Contents
Loading and Saving Books
HTMLDOC stores the HTML files, settings, and options you have
chosen in .BOOK
files. The buttons on the bottom of the
HTMLDOC window allow you manage these files and generate
formatted documents.
Button |
Description |
Help |
Displays this on-line help. |
New |
Creates a new .BOOK file. |
Open... |
Opens an existing .BOOK file. |
Save |
Saves the current .BOOK file to disk. |
Save As... |
Saves the current .BOOK file to disk using
the name you specify. |
Generate |
Generates the current .BOOK file into a HTML,
PDF, or PostScript file. |
Close |
Exits HTMLDOC. |
Contents |
Loading and Saving Books
The Input Tab
The input tab lists all of the HTML source files that are used to
generate the document. You can also specify the type of document (book
or web page) and the title and logo images.
Setting the Document Type
Normally HTMLDOC generates indexed documents
from your structured HTML files. To convert a single unstructured document
(or "web page") click on the Web Page radio button.
Structured HTML files use heading elements (H1
,
H2
, etc.) to delineate chapters and headings within a
document.
Adding HTML Input Files
Click on the Add... button to add one or more HTML files to your
.BOOK
file.
Deleting HTML Input Files
Highlight the file(s) in the input file list and then click on
the Delete button to remove one or more HTML files from your
document . The files are removed from your document but are not
deleted from disk.
Editing HTML Input Files
Hightlight the file(s) in the input file list and then click on the
Edit... button to edit one or more HTML files in your document.
By default this starts the nedit editor under UNIX and the
Notepad editor under Windows.
The editor can be changed in the Options Tab.
Moving HTML Input Files
Highlight the file(s) in the input file list and then click on the Move
Up or Move Down buttons to change the order of the input files.
Selecting a Logo Image
The logo image can be shown in the header or footer of pages in the
PostScript and PDF output files. Click on the Browse button
to select a logo image file using the file chooser.
Selecting a Title Image
The title image is shown on the title page. Click on the Browse
button to select a title image file using the file chooser.
Contents |
Loading and Saving Books
The Output Tab
The output tab specifies where your document will be generated, the output
format, and some of the output options.
Selecting File or Directory Generation
HTMLDOC can generate a single HTML, PDF, or PostScript file,
or a series of files to a directory when generating HTML or PostScript
output.
Click on the File radio button to select single file output.
Click on the Directory radio button to generate multiple files
to a directory.
Selecting an Output File or Directory
The output file is the HTML, PostScript, or PDF file you wish to
generate from your HTML files. Click on the Browse button
to select an output file using the file chooser.
Selecting the Output Format
Click on the corresponding Output Type radio button to
select an output format. You can select the PostScript language level in
the PS Tab and the PDF version in the PDF
Tab.
Selecting Grayscale Output
When generating PostScript or PDF files you can choose to convert all images
to grayscale. This is necessary for many Level 1 printers that do not support
color images and can reduce the size of output files considerably.
Click in the Grayscale check box to enable or disable grayscale
output.
Title Page
The title page is the first page in your generated file. Click in the
Title Page check box to turn the title page on or off.
JPEG Big Images
JPEG compression is a great way to reduce the size of large photographic
or continuous-tone images. It is supported when generating PDF, PostScript
Level 2, and PostScript Level 3 output. HTMLDOC uses JPEG
compression when the output image cannot be reduced to 256 colors or less.
Click in the JPEG Big Images check box to enable or disable
JPEG compression.
JPEG Quality
Drag the JPEG Quality slider to change the JPEG quality setting.
The JPEG quality setting determines the relative quality of the compressed
image. Since JPEG is a lossy compression algorithm, higher
compression generally yields lower quality. Typically a quality of 75 or
higher provides excellent image quality with a high amount of compression.
Compression
PDF 1.2, PDF 1.3, and Level 3 PostScript files can be compressed using Flate
(a.k.a. ZIP) compression to substantially reduce the size of files. Drag
the Compression slider to set the amount of compression to use.
Unlike JPEG, the Flate algorithm is lossless and will not cause any
loss of visual quality at any level of compression.
Contents |
Loading and Saving Books
The Page Tab
The page tab defines the page header, footer, size, and margins for
PostScript and PDF output.
Page Size
The page size option is only available for PostScript and PDF output.
HTMLDOC supports the following standard page size names:
- Letter - 8.5x11in (216x279mm)
- A4 - 8.27x11.69in (210x297mm)
- Universal - 8.27x11in (210x279mm)
Click on the Page Size arrow button to select a standard page
size. You can specify a custom page size by double-clicking on the page
size text and entering the page width and length separated by the letter
"x". Append the letters "in" for inches, "mm" for millimeters, or "cm"
for centimeters.
Note: This option does not set the page size on the printer.
It only generates pages using the specified size. See the PS
Tab to enable printer commands for PostScript printers.
2-Sided
Click in the 2-Sided check box to select double-sided (duplexed)
output.
Note: This option does not select duplexing on the printer.
It only generates pages with the left/right margins swapped on even
numbered pages and forces all chapters (and the table-of-contents) to
start on an odd-numbered page. See the PS Tab to enable
printer commands for PostScript printers.
Landscape
Click in the Landscape check box to select landscape output.
