TechNote

Landscape Pages Become Portrait After Converting FrameMaker Document to PDF

Issue

When you convert an Adobe FrameMaker document to Adobe PDF, landscape pages become portrait.

Detail

You use Adobe Acrobat Distiller 3.x.

Solutions

Do one of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Use Acrobat Distiller 4.0 or later.

For information about upgrading to the current version of Acrobat, visit the Adobe website at http://store.adobe.com/store/products/department.jhtml?id=deptAcrobatFamily .

Solution 2:Rotate the pages in Acrobat Exchange 3.x.

1. Open the PDF file in Acrobat Exchange, and choose Document > Rotate Pages.

2. Select Counterclockwise or Clockwise for the portrait page you want to be landscape, and then specify a page range. Click OK.

3. Repeat step 2 for additional pages.

4. Save the file.

Solution 3: Edit the Example.ps file.

If you use Windows or Mac OS, edit the Example.ps file to include an AutoRotatePages parameter that forces Distiller to rotate the pages. Then re-create the PDF file in FrameMaker.

To edit the Example.ps file to include an AutoRotatePages parameter:

1. Make a backup copy of the Example.ps file in the Acrobat 3.0x: Startup folder (Mac OS) or the Acrobat3/Distillr/Startup folder (Windows). (You can revert to the copy should problems occur.)

2. Open the Example.ps file in an application that can save in text-only format (for example, WordPad or SimpleText).

3. Add the following line at the end of the file, before the line "%%EOF":

<</AutoRotatePages /[value]>> setdistillerparams

where you replace [value] with All or PageByPage:

-- All causes pages to have the same orientation as the first page.

-- PageByPage causes pages to have either portrait or landscape orientation, based on the predominant orientation of the text on each page.

4. Save the file in text-only format. Make sure that the file has a .ps extension.

Solution 4: If the document has text smaller than 8 points, create a text frame that has 14 point text.

1. In FrameMaker, draw a text frame on a landscape page.

2. Type one or more characters.

3. Choose Edit > Select All In Flow.

4. Click the Color icon in the Tools palette, and choose the document's background color (for example, White) from the pop-up menu.

5. Choose Format > Size > 14 pt.

Background information

Several factors can cause Acrobat Distiller 3.x to orient pages incorrectly, including PostScript code that lacks a setpagedevice operator and a %%PageOrientation comment. (PostScript code generated from FrameMaker by the printer driver may lack this information.) If Distiller can't find this information, it searches the PostScript code for other information about page orientation, such as text orientation. Orientation of text that is 8 points or smaller doesn't provide the information Distiller needs.

For information about Distiller parameters, see the Acrobat Parameters Guide, Distparm.pdf. To view the Acrobat Parameters Guide, in Acrobat Distiller choose Help > Distiller Parameters Guide. (Note that the Acrobat Parameters Guide incorrectly states that the values for AutoRotatePages are "true" or "false" instead of "None," "All," or "PageByPage.")