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Robohelp

Robohelp

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  1. RoboHelp User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. Get to know RoboHelp workspace
    2. What's new in RoboHelp 2022 release
      1. What's new in Update 5
      2. What's new in Update 4
      3. What's new in Update 3
      4. What's new in Update 2
      5. What's new in Update 1
    3. Fixed Issues in RoboHelp
    4. RoboHelp System Requirements
    5. Download RoboHelp on Windows and macOS
    6. Download and install Adobe app
    7. RoboHelp FAQs
    8. What's new in RoboHelp 2020 release
      1. What's new in Update 8
      2. What's new in Update 7
      3. What's new in Update 6
      4. What's new in Update 5
      5. What's new in Update 4
      6. What's new in Update 3
      7. What's new in Update 2
      8. What's new in Update 1
  3. Projects
    1. Plan your RoboHelp project
    2. Create a project
    3. Manage projects
    4. Work with topics and folders
    5. Generate reports
    6. Work with context-sensitive help
    7. Manage References
    8. Set preferences in RoboHelp
  4. Collaborate with authors
    1. Collaborate using Git
    2. Collaborate using SharePoint Online
    3. Collaborate using Azure DevOps (Team Foundation Server)
  5. PDF Layout
    1. PDF templates
    2. Design a page layout
    3. Publish PDF output
    4. Work with the common content styles
    5. Components of a PDF template
    6. Support for language variables
    7. Customize PDFs
  6. Editing and formatting
    1. Format your content
    2. Create and manage cross-references
    3. Create and manage links
    4. Single-source with snippets
    5. Work with images and multimedia
    6. Create and use variables for easy updates
    7. Work with Variable Sets
    8. Use Find and Replace
    9. Auto save your content
    10. Side-by-side editing in Split View
    11. Use the Spell Check feature
    12. Create and Edit Bookmarks
    13. Insert and update fields
    14. Switch between multiple views
    15. Autonumbering in CSS
  7. Import and linking
    1. Import Markdown files into a project
    2. Import Word documents into a project
    3. Import FrameMaker documents into a project
  8. TOCs, indexes, glossaries, and citations
    1. Create and manage a Table of Contents
    2. Create and manage an index
    3. Create and manage a glossary
    4. Create and manage citations
    5. Create and manage browse sequences
    6. Work with See Also and Related Topics
  9. Conditional content
    1. What is conditional content
    2. Create and apply condition tags
    3. Configure output presets for conditional content
    4. Optimize and manage conditional content
  10. Microcontent
    1. Microcontent
  11. Review and Collaboration
    1. Review and Collaboration
  12. Translation
    1. Translating content to multiple languages
    2. Configure a translation framework for a service provider
  13. Generating output
    1. Generate output
    2. Generate Frameless output
    3. Generate Knowledge Base output
    4. Generate PDF output
    5. Generate Responsive HTML5 output
    6. Generate Word Document output
    7. Generate Content Only output
    8. Generate eBook output
    9. Generate Microsoft HTML Help output
    10. Generate Mobile App output
  14. Publish output
    1. Publish to a RoboHelp Server
    2. Publish to an FTP server, a Secure FTP server, or a File System
    3. Publish to SharePoint Online
    4. Publish to Zendesk Help Center
    5. Publish to Salesforce Knowledge Base
    6. Publish to ServiceNow Knowledge Base
    7. Publish to Zoho Knowledge Base
    8. Publish to Adobe Experience Manager
    9. Publish to Atlassian Confluence Knowledge Base
  15. Appendix
    1. Adobe RoboHelp Scripting Reference
    2. RoboHelp keyboard shortcuts

Learn about the different types of output presets in RoboHelp and how they are used to generate output in various formats, such as Responsive HTML5, Frameless, Mobile App, and more.

Note:

Resolve known issues and limitations in the latest versions of Adobe Captivate, Adobe FrameMaker, and Adobe RoboHelp.

For more information, see Resolve known issues in Technical Communication Suite.

RoboHelp comes with powerful publishing capabilities so you can generate your output in many formats. Choose from a variety of output preset types, such as Responsive HTML5, PDF, and Mobile App, and cater to users from various platforms. Output presets are easy-to-configure; you can use the many settings to create multiple Help systems from the same project with different content, layouts, and experiences.

With RoboHelp (2019 release), you can experience a smooth output generation, even as you continue working on your project.

Types of output presets

You can generate your project output using a desired type of output preset. The following types of output presets are available in RoboHelp:

Note:

Microsoft HTML Help (.chm) is not supported on macOS.

Work with an output preset to generate output

Before you generate your project output in RoboHelp, you need to create and configure an output preset. Once the output preset is ready, you can use the preset to generate the output.

Create an output preset

To create an output preset in RoboHelp, follow these steps:

  1. In an open project, do one of the following:

    • Click Quick Generate  in the upper-right corner of the Standard toolbar and click the Edit Settings icon .
    • Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar.

    The Output view opens.

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. The Output Presets panel opens.

  3. In the Output Presets panel, click .

  4. In the New Preset dialog box, specify the following:

    Name Specify a name for the output preset.

    Type Use the drop-down list to select a desired output preset type. You can choose from Responsive HTML5, PDF, Microsoft HTML Help, Frameless, Mobile App, and EBook.

  5. Click Done.

    You can access the output preset from the Output Presets panel in the Output toolbar. Alternatively, you can access the output preset in the Quick Generate dialog box of the authoring window.

