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Re: Engineering Textbook: Word MasterDocs vs FrameMaker vs ... ???
Subject:Re: Engineering Textbook: Word MasterDocs vs FrameMaker vs ... ??? From:John Allred <john2 -at- allrednet -dot- com> Date:Fri, 22 Oct 2021 09:36:18 -0500
This issue gets hauled out and rehashed every so often, and itâs usually a fun discussion. Hereâs my two cents.
Iâve used Word a number of times to produce complex documents with chapters, TOC, footnotes & Index. It CAN be done. Would I choose it over a WYSIWYG DTP app, given the choice? No.
Aside from the advantages I see in WYSIWYG, the ability to control the tag features of all elements (text, frames, images, inline elements, etc.) canât be overestimated. Granted, a large number of internal documents donât need a fine degree of control over format, so Word will do, handily.
> On Oct 22, 2021, at 7:19 AM, Slager Timothy J <Timothy -dot- Slager -at- dematic -dot- com> wrote:
>
> ïI think we are overthinking this. I worked on a couple of books for Oxford University Press. They accept manuscripts in Word (not sure if they accept other formats). There is nothing wrong with learning to exploit the possibilities of Word.
>
> When it's time to publish to other channels, you can re-consider.
>
> tims
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+timothy -dot- slager=dematic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <techwr-l-bounces+timothy -dot- slager=dematic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> On Behalf Of Nina Barzgaran
> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2021 4:11 AM
> To: Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
> Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Re: Engineering Textbook: Word MasterDocs vs FrameMaker vs ... ???
>
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>
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I enjoyed reading all the tips about this matter so far!
>
> But when you come to think of it, truly, it's a 'book' you are about to 'publish'.
> Good, old 'Desktop Publishing' is what you are looking at.
>
> Collaboration for a one-time project and a large bulk of documents inside Word may be alright.
> But if this is to be kept and maintained for years and even be delivered
> - i.e. 'published' - to other formats and channels, I'd really
> re-consider:
> The time it needs to train people on a proper tool may seem a lot, at first.
>
> But the time and hassle and nerves of all concerned you will save in the long run using a proper tool / CMS cannot be overestimated!
>
> There are even tools out there, cloud as well as local clients, that allow for easy and seamless import of Word docs. Although, if for long-time use, I would not recommend it.
>
> Office suites these days can do a lot of things, but they are not and never were meant for 'desktop publishing'.
>
> My favourite example is this, bluntly put: "If you use garden shears to mow the lawn, you will run into problems - even if you plug on (in ;-) ) additional gadgets."
>
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