[xsl] Thumb grips

Subject: [xsl] Thumb grips
From: Gustaf Liljegren <gustaf@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:55:10 +0100
Hi all,

Not sure if "thumb grips" is really the term... :-) I once helped publish an annual reference book with XSL FO where parts of the right margin is punched out, like in a phone book. The printer/bookbinder needs line marks in the PDF at the points where the thumb grips need to be punched out. I use to do this by manually adding comments in the PDF. That is, I draw short horizontal lines near the outer margin at a dozen places in the finished PDF.

The printer is always grumpy about me using PDF comments for these markings, but I'm not sure if it's possible to do in PDF. That's my question: is it possible in XSL FO to add horizontal lines with a certain length, at exact locations in the outer margin on each page immediately preceding a new chapter?

The stylesheet manages to add labels to the thumb grips, by dividing the page height with the number of chapters. Each thumb grip may be equal in height. I'd like to hear your ideas on how to to solve this in XSL FO.

Gustaf

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