InDesign

At the request of a member (April 2010), TechCommNZ send out a short questionnaire to its email contact list to find out more about the way the Adobe InDesign (CS3 or CS4) is used as a tool by technical communicators.

The questions asked were:

• In what ways do you use InDesign when doing technical writing?
• If you do use it. Do you need to translate the documents, and if so, how? Do you use the layers palette, one layer for English and another for the translated text?
• Would InDesign be a better choice than FrameMaker? Why (or why not)?
• How would you rate InDesign as a single-source tool for producing different types of output?
• If we only wish to produce hard-copy manuals (and PDF) would InDesign be a good choice, compared to Microsoft Word or FrameMaker for example?
• Are there options available for producing online help from InDesign (equivalent to WebWorks Publisher for FrameMaker)?
• Do you have any comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the product?

The comments provided by TechCommNZ members and contacts are summarised in the document: TechCommNZ study: Using InDesign as a Technical Communication Tool (PDF).