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Well, as of the last time I looked, InDesign couldn't do:
- cross-references
- TOC
- LOF
- LOT
- indexes
And if it does text insets and variables at all (I simply don't
recall) it does them in a very different way than FrameMaker
does.
InDesign CS2 has always been able to do TOCs and indexes and
cross-references - just as its predecessor Pagemaker did. CS3 does
variables and text inserts. It provides even stronger table creation and
cell formatting along with running headers & footers, XML import and XSLT
support. You can create running figure captions and table captions,create
a style for them and include only that style in another TOC to generate a
LOF or LOT. All this information is available on the Adobe website or by
googling reviews of CS3 InDesign. No need to speculate. The Book feature
in ID easily handles multiple chapters to create documents well over 300
pages as evidenced by the 70+ manuals at 3 sites that our division has
created using ID.
Liz
Liz Goodwin
Senior Technical Writer and Documentation Specialist
Process Instruments
AMETEK, P&AI, Pittsburgh, PA
liz -dot- goodwin -at- ametek -dot- com
There are people who reshape the world by force or argument, but the cat
just lies there, dozing; and the world quietly reshapes itself to suit his
comfort and convenience.
--Allen and Ivy Dodd
"Fred Ridder" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>
Sent by: techwr-l-bounces+liz -dot- goodwin=ametek -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
05/23/2007 11:51 AM
To
jwilhelm -at- athenati -dot- com, ethomas -at- ftdi -dot- com, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
cc
Subject
RE: InDesign vs. Frame
Well, as of the last time I looked, InDesign couldn't do:
- cross-references
- TOC
- LOF
- LOT
- indexes
And if it does text insets and variables at all (I simply don't
recall) it does them in a very different way than FrameMaker
does.
I don't know about you, but at least half of those items are
deal-breakers for me.
>From: "Wilhelm, Joel" <jwilhelm -at- athenati -dot- com>
>To: "Eric Thomas" <ethomas -at- ftdi -dot- com>, "TECHWR-L"
><techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
>Subject: RE: InDesign vs. Frame
>Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 10:59:07 -0400
>
>Thanks Eric. So is InDesign not friendly to text? I don't get what it
>can't do that Frame can. Why are long docs bad in InDesign in other
>words?
>
>Joel
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: techwr-l-bounces+jwilhelm=athenati -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jwilhelm=athenati -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
>Behalf Of Eric Thomas
>Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 10:53 AM
>To: 'TECHWR-L'
>Subject: RE: InDesign vs. Frame
>
>I use both InDesign and FrameMaker virtually every day. At this point, I
>would not even consider long documents in InDesign. Although there are
>tons of features that are similar/the same, I have to get in a different
>mindset for each program. I don't consider this a bad thing. I have 500+
>page manuals in FrameMaker, and even small technical docs (25-50 pages),
>I'd rather do in FrameMaker.
>
>BUT... if anything is graphic intensive, or has even a slight amount of
>"irregularity" about it (pictures that I want to wrap text around in a
>creative way, lots of colors, etc.), I immediately think InDesign.
>
>Granted, I also create online help from FrameMaker via ePublisher, so I
>doubt it would even be an option for me to lay out an entire manual in
>InDesign. I did do an 80 page Quick Reference Guide in InDesign, but I
>hand-entered the TOC and index because those seemed counter-intuitive to
>me in a page layout program. Those things are practically automatic in
>FrameMaker.
>
>Your mileage may vary, and I haven't looked at InDesign CS3 yet. So
>things may have changed.
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com
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