    Note:

    To identify the type of output preset from the Output Presets panel or in the Quick Generate dialog box, check the icon before the output preset name. The following icons correspond to the given types of output presets:

     Responsive HTML5

     Printed documentation

     Microsoft HTML Help 

     Frameless

     Mobile App

     EBook

    Note:

    Creating an output preset for Microsoft HTML Help (.chm) does not show for Mac users.

Configure an output preset

To configure the settings of an output preset, follow these steps:

  1. In an open project, do one of the following:

    • Click Quick Generate  in the upper-right corner of the Standard toolbar and click the Edit Settings icon .
    • Click the Output tab at the left of the Standard toolbar. 

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. In the Output Presets panel, do one of the following:

    • Double-click the desired output preset.
    • Click the  icon next to the desired output preset and select Edit.

  3. Based on the type of your output preset you had chosen, you can view tabs such as General, Content, and more to configure settings.

    To know more about how to configure a type of output preset, see the following resources:

    Note:

    The entire project is not included in the output generated. In the Contents tab > Table of Contents field, the selected Table of Contents determines what is included. That is, only the topics (and the referenced files inside these topics) in the selected Table of Contents file are included.

  4. To save your settings, click Save All  icon in the upper-left corner of the standard toolbar.

Generate output

After configuring the required output preset, you can generate output.

To generate output, follow these steps:

  1. In the authoring window of an open project, click Quick Generate  in the upper-right corner of the standard toolbar.

  2. In the Quick Generate dialog box, select your desired output preset, and click Generate.

    Note:

    Alternatively, you can do the following to generate output:

    1. Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar. 
    2. In Output view, in the Output toolbar, click Output Presets.
    3. In the Output Presets panel, select an output preset and click Generate Preset . 
      Or, against an output preset, choose Options  > Generate.

    A progress bar displays the progress of output generation. To cancel output generation, click . After output generation is complete, to view the output, click . If the output generation is not successful, click  to view the error log. 

    Note:

    Before generating output, you can also edit multiple output presets through the Quick Generate dialog box. To do so:

    1. Select the output presets you want to edit, and click Edit. The preset editor for each output preset opens in Output view. 
    2. Use tabs such as General, Content, and Layout to edit the properties of each output preset. 
    3. Generate output using the Output Presets panel in Output view.
      Or, go back to Author view, open the Quick Generate dialog box, select the edited output presets, and click Generate. 
    Note:

    Output generation takes place in the background, and simultaneously multiple outputs can be generated while you continue to use RoboHelp.

Generate output using a command-line utility

To generate output without launching the RoboHelp GUI, specify the following command in a command-line utility:

<path_of_Robohelp.exe> --cl "<project_path>" -o "<output_preset>" -l "<logfile_path>" -p "<output_path>"

Command description:

  • path_of_Robohelp.exe Path of the RoboHelp executable file.
  • --cl Launches RoboHelp in command-line mode.
  • project_path Path of the project you want to generate.
  • -o Includes output preset.
  • output_preset Name of the output preset you want to use to generate output.
  • -l or --log (Optional) Includes the log file argument.
  • logfile_path If you include the log file argument, specify the path of the log file in which logs are generated. The log file must be in HTML format as logs are in HTML format.
  • -p or --path (Optional) Includes the output path argument.
  • output_path If you include the output path argument, specify the path at which you want to save the output generated. If you exclude this argument, RoboHelp generates output at the output path specified in the selected output preset's properties.

For example:

Robohelp.exe --cl "C:\Latte.rhpj" -o "My Responsive Output" -l "C:\logfile.html" -p "C:\outputfolder"

Note:

Enclose argument values containing spaces, for example, paths and output preset name, in double quotes.

Note:

To publish Adobe RoboHelp projects to Adobe RoboHelp Server using a command-line utility, see Publish to a RoboHelp Server.

Manage output presets

You can easily duplicate an available output preset or delete it from the Output Presets panel and the Quick Generate dialog box.

Rename an output preset

  1. Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar.

    The Output view opens.

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. The Output Presets panel opens.

  3. In the Output Presets panel, against the output preset you want to rename, choose Options  > Rename.

  4. In the Rename Preset dialog box, specify the name of the output preset.

  5. Click Done.

Duplicate an output preset

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click Quick Generate  in the upper-right corner of the standard toolbar and click the Edit Settings icon .
    • Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar.

    The Output view opens.

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. The Output Presets panel opens.

  3. In the Output Presets panel, click Options  next to your desired output preset.

  4. In the Options drop-down list, select Duplicate.

  5. Specify Name of the duplicate output preset and click Done.

Delete an output preset

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Click Quick Generate  in the upper-right corner of the standard toolbar and click the Edit Settings icon .
    • Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar.

    The Output view opens.

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. The Output Presets panel opens.

  3. In the Output Presets panel, select your desired output preset and click Options . 

  4. In the Options drop-down list, select Delete. In the Confirm dialog box, click Yes.

Locate an output preset file in your computer

  1. Click the Output tab at the left side of the Standard toolbar.

    The Output view opens.

  2. In the Output toolbar, click Output Presets. The Output Presets panel opens.

  3. In the Output Presets panel, against the output preset you want to locate, choose Options  > Show in Explorer  (Mac: Reveal in Finder).

    The output preset file and its location is displayed in your computer.

Tips for optimal output generation

  • Ensure that your system has sufficient memory. See System requirements for more details.
  • To generate Mobile App output, you will require Internet connection.

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