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I try not to use Word for tech docs. It is not true WYSIWYG, it has
major problems with its auto-numbering feature, it doesn't handle long
docs or multi-file books very well, and it doesn't give you the
sophisticated document design control that a package like FrameMaker
has. If you need to provide soft copy of your docs in an editable format
to other groups, than Word is probably your best bet, but if your docs
will be provided as hard copy only (or converted to PDF), then I
strongly recommend FrameMaker over Word. Although FrameMaker has a tough
initial learning curve for those not familiar with DTP concepts, the
tutorials are a great help, and I think it's definitely worth the
investment in time and money.
Other packages on the market are PageMaker, Ventura Publisher, and
Quark. PageMaker is designed more for brochures, flyers, etc. than long
documents, so is not really a good choice for technical manuals. My
experience with Ventura Publisher is from five years ago, but I
understand that folks that have used both Publisher and FrameMaker
fairly recently generally prefer FrameMaker. I haven't used Quark,
although a lot of print shops seem to recommend it. My understanding is
that it is designed more for producing very graphic intensive books with
little text. I also hear that it has some limitations regarding
generated tables of contents and indices.
Hope this helps -
Chris Welch-Hutchings
Senior Technical Writer
Home Wireless Networks, Inc. mailto:cwhutchings -at- homewireless -dot- com
-----Original Message-----
From: Maria [mailto:mariac -at- NAS -dot- NET]
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 11:02 PM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Technical Manual Production
Hi:
I would be very interested in finding out from list members what
software
is used on a daily basis to produce technical manuals. There has been a
lot of discussion on Word and its features and I am wondering whether
that
is the standard software being used at this time in most companies.
Thanks,
Maria
----------
> From: Wayne Douglass <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM>
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Microsoft Publisher
> Date: Wednesday, July 15, 1998 4:55 PM
>
> As a favor to someone, I'm polling the list to see if anyone has ever
used
> Microsoft Publisher to do technical publications. Respond off-list
with
any
> reactions. I'll summarize if I get enough interesting responses.
>
> Thanks.
>
> --Wayne
> ---------------------------------------------
> Wayne Douglass phone: 408-542-2139
> Verity, Inc. FAX: 408-542-2040
> 894 Ross Road mailto:wayned -at- verity -dot- com
> Sunnyvale, CA 94089 http://www.verity.com
> ---------------------------------------------
>
>
~~~
> Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
TECHWR-L)
> Check out topic summaries at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/topics.htm
>
>
