RE: Tools: PageMaker?

[Jeff Hanvey <jewahe -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> If I were a PageMaker or InDesign expert, would I be
> in a better position to
> learn Frame (as opposed to a non PageMaker expert)?
> 
If you have good software skills, learning FM is not
impossible, but I would set aside a few days to play
with it. FrameMaker is very complicated - much, much
more complicated than Quark Xpress or PageMaker. FM's
interface is completely different from the other Adobe
products I've used (PageMaker, PageMill, PhotoShop,
and Acrobat). I think this interface is less intuitive
until you get into the programmer's head. Just setting
up different paragraph styles drives me batty (I've
taken to worrying about the tags after writing the
stuff so that I can design the tags based on the
writing).

For example, I just landed a tech writing job at one
of the leading corporations in Memphis. I had
absolutely no experience with FM, but now I have to
write training manuals and policy and procedure
manuals in it. I do have extensive software skills and
thought that I all I'd have to do is open FM and
"play" around with it just a bit.

Yeah, right.

I spent two days mucking around just trying to set up
a page with area for side heads. I opened pages
written by the previous tech writer to get the
settings for her manuals, and I did eventually figure
that out, but then had trouble trying to get text into
those side heads. The help file was little help.

Finally, I ordered a book from Barnes and Noble (a
Dummies book, nonetheless!), wrote the stuff in Word,
and then started development in FM after reading the
book. And every day, there's something else I have to
figure out. 

If you're a tech writer, you should learn FrameMaker:
it will be a valuable addition to your resume.

Jeff Hanvey
Memphis, TN

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com