Powerpoint is overkill for manuals!

["Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Deborah Crossman reported <<I have used Powerpoint to create slide
shows and to print out copies of individual slides, however, in this
case, I'm supposed to create an entire manual using Powerpoint.>>

<Fe> Excellent idea! Why use a word processor like Word or even a
real desktop publisher like Framemaker when you could use
presentations software? In fact, why use a computer at all when
you could save thousands of dollars by investing in good, disposable
pens and a pad of legal paper? </Fe> Pardon my sarcasm, but frankly,
I don't get the point... not at all. I may be misunderstanding
something here, but something strikes me as more than passing strange
about this request. Does your manager have tufts of triangular hair
sticking out like horns and a large bald patch, by any chance?

<<Could anyone offer any pointers on how I go about this?  Do I just
compose the manual as a huge slide presentation, then convert it to
something that will allow it to print out as a manual?>>

My recommendation would be to print out several lines of text from
Powerpoint, paste them messily onto a sheet of letter-size paper with
gobs of rubber cement, then bring that page up to your manager to ask
whether this is an adequate manual. When the manager finishes
laughing, you can then gently point out that _you're_ the writer, and
_you'll_ choose the appropriate tools for the job, and that
Powerpoint _is not_ the appropriate tool.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Patience comes to those who wait."--Anon.


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