FW: Printing Process (long question)

[Ellen Meeker <ellen -dot- meeker -at- INFOCUS -dot- COM>]

Hi Andrea,

Can you output your Word file to PostScript and send that to your print
vendor?  Can you simply create your manuals from the Word files; why do
you have to convert the manuals to PageMaker?

If you need a program that does a better job at page layout than Word
(as well as a thousand other things!), I suggest FrameMaker.  It might
be more expensive than your people are willing to handle, however (I
think it's about $500/user).  In my opinion, FrameMaker is the only game
in town for technical manuals and Word doesn't even compare.

- Ellen Meeker
- In Focus
- Wilsonville, OR

>----------
>From:  Andrea G. Kenner[SMTP:agkenner -at- EROLS -dot- COM]
>Sent:  Monday, March 10, 1997 8:09 PM
>To:    TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject:       Printing Process (long question)
>
>I would like to ask your help in solving a problem we are having with
>the printing of our documentation.
>
>We produce five 100-page manuals in Word 6.  Each manual contains a
>large number of screen shots taken from a system that runs in Windows
>3.1.  When we print the original copy of our manuals on our HP 4 printer
>(600 dpi), the screen shots look fine.  The problem arises when we try
>to reproduce our manuals on a high-speed photocopier.  The screen shots
>in the resulting copies are barely readable.  (We are currently using
>Paint Shop Pro to create the screen shots.)
>
>We worked with a printing vendor who advised us to convert our documents
>to PageMaker and then to a PostScript file that could be imported into
>their printing system.  However, this suggestion met with a lot of
>resistance among our team members after one of us did a brief trial of
>PageMaker and found it quite difficult to use.
>
>Up until now, the printer has done the PageMaker conversion for us, and
>has made numerous last-minute changes to the final copy, at great cost
>to us.  We were recently told that the cost is prohibitive, and we are
>being forced to use our in-house print shop to produce our final
>documentation.  I really don't feel that they have the necessary
>equipment or expertise to produce the level of quality we need for our
>external customers.
>
>We are willing to spend money on a solution, but we don't want to throw
>money randomly at possible solutions that will not work for us.  We
>don't really know if our problem could be solved by hardware, software,
>or some combination of the two.
>
>I would be interested in hearing from people who have solved this
>problem (or a similar one) and who would be interested in sharing their
>experience with us.  I can provide more detailed information if you're
>interested.
>
>Thank you,
>
>--
>Andrea Kenner (agkenner -at- erols -dot- com)
>MORNETPlus Training and Documentation
>Fannie Mae
>
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