Re: PDF vs. paper

Subject: Re: PDF vs. paper
From: Laurence Burrows <burrows -at- IBM -dot- NET>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 18:24:32 +1100

Hi gang:

I've scanned your collective responses, but so far no-one has mentioned the
stellar advantage that paper has over pdf, viz:

-- if you're working with a product that has several dialog boxes up at any
given time (PhotoShop, Illustrator, Quark, FrameMaker, etc.) and you need
information about how to use a feature, then there is no damn screen
real-estate left to both display any type of online help (pdf, winhelp,
htmlhelp) *and* follow the instructions.

The only example I can recall where you *can* do both is the 'expert' help
for solving resource conflicts, memory problems, etc. from Start > Help >
Troubleshooting... which uses small modeless windows -- definitely not the
norm in applications software.

I would suggest that you distribute both forms of manual. If the customer
needs an extra copy of the manual (training a new hire) or to replace a
missing manual, then including the pdf version makes the option available
-- important if the vendor is in another state or country.

Regards,

....................................................
Laurence Burrows, Navex Pty Ltd
mailto:burrows -at- ibm -dot- net, 100026 -dot- 172 -at- compuserve -dot- com
tel: +61 3 9602 4533 fax: +61 3 9602 4854
....................................................

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