large file/automation question

[Ken Moon]

Posting this on behalf of a colleague:

Hi,
I am trying to create a large (>1200 pages) docuement.
1. For a document this size is it correct to say it makes more sense to have multiple documents bookmarked to create one large document?
2. If so, I plan on using the Bookmark feature in Adobe to do this. With a document this size my bookmarks are substantial and a work in progress. Effectively I will end up with about 20 smaller documents that all have the same bookmark strucutre and are linked to each other. My problem is this, once complete if I decide I need to add/change bookmarks do I have to go and change in each seperate document or is there a way to copy all the bookmarks from one document and add to another.

To further elaborate on my bookmark structure:
For example The book has 20 chapters. And each chapter has 20 pages. I would have 20 pdf files (one for each chapter) and each pdf file would have bookmarks for each of its own 20 pages and the pages for every other chapter. So If you were in chapter 1 on page 15 and wanted to open page 10 in chapter 2, all you wold have to do is open the bookmarks for chapter 2 and click on page 10 and it would automatically open chapter 2, which has the same bookmark structure. Now, if I wanted to add a link for page 21 in chapter 2, would I have to go through each of the 20 Chapter pdf files and update their bookmarks individually or is there an automated process.

Thank you for the help.

[Sheila Carlisle]

Ken, your colleague should definitely take a look at using Adobe FrameMaker to create the document with -- FrameMaker lives and breathes long docs.

FM can automatically make all the bookmarks needed for individual chapters and for things like the Table of Contents or indexes, and hyperlinks within chapters, as well, for things like cross-references ("See topic "xyz" on page 435") All of these links can be automatically updated at any time, so there's never any need to change bookmarks within the PDF. FM makes fully hyperlinked PDFs automatically.

Lots more info on FrameMaker on this site, and there's a FrameMaker section on here, too; if you or your colleague post a description of your project on the FM section we can certainly give you more specific info on FM's suitability.

Sheila