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I didn't read the earlier msgs on this topic, so someone might have suggested
this already...
get demo versions. sure, they will expire eventually, and some might come with
features disabled, but you can generally manage to figure your way around the
tool.
same idea goes for tutorial books. often, they come with the software, again
with some features disabled, but again, you can generally manage to figure your
way around the tool. For example, I bought FMforDummies and Adobe's FM Classroom
in a Book, when I thought I'd be needing FM at work. Now I have FM 5.5 on my
desktop, which I can use to figure out FM to my heart's content. But I can't use
it to produce anything, since the Print, Save, Save As, and Export functions are
disabled. But that's ok for me right now.
now, if you're wanting to *own* the tool and *produce* with it, that's a whole
'nuther barrel o'fish.
-----Original Message-----
>>> I am a newbie to this field. I can't afford the
>>> prices for the software that I really need
>>> (framemaker, robohelp, etc