|
So just what is all this jargon? Checkout what Wikipedia says about...
Standards Organizations
- ISO - International Organization of Standardization
Authoring Tool Developers
Why should I use a sophisticated authoring tool or hire somebody to help my company?
- Compliance
- Revisions
- Integration of complicated graphics
- Software licensing and expense
|
Editing Platforms for creating Technical Documents
All companies especially manufacturing companies who require products to be government complaint, require extremely sophisticated manuals and technical publications. Some companies do this entirely in house using their own staff, but more and more companies require documents that require strick formatting. A variety of authoring tools have been developed to help companies create such documents. * * * * *
Microsoft Word - Although widely used in the general business word, MS Word has been used by many companies to initially development many of its own technical documents. Once certain equipment processes mature, companies will quickly outgrow MS Word because of certain ISO standards that government and standards organizations place on creating compliant documents. As a result, many companies find themselves outsourcing the documents using several of the following tools.
- Okay for documents up to about 100 pages
- Word Processor, not desktop publishing
- Graphic and Color Separation can be a struggle
Adobe Framemaker
- Very good for documents greater then 100 pages
- SGML and XML formatting features (required for most government compliance documents)
- Can be expensive. One of the reasons why many companies outsource larger documents.
- Steep learning curve.
- Could be phased out as Adobe's InDesign slowly replaces "Frame".
- Very good graphic capabilities
- Advanced Indexing and Cross-Referencing
- Formatting for government compliance issues
Adobe InDesign
- Platform that can edit both technical documents and shorter brochures, flyers, newsletters and magazines.
- Adobe has promoted this platform for current multiple electronic documents that require out to PDF, Flash.
- Great platform for those companies that want to development eManuals for handheld devices and other electronic output devices.
PTC ArborText Editor
- Very expensive but probably is the industry's most utilized structured authoring tool
- Author content with real-time validation using a familiar, productive user interface
- Create and edit document components and document assemblies
- Implement publishing standards like DITA, S1000D and DocBook easily
- Reuse content across your organization
- Improve the accuracy, consistency and flexibility of your information
- Incorporate interactive graphics in your publications
|
|
