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Subject:RE: Frame and rendered 3D images From:Amy Dohlman <amdohlman -at- uwalumni -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:31:03 -0500
Eric asks:
> "How well does Frame support graphics such
> as jpegs, tiffs, etc. Would InDesign be a better solution?
> Our documents span the range of 3-10 page installation instructions
> featuring photographs or rendered drawings to 500 plus page
> Architectural Detail Manuals that use IGES files of 2D CAD drawings.
> Bottom line, is Frame a good solution for both in your opinion."
Eric, in my experience, FrameMaker handles .JPG and .TIF files quite well. I
don't use .JPGs frequently, but I have found that Frame's handling of .TIF
files was more than adequate for my needs (and at the one STC meeting I
attended here in the Twin Cities, other writers seemed to champion the .TIF
format over others for tech docs. I'm not sure what authoring tool everyone
was using, however).
Frame's real strengths are found it its cross-referencing, TOC, and indexing
tools, as well as the book wrapper files it uses to manage large documents by
linking smaller files together - it's like Master Documents in Word, but
implemented properly so that it works. It's very easy to create links and
search across files. Frame gives you easy control over headers and footers in
long documents via master pages, making consistency a snap. And there's
no "futzing" with it (as can happen in Word) - once it's set up, it's very
solid. If you're publishing large documents with these elements, Frame's
really a superior choice.
Frame might not be as good a choice for your shorter documents, but it can
produce them. It's design tools are more limited than those in other design
packages, but I have used it to create marketing glossies and success story
pieces (based on my company's standards) without too much trouble.
It does have a bit of a learning curve, but I was able to get up to speed
quickly through OTJ training (they used Frame, I had to learn it) and Adobe's
Classroom in a Book. I also purchased two other more advanced, books that were
excellent references. There's also an active online community and you can find
good information on Adobe's site with some determination and creative
searching.
I've not used InDesign, so I can't speak to it, but I do understand that it
doesn't have the x-ref, indexing, and document management tools that Frame
does, and may be more limited in handling long documents. In my understanding,
it does have better design and layout tools than those available in Frame, and
is probably better for shorter documents that don't have the referencing needs
of longer ones.
For rendered 3D images or integrating CAD images, I'm afraid I have no
comments. I have published guides in Frame that include graphics created from
CAD programs, but for these graphics I asked my engineers to send me .TIF
or .GIF files (or whatever graphic format they preferred). I'm not sure
whether Frame could handle .DXF files, for example.
I recently switched jobs, and now I'm at a shop that uses Word. The documents
here are generally fairly short (less than 10 pages, mostly), which wouldn't
take full advantage of Frame's strengths, but I find myself missing it every
day. It's an excellent tool for technical documentation.
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