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Subject:frame vs pagemaker -Reply From:Bill Sullivan <bsullivan -at- SMTPLINK -dot- DELTECPOWER -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 9 Feb 1996 17:00:47 -0800
Dear Henry: I have never thought that techwriter tools and DTP tools
are my big thing in life, but I couldn't help reaching for my seasick
pills when I read your posting.
You said: In Pagemaker, if I put something on page 26, then by gum
it'll stay on page
26 until I move it. This is really nice when you're laying out a
newsletter but a real BIG pain when you're editing a software manual.
I say: Wrong. We use PageMaker 5 and PageMaker 6 on our manuals
which typically are less than 100 pages long. We make two files, one
for the front and back matter and one for the text starting with page
1 (pages are numbered consecutively, not in the hyphenated
chapter-specific military style). All text goes in as a single story
with graphics in line, and we use Autoflow. You delete, the stuff
behind it walks. You add enough, you may have to add pages, but no
big.
You said: Now, if I want to work with one document and yet be able
to identify individual pieces (like a book and chapters) then in Word
I'm outta luck.
I say: Wrong. That's one of the beauties of Word. If you are
making a Word document and you need chapter-specific page numbering,
you create a new Word section for each chapter. Restart the page
numbering at 1. Put your 1- or your 2- in the header or footer
followed by a hit on the page numbering icon.
I am not going to debate with you the value of Frame for longer
documents. I only wanted to hit the above two points and I would
also like to add a point that I have never seen in this or other
conversations and it might be useful.
POINT I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE THAT MAY BE USEFUL TO SOMEBODY. The
group of five computer graphics specialists and desktop publishing
specialists in our organization support both the user manual efforts
and the marketing brochures and newsletter efforts. We user manual
writers have looked longingly at pitches for Frame and wished we were
there, but our Boss Lady says (rightly, I think) that 1) we should
stick to a single program, and 2) that program should be PageMaker
because it is more versatile than Frame. (We work in Macintosh
except for OLH which I do in Windows, OS/2, and UNIX.) I have a
great affection for PageMaker's indexing and TOC features. I have
never seen that talked about either, although I am sure Frame is just
as good.
