|
| |||||||
Volume 21, Issue 1 |
STC: Designing the future of technical communication |
Summer 2004 Edition | |||||
Whiteboard
Session Review: The Tech Writer’s Essential
Toolkit STC
2004 Conference, Baltimore, MD
By Bob Young
Mention to a tech writer a software tool that saves time and money and you will get their attention. Quickly add that there are more then 50 of these time savers less than $100, including some freebies, and you’ll likely draw a crowd.
Such was the case at the 51st annual STC conference in Baltimore. One hopes to find a session packed with information that you can take home and put to use. This nugget was a gold mine, which didn’t go unnoticed. There were attendees squeezed wall-to-wall to hear Frances Wirth tell us about her list of inexpensive goodies to save time and, yes, a bit of sanity on deadline.
For example, there is an expandable ruler that quickly changes from inches to pixels for cropping photos or illustrations. Need to make a calculation, no problem. Click the icon on the ruler and enter the numbers. (See “CoolRuler” in the Graphic Aids section below.)
Or, maybe you need to edit an audio track or create an HTML page from plain text. All three of these slick devices are available for free. That’s right, free!
Wirth, with the help of the STC Carolina Chapter, has put together a handy packet entitled, “The Tech Writer’s Essential Toolkit.” You can access this handout at www.stc.org/51stConf/sessionMaterial/dataShow.asp?ID=167.
The handout is grouped into three main sections: Software tools, Web resources, and Reference tools. (The reference section referred me to “Read Me First,” which is an excellent book on grammar, style and technical writing. I suggest this book for any writer. At $40, it’s truly a bargain and easy read.)
Here are some examples of the gadgets, followed by a website and cost. I’ve experimented with some of these tools but I’m not offering any product endorsements.
Screenshots
MWSnap, www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html, Free -- Windows screen capture program has a lot to offer, and it’s free! Donations are accepted. You can use this tool for viewing graphics or converting images to different formats. A preview panel allows you to enhance images, including adding multi-color frames.
RoboScreenCapture, www.macromedia.com/software/roboscreencapture/, $34 -- Features handy keyboard shortcuts for capturing images in many different formats.
SnagIt, www.techsmith.com, $40 (price break for multiple licenses) -- Easy to use screen capture tool. You can capture an entire screen, an object or define an area. A neat feature is the ability to have the software scroll a large screen and make one screen capture.
Graphics
OmniGraffle, www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/, $70 -- You’ll never need to draw boxes and circles on a napkin again. Software allows you to quickly make professional looking diagrams. Lines actually stay with their shapes.
Paint Shop Pro, www.jasc.com, $55 (after rebates) -- Easier to use than PhotoShop for editing photos, adding layers, or creating icons.
XnView, www.xnview.com, free for non-commercial use -- Allows you to view and convert graphic files.
Graphic Aids
Click Art 200,000 (No cost provided) -- Printed thumbnails of all the images allows you to look over the collection and pick the art you need. Having the thumbnails in hard copy is a real time saver.
CoolRuler, www.fabsoft.com/products/ruler/ruler.html, Free -- They got the name right on this one! The ruler easily converts from inches to pixels, allows you to change font, and displays vertically or horizontally. Oh yes, a calculator also is available on the ruler.
Visual Thought,
www.freeware4u.com/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=141&title=Visual%20Thought,
Free -- Tool helps you make flowcharts, diagrams and organizational
charts. The graphics can be placed into Word and FrameMaker documents
or right on a web page for an imagemap.
Publishing
Jaws pdf Editor, www.jawspdf.com/pdf_editor/index.html, $39 -- Tool allows staffers and clients to review copy without the full version of Acrobat. Post-it annotations and comments can be made on pages.
FrameMaker Helpers
Archive, www.frameexpert.com/plugins/brucefoster/index.htm, $20 -- Reduces storage space on your hard drive because all references in the archived book are a relative path and point to text and graphics under the archive directory. Extraneous files are not repeated, thus reducing the storage space.
AutoText, www.siliconprairiesoftware.com, $10 – The plug-in allows you to define a set of text or graphic items and insert them into a FrameMaker document by making a menu selection or a key sequence. This creates consistency for repetitive items, such as company logos with text, anchored frames, and tables.
Mif2Go, www.omsys.com, Free offer (normally $295) -- Free offer is for unemployed technical writers and underemployed technical publications consultants. Software converts FrameMaker files into online help in HTML, XML or Word .rtf formats.
Dictionaries
Merriam-Webster online, www.m-w.com, Free -- An easy to use dictionary and thesaurus that are free. You type in the word and click “GO,” it’s that simple.
Onelook, www.onelook.com, Free -- Search several dictionary sources, from regular to computer wordsmiths, for a definition. It’s fun to compare the meanings of a word from the different dictionaries. Try “online,” for example.
Webopedia, www.pcwebopedia.com, Free -- Good source for providing meaning to technical terms.