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:Which do I use? PageMaker? FrameMaker? Quark? From:Earline Gilley <earline_g -at- HOTMAIL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 11 Mar 1999 11:44:14 PST
Attention, experts:
I am an application developer recently given the role of technical
writer, that is I am now responsible for creating manuals for the
software I develop. As if I don't have enough to do around here!
Anyway, I am terribly confused by all of the desktop publishing software
on the market. I have taken Adobe PageMaker 6.5 and QuarkXPress for
test drives. At the moment I am using Word 97 to create my documents,
but it is painful. My biggest concern is this: my boss could want paper
manuals one day, and the next day he will ask me where the online
version is. It's not as easy as just saving a file in a different
format and then pushing it to the web!
I am going to have to invest in a product where I can create manuals for
print and, with a little alteration, publish to the web. Would I be
safe in purchasing just Adobe Acrobat, or should I consider FrameMaker
or PageMaker? Any opinions would be appreciated.
Please send responses to my email address as I receive this list in
digest form. I will post a summary of responses.