Re: When to use screen shots (was: screen dumps in books)

["Gaydos, Ron" <Ron -dot- Gaydos -at- RESPIRONICS -dot- COM>]

Don't forget that the more illustrations you use, the fewer words you
will need.  The fewer words you use, the less costly the translation
will be.  Besides, the screens have to be translated anyway, so why not
use them?

Ron G.


> ----------
> From:         RCURRIER[SMTP:Rcurrier -at- RAINBOW -dot- COM]
> Reply To:     RCURRIER
> Sent:         Wednesday, January 20, 1999 4:23 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: When to use screen shots (was: screen dumps in
> books)
>
> On when to use screen shots, Trevor Holdsworth wrote:
>
> <Choice is yours, but beware, if you have lots of screen shots and the
> <software undergoes major cosmetic surgery or has functions added,
> you're
> <going to have to be very careful checking/updating those shots.
>
> Over the years I have become a screen shot minimalist for the reason
> above
> and for another reason I
> haven't seen addressed yet: localization. Although I would not want to
> compromise the quality of my
> documentation, I have to keep in mind time schedules and translation
> costs.
> And, in my opinion,
> many writers simply get into the habit of popping in a screen shot
> without
> taking a moment to think
> about whether it is really needed.
>
> When we release a manual in English, we plan on having that manual as
> well
> as the related software and
> help files translated into seven or eight languages. The more screen
> shots,
> the longer it takes to finish the
> translated manuals because we have to get the translated software
> built and
> running, make the new
> shots of the translated screens, and import the shots back into the
> manuals.
> Since most of our products
> are Windows-based, a screen shot will be of a Windows user interface
> with
> lots of user input.
> If you are not a Chinese speaker, can you imagine how tough it is to
> figure
> out and type the proper Chinese
> characters for the user input so that the screen shot will correspond
> to the
> translated manual text? For this
> reason and for the maintenance issue mentioned by Trevor, I use the
> following rule of thumb for non-tutorial
> documents: Only use a screen shot when it is necessary to avoid
> confusing
> the user. For example, I never
> show installation screen shots unless special explanation is needed.
> ("Run
> setup.exe. Do what it says." Don't
> flame me. But I think we've all used InstallShield enough by now to
> get the
> drift without showing the intro
> installer screen.) By the way, PLEASE don't suggest we do two versions
> of
> the manual: one in English with
> more screen shots and one without for translation. Never enough time
> for
> that!
>
> Robin Currier
> Rainbow Technologies
> Irvine, California
> rcurrier -at- rainbow -dot- com
>
>
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