TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Hard Copy Manuals: Who does layout? From:Alexia Prendergast <alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 11 Jun 1997 08:29:46 -0400
<peeling my own eyebrows off the ceiling...>
Many years ago, these tasks may have been different,
but today, information design is such a part of the
actual information development, that I can't imagine
writing without having control over presentation. If
design is to be involved, they can design the template
that the writers use in the DTP tool.
My own experience: I write much more efficiently and
thoroughly when composing directly in a DTP tool than
in a word processor. I was able to compare
this while using Frame at work and Word for a publisher.
The Word doc was double-spaced courier with virtually
no formatting -- talk about writers block! I ended up
doing the writing in a DTP and then, when I was done,
stripped out all the formatting for the publisher.
I always tell people that, if I had to use a typewriter,
I'd never have become a writer. ;)
>----------
>From: Kathleen Padova[SMTP:kpadova -at- ASICENTRAL -dot- COM]
>Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 1997 6:55 PM
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject: Hard Copy Manuals: Who does layout?
>
>...The department
>supervisor's response was that we (the tech writers) should just write
>the text in Word and then hand the document over to our design
>department for layout and formatting in Quark. He also felt that the
>tech writers shouldn't be wasting their time learning DTP programs to
>perform a task (DTP) that tech writers shouldn't be doing.
>
>After I peeled my eyebrows off the ceiling, I calmly explained that
this was not the alternative I would have suggested....
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