Page Margins
The left, right, top, and bottom margins can be changed by clicking in the
appropriate text field and entering a new margin. Append the letters "in"
for inches, "mm" for millimeters, or "cm" for centimeters.
Header and Footer
Select the desired text from each of the option buttons to customize the
header and footer for the document/body pages. The left option buttons
set the text that is left-justified, the middle buttons set the text
that is centered, and the right buttons set the text that is right-justified.
The left and right header and footer are swapped automatically when
generating duplexed output.
Contents |
Loading and Saving Books
The Table-Of-Contents Tab
The table-of-contents tab defines the number of levels in the
table-of-contents and the page header and footer that are used when
generating PostScript and PDF files.
Customizing the Table of Contents
To change the number of header levels listed in the table of contents, or to
turn off table-of-contents generation entirely, click on Table of Contents
chooser and select the number of levels desired.
Numbering Table of Contents Headings
To number the headings in your document, click on the Numbered Headings
toggle button.
Customizing the Header and Footer
To customize the header and footer for the table-of-contents pages, select the
desired text from each of the option buttons. The leftmost option buttons
set the text that is left-justified, while the middle buttons set the text that
is centered and the right buttons set the text that is right-justified.
Contents |
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The Colors Tab
The colors tab specifies the colors and background image that should be
used for the document.
Body Color
The Body Color field specifies the default background color. It
can be a standard HTML color name or a hexadecimal RGB color of the
form #RRGGBB
. Click on the Lookup... button to
pick the color graphically.
Body Image
The Body Image field specifies the default background image.
Click on the Browse... button to pick the background image using
the file chooser.
Text Color
The Text Color field specifies the default text color. It
can be a standard HTML color name or a hexadecimal RGB color of the
form #RRGGBB
. Click on the Lookup... button to
pick the color graphically.
Contents |
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The Fonts Tab
The fonts tab contains all of the document font options. The default options
roughly correspond to those used by most browsers.
Base Font Size
Click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the font size and the right
arrow buttons to increase the font size.
The font size value is in points (there are 72 points per inch).
Line Spacing
Click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the line spacing and the
right arrow buttons to increase the line spacing.
Body Typeface
The body typeface is the font used for paragraphs and most other text
in a document. Click on the Body Typeface option button to change
the body typeface.
Heading Typeface
The heading typeface is the font used for headings. Click on the
Heading Typeface option button to change the typeface used for
headings.
Header/Footer Size
Click on the left arrow buttons to decrease the heading and footer font
size and the right arrow buttons to increase the font size. The font size
value is in points (there are 72 points per inch).
Header/Footer Font
The header/footer font is the font used for headers at the top of
the page and footers at the bottom of the page. Click on the
Header/Footer Font option button to change the header/footer font.
Contents |
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The PS Tab
The PS tab contains settings specific to PostScript output.
Language Level
Select the appropriate language level by clicking on the corresponding
radio button. Level 1 output is the most portable, however most PostScript
printers manufactured in the last 6 years support Level 2. Level 3 output
supports Flate compression, however very few printers support Level 3
PostScript at this time.
PS Commands
Click in the PS Commands check box to enable to disable printer
commands in the PostScript output files. Printer commands are not supported
for PostScript Level 1 output.
Contents |
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The PDF Tab
The PDF tab contains settings specific to PDF output.
PDF Version
The PDF Version radio buttons control what version of PDF is
generated. PDF 1.2 is the most commonly supported version. Click on the
corresponding radio button to set the version.
Page Mode
The Page Mode option button controls the initial viewing mode
for the document. Click on the option button to set the page mode.
The Document page mode displays only the document pages.
The Outline page mode displays the table-of-contents outline
as well as the document pages. The Full-Screen page mode
displays the document pages on the whole screen; this mode is used
primarily for presentations.
Page Layout
The Page Layout option button controls the initial layout of
document pages on the screen. Click on the option button to set the page
layout.
The Single page layout displays a single page at a time.
The One Column page layout displays a single column of pages
at a time. The Two Column Left and Two Column
Right page layouts display two columns of pages at a time; the
first page is displayed in the left or right column as selected.
First Page
The First Page option button controls the initial page that is
displayed. Click on the option button to choose the first page.
Page Effect
The Page Effect option button controls the page effect that is
displayed in Full-Screen mode. Click on the option button to
select a page effect.
Page Duration
The Page Duration slider controls the number of seconds that
each page will be visible in Full-Screen mode. Drag the slider
to adjust the number of seconds.
Effect Duration
The Effect Duration slider controls the number of seconds
that the page effect will last when changing pages. Drag the slider to
adjust the number of seconds.
Contents |
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The Options Tab
The options tab contains the current HTML editor and allows you to save
the current settings as defaults.
HTML Editor
Type in the program name in the HTML Editor field or click on the
Browse... button to change the HTML editor that is used. The "%s"
is required and is replaced by the file to edit.
NOTE: To use Netscape Communicator as your HTML editor you need to
add the "-edit" option before the "%s".
Save Defaults and Options
Click on the Save Defaults and Options button to save the current
HTML editor, page, table-of-contents, color, font, PDF, and PostScript
options. Default options are used for new documents and when generating
documents from the command-line.