FrameMaker to PDF table issue

I've run into a very odd problem, where the tables that are created in FrameMaker 8.0p277 are not appearing correctly once the book is made into a PDF. The tables appear fine in FM, and at first glance appear normal in PDF form as well. However, if you zoom in on the tables in the PDF, you can see quite noticeably that the horizontal table lines are extending beyond the boundaries of the table, creating little "nubs" down the whole left side of the table. I have no idea what could be causing it, because the tables in FM that are created are simply made with the table designer, they're nothing complicated or out of the ordinary. Is it a problem with Acrobat, or Adobe Distiller? I'm using Adobe Acrobat 3D Version 8.1.2, and Adobe Distiller 8.1.2. I've tried both the "Save as PDF" and printing to file as a PDF out of FM, and the problem exists with both methods. The "nubs" are also visible if you print the PDF on hard copy.

If need be, I can email screen captures of the "normal" tables, and the tables with "nubs" if that will help. I don't know if I can paste them in these messages or not.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!

What printer do you have set as your default printer when you create the file by printing to PDF?

If you highlight one of the left side cells and do Table > Custom Ruling and Shading > Show Current Settings, what ruling styles are applied to the cell?

Have you changed any of the ruling styles at all?

One more test, open a brand new fm document (not from a template, just a regular FM default document), insert a default table, and compare the ruling, is it showing the same defect?

Hi Sheila-

-I have it set to "Adobe PDF" when printing to PDF.

-The ruling styles from Custom Ruling and Shading are:
Top: From Table
Bottom: Medium
Left: Medium
Right: Mixed

Fill: Mixed
Color: From Table

-As you can see, I have changed some of the ruling styles.

-I've tried this last test with a blank FM document and default table, and have noticed the same defect. I've tried it with Thin ruling, Medium ruling, different colors, placing the table inside a text frame, placing the table inside a text frame inside an anchored frame, etc, and they all seem to show the same defect. In fact, I've checked out PDF's posted to the web from other companies, and have noticed the table boundary deficiency in their documents as well. Once you start looking for it, it becomes hard to miss. I've noticed it mostly on the top and left of tables, and on the corners, where if you experiment with enough zoom ratios, you will find that the table lines extend outside their boundaries. So unless all these documents were created with FM 8 (doubtful) I'm thinking this is some sort of inherent Acrobat or PDF issue?

Again, just to prove I'm not crazy and am not just imagining fake lines, I can email screenshots of the offending tables if you are unable to find any that have the issue. I have noticed a lot of documents from other sources have the outside borders removed entirely, making me think I may not be the only one who has noticed this?

Thanks

Having slight mis-matches when =viewing= PDFs -- or even when viewing on-screen in FM -- is a fairly common thing, due to the rounding problems when the number of pixels doesn't quite divide evenly into the size of the ruling lines. If the mis-match changes or disappears when you go from one zoom level to the next then it's almost certainly a display artifact only, rather than an actual progam error.

But if the problem persists when you actually print the file then that's an entirely different matter. What printer are you printing your PDFs on?

Yes, that's what I told my boss, that it's probably some zoom/display quirk and not something that is actually caused by the table design. He's of the opinion, though, that there should be no "quirks" whatsoever (Luckily I was able to show him some documents from competitors that have the same issue, and in fact, some Adobe-produced pdfs - <http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/8.0/dita_start.pdf> page 2, all three tables have noticeable "nubs" at 100% zoom on the left side, particularly if you take a screen capture of the side of the table and then zoom in on that screen capture - and that has somewhat quieted the situation on my end).

But for reference, I am using an HP Color LaserJet 3800 PS to print the actual hardcopy. In print, the "nubs" are noticeable if you're looking for them, but not as obvious as they are when viewed through Acrobat. Unfortunately, most of our customers don't print out our documents, they view them onscreen.

> (Luckily I was able to show him some documents from competitors that
> have the same issue, and in fact, some Adobe-produced pdfs -
> http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMak...dita_start.pdf page 2,
> all three tables have noticeable "nubs" at 100% zoom on the left side

For this PDF, this is *only* a display problem: the nubs come and go
at different zoom levels, and a print-out is just fine at my end.
So if you're having a problem with the print-out of this page, it's
an Acrobat or printer problem on your system.

FYI: Windows XP SP2, Adobe Reader 7, Dell 3000 laser printer.

--
/Thomas Michanek

I am also able to print out the DITA PDF and it looks fine on paper, with no nubs. But as my company's deliverables are usually in onscreen formats, where people are zooming in and out to examine table values and diagrams, it would be nice if the tables would maintain their consistency to avoid a sloppy looking document. But oh well... "display issues" are out of my hands...