TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Before I start, thanks to Elisabeth Zakes for entertaining my question. :)
Well, I had the free demo, and I can sum it up in two words: not impressed.
Their infrastructure choked on a run-of-the-mill job we do (a 580 page
manual perfect bound with full color cover and black content, in Japanese).
So I then reverted to a simpler job (same as above, though 120 pages and
English). Problems with the proof on that one.
So, I now await a single hard copy finished proof. I'm unsure of what I'll
get.
The kicker was the quoted price. The cost for one of those 120 page books
would have been $52!!! Granted, there was a ~$25 setup fee for the initial
job, but my OTHER digital print on demand vendors don't charge a setup fee,
and each one of them would do the same book for no more than $8.
The rep I had on the phone with me was baffled as to why things weren't
working right, and had to call me back after troubleshooting some issues we
were having.
My basic take is that we are "too sophisticated" a department for their
service. We use structured authoring, and set up press-ready PDFs for
content and covers... Really, the print vendor just needs to introduce the
PDF to the output device.
Oh well. It was worth the investigation, but I wouldn't recommend them
unless you work on small documents and have absolutely no press knowledge.
In that regard, it beats driving to Kinkos.
FWIW,
Bill Swallow
wswallow "at" nycap "dot" rr "dot" com
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
