Re: When to use screenshots

[Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

Peter,

I disagree.   To use or not to use screen shots depends on the nature of 
the material being discussed and the audience.  Some people would rather 
read about forms.  Other's would rather see what the forms looked like.  
More often than not, our job as technical writer is to help the reader 
understand the nature of the material we discuss in the quickest time 
possible.  If this means using a lot of screen shots, then so be it.  An 
informative book full of screen shots is not easier to create than one 
full of prose, because to do it right requires more than just the 
ability to turn a phrase.  The ones that end up looking like junk are 
usually done by individuals with little graphics experience or by 
companies that place little if any value in quality manuals. ( I know, 
I've spent the better part of the last year cleaning those kinds of 
documents.  You know the ones---they usually have covers titled 
"Operational and Trouble-shooting Manual.") I guess this is a long way 
of saying that sometimes pictures are better than words, and other times 
the words are more important.  But, both suffer if content and quality 
are placed second to expediency.

Al

Peter Neilson wrote: