Re: Popularity of Framemaker

["R. SITZE" <rositze -at- NMSU -dot- EDU>]

On Sun, 6 Oct 1996, Katherine D. Fisher wrote:

> I've been hearing so much about how Framemaker is so widely used in the
> tech pubs community, especially in Silicon Valley.  There is almost no
> access to it out here in New Mexico; it's hard to find anyone who has
> even heard of it.  I was just wondering...why is it the big ticket in
> other parts of the country?  Thanks in advance for any input.


I, too, am from NM, but I am surprised you haven't heard of Framemaker.
It is certainly in use here in Las Cruces--although I haven't seen it at
New Mexico State University. I first became acquainted with it while working
for a local engineering firm.  It is an excellent program and well worth
knowing, especially if you are working with lengthy technical manuals.
As with any other tool, it meets a particular need in producing
documentation perhaps better than any other tool I have worked with, but
it also has its limitations.

Pagemaker is a better program for smaller documents such as newsletters
and brochures or documents that need heavy page layout capabilities.

Neither Pagemaker nor Framemaker have the word processing capabilities of
either Word for Windows or Word Perfect, but then the word processors
lack the ability to manipulate the document formating and page layout of
the DTP tools.  I usually work with both a DPT and a word processor in
producing manuals, taking advantage of the best of both tools.


RoMay Sitze
rositze -at- nmsu -dot- edu
InSitze in Print
Technical Editing and Design