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Subject:Re: Doing your own art From:"Dan S. Azlin" <dazlin -at- SHORE -dot- NET> Date:Sat, 2 Mar 1996 01:12:11 -0500
Frank,
I applaud your goals but question your method. The drawing tools in
Frame are rudamentary at best and time consuming to use for anything
complex. I find that a good paint program allows any screen capture to
be cleaned up for good visual reproduction quality. The process is quick
and easy. For example, I routinely use a conversion feature in Corel
Photopaint to convert the color screen capture to 16 level greyscale,
which reproduces better in any xerography environment up to and including
linotronic systems. If I feel redrawing
the screen is the best way to go, I will use a drawing program that
provides a high level of productivity and control over the process of
tracing/redrawing the bitmap image. (I use Corel Draw, Canvas, and some
shareware utilities to do the yeoman work.) And for any line art that I
create, I generate .eps files with an embedded tiff file for
viewing/placement in Frame. This gives me a fully scalable image with
maximum reproduction quality. Of course, all graphics but the simplest
are externally referenced to keep the document file sizes manageable.
On Thu, 29 Feb 1996 Frank -dot- Harper -at- es -dot- atl -dot- sita -dot- int wrote:
> Yes, I do all of my own art, not because I am very talented, but because of the
> space requirements when importing bitmaps.
> I use FrameMaker. When I import a bitmap (usually screen captures), it results
> in very large document files. For this reason, I have drawn (actually traced)
> the screens using the FrameMaker draw tools. This has several advantages: first,
> a much smaller file. Secondly, it allows me to change the screen easily when the
> programmers get a bit wild and change the screen two days before the deadline.
> It also lets me save the drawn screens and reuse them for a different screen
> with some modifications. And lastly, it produces a much better image on the
> printed page when you have to reproduce the documents on a copier instead of a
> Linotronic. It works great for those of us who do not send the documentation out
> to a comercial printer.
> --------------------------------------------------------
> H. Frank Harper | Two rules in life:
> Technical Writer | 1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
> hfharper -at- pobox -dot- com | 2. It's ALL small stuff.
> --------------------------------------------------------
Dan Azlin ** WORD ENGINEERS, Technical Writing & Publishing **
Ph/Fax: 508-921-8908 18 School Street
Internet: dazlin -at- shore -dot- net Beverly, MA 01915-4851
