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Subject:Re: Issues with Adobe Acrobat and PDFs? From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 30 Aug 2001 09:37:41 -0700 (PDT)
> My biggest issue is not a technical one, but rather a matter of
> audience and context: The overwhelming use of PDF is to
> dump printed documents
Geoff..
I've been hearing this alot, and to be honest, I don't see these
concerns fitting in the trenches.
My experience has been that company management wants information out
into the hands of their readers in this order: quick, inexpensive,
non-libelous, attractive, accurate. Don't get me wrong...Accurate is
important to them...however quick and inexpensive seems to bee more
so.
What do you hear more:
"Our project is in jepordy... write faster", or "Maybe e can make it
easier to use...perform a usability stuy again."
Everything you've said in the email is correct...and in a world of
more-time and more-money, would be applicable.
Even if we can' do it, most of us "in the biz" understand the
difference between "what-can" and "what-is", what good documentation
can be like and what most documentation is like. What we see in most
cases isn't because of ignorance, but it is "close enough for
government work".
I'll probably never win an STC contest for "Most Usable PDF" and due
to time constaints, most of my PDFs ARE simply electronic versions of
my hardcopy manuals. OTOH, a) I always meet my deadlines and b) they
are PDFs of very good hardcopy manuals (at least my boss likes them
and keps asking for more).
However, the day that I don't have to meet a constantly moving taget
known as a deadline is the day that my PDFs don't resemble my hadcopy
and that I figure out a balance betwween font size, paper sizee, and
screen size.
=====
John Posada, Senior Technical Writer
"I am a bomb disposal expert. If you see me running, try to keep up." mailto:john -at- tdandw -dot- com, 732-259-2874
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