my copy editor work on paper in 2012.  Sigh.

John

[Van Kurtz]

I can't believe I have to have my copy editor work on paper in 2012.  Sigh.

John,

I doubt that one needs to go to that extreme. I would take Jeff's advice and create a PDF as you normally would. Then enable it for commenting in Reader and let the copy editor mark up the PDF. Then you have to fix the Frame files according to the comments and mark up from the PDF. I see not need to go to paper.

Van

[Arnis_Gubins]

John,

Did you actually arrange all of your paratags in the hierarchy used in your documents or did you just simply accept FM's default entries when you selected the Tagged PDF option? If you just accepted FM's default arrangement, then I can guarantee that it's not going to work to your satisfaction.