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What Jack said. Flare hands down, particularly if you have any experience
with tools like HTML.
Jon
On Monday, May 23, 2016, Jack DeLand <jackdeland -at- comcast -dot- net> wrote:
> I used RoboHelp for a long time, and did a lot of Robo training "back in
> the
> day." I discovered Flare a few years ago. Flare's print quality has
> improved
> greatly over the years, but you will need to know at least a little about
> how HTML and CSS work together to jump in and start printing with the exact
> results you want. It can do all the page layout functions you need, but it
> is a development tool, not an authoring tool like FrameMaker. The PDF
> output
> is good, but again, you won't see FrameMaker results.
>
> I still wouldn't use any tool other than Flare unless I had to for a
> client.
> Some find the learning curve steep. I taught myself by experimenting with
> the pre-supplied templates, then going to the Help. It wasn't that hard to
> learn, really. There are oodles of resources on the MadCap site, as you
> probably have discovered. I believe there are quick start guide-like
> templates, IIRC. The styles editor tool is easy to learn now, and shows you
> a preview of what your style changes will look like.
>
> I am so happy with Flare that I became a Flare consultant! ;-)
>
> Jack DeLand
> Adam Charles Consulting, LLC
> 734 972 3026
> www.adamcharlesconsulting.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+jackdeland=comcast -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> <javascript:;>
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jackdeland <javascript:;>=
> comcast -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <javascript:;>] On
> Behalf Of Nancy Allison
> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2016 5:05 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com <javascript:;>
> Subject: Flare-only shop?
>
> Hello, all.
> Does anyone work in a Flare-only shop?
> My company is considering moving to online help only; we would no
> longer generate large, book-style PDFs, just Web Help and HTML5.
> However, we would still sometimes create printed 2- to 8-page Quick
> Start Guides, which would need all the niceties of print page layout,
> such as headers, footers, etc.
> If you use Flare only for all document creation, how well is Flare
> suited for traditional print output?
> What is your assessment of Flare? Are you happy with it, or would you
> prefer another tool?
> Thanks for any and all comments.
> --Nancy
>
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