Re: Multi-Platform Environments and DTP

[Chantel Brathwaite <brathwaitec -at- castupgrade -dot- com>]

Ed and Gene,

Thanks for the feedback concerning Scribus.  I started working with it 
yesterday and was already feeling like it might not really meet our 
needs.  But, I think the tool might work for other things - so I'm glad 
I am now aware of it.   Sounds like you are both confirming my first 
impressions.

I know someone who is using InDesign for long documents and is using 
another tool so that multiple people (graphic artist, writer, etc.) can 
work in a document at the same time.  But, this isn't really needed in 
our current environment for tech docs.  I don't need to migrate from the 
PC (thank goodness with the type of work I do), so I don't need to worry 
about installing a virtual box.  On the rare occasions when I need to 
work on a unix box, it is usually Solaris - so snapshot is sufficient.

It is looking more and more like Frame might be the tool of choice, 
which is fine.  But we might need to go back a couple of versions or use 
a virtual machine.

However, I've not explored the XML options yet.  I know about XML, have 
used it in a limited fashion, have done my own personal projects (like 
incorporating a XML phone list and using XSLT to style them for a web 
based application), but haven't really used it for tech writing.  DITA 
will be something new for me, so I think I'm going to start exploring 
that next.  I'm also trying to think about what is best for the 
organization also in terms of tech writing skillsets that might be out 
there ... don't want to tie them up with something that might be cause 
problems for another tech writer to learn should I end up moving on at 
some point in the future.

Anyway, any advice or suggestions concerning a move to XML would be 
appreciated.  Our organization is on a budget as well, so we can't 
really afford very expensive solutions ... but reasonably priced ones 
should work well.


Chantel


On 5/24/2011 11:57 AM, Ed Marsh wrote: