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Subject:Re: Using photographs in documentation From:David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:32:59 +0300
The other suggestions regarding file formats are quite good. On that
score, the only thing I would emphasize is to consider carefully the
original photograph and its file format...and, if that is appropriate
for your purposes, stay with it. As someone said, many cameras already
produce the originals in .jpg.
The largest problem with most cameras is that they are far higher res
than you can use.
However, with all of that as a starting point, I find a huge difference
is in the creation of the original photos. Many years ago, I was called
in as a consultant for the first effort at Xerox to incorporate digital
photos into printer service documentation. In that case, as you may
imagine most of the pieces inside a large laser printer happen to be
shiny metal--and getting any sort of contrast or decent lighting was a
serious problem.
Also, it is common for installation manuals to have photographs which
may contain far more information than the installer needs for a
particular step. More extreme cropping, on the other hand, may yield
detail photos that are difficult to look at and immediately place in
context of the actual equipment. Several techniques can make that much
simpler--such as placing a small mask over the immediate area of
concern, and darkening the rest of the image so the eye is drawn to the
sharp and clear detail, while the darker areas around it are still
present in enough detail to easily see the context of the location of
the particular item called for in that step.
Another method I've seen work quite well is to have a large establishing
shot with call-outs leading not only to textual information but also to
small "balloons" of larger-size detail of particular areas the text
describes. The call-outs give the positioning info the installer needs,
while the detailed images clearly illustrate the steps to be performed
at that point.
Of course, if this is all to be viewed on an Internet or intranet site
through a browser, it is also quite feasible to use roll-overs that pop
up the detailed steps and detail views. That way, the basic image simply
has strategically-placed numbers that the user either rolls over or
clicks on to bring up the further details; the sequence of the numbering
shows the order they are to follow.
You could also embed short video clips especially of any particularly
important steps to be performed--in other words, you may wish to get the
maximum use of the medium you are using, not simply to create an
electronic document that would have little advantage over a printed manual.
David
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