Frame vs Indesign vs alternatives??

Tue May 12 10:47:06 PDT 2009

Laurie,
I think you're overlooking the primary difference between the two
programs -- what they're designed to do.

* FM excels at long-document management, projects where most layout is
driven by a finite set of templates, and situations where
documentation is single-sourced to multiple output formats.

* InDesign is Adobe's Pagemaker replacement and is designed to work
better in an environment where many pages use, or require,
design-driven manual tweaking.

I've used both, and each has a place in a writer's toolbox, but the
most important consideration is the type of content and the
requirements of the end-user.

Art

Art Campbell
               art.campbell at gmail.com
  "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52
Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson
                                                      No disclaimers apply.
                                                               DoD 358

On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 1:05 PM, Laurie Little <llittle at words-tw.com> wrote:
> Thanks so much Peter, this kind of comparison is invaluable.
>
> So why would one choose one over the other when they can both handle user documentation (apart from any need to convert to help)? Is it a case of:
> - "If you only have Indesign, it can do what you need, but if you have a choice use Frame"
> or
> - "Use whichever GUI you're comfortable with or whichever (native) platform you prefer"
> ?
>
> If they choose Indesign, I hope your book is ready in time for me to buy!
> Laurie
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: knowhowpro at gmail.com [mailto:knowhowpro at gmail.com]On Behalf Of
> Peter Gold
> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 12:41 PM
> To: Laurie Little
> Cc: Framers list (E-mail)
> Subject: Re: Frame vs Indesign vs alternatives??
>
>
> Hi, Laurie:
>
> I'm an Adobe ACE for FrameMaker and InDesign, and I'm writing a book
> for FrameMaker users who want to learn to use InDesign for the same
> kind of long and complex technical publications. So, I've been looking
> closely at the similarities, differences, workarounds, and tradeoffs
> between the products, as well as the issues of cross-training both
> FrameMaker and InDesign users to the opposite product.
>
> Briefly:
>
> * ID's conditional text (new in CS4) compares well to FM's.
>
> * ID's cross-references (new in CS4) compare well to FM's.
>
> * ID's numbered lists (significantly improved in CS4) , books, and
> generated lists and indexes compare well to FM's.
>
> * ID's variables compare well to FM's.
>
> * There's no exact counterpart for FM's text insets in ID, though ID's
> ability to import ID files may suffice in some situations.
>
> * If any kind of help system is a requirement, or will be, FM is the
> winner here; ID currently has nothing so closely matched as Robohelp.
> However, ID's XML and tagged text could be enlisted for some kind of
> conversion to work with a help-creation tool.
>
> * ID's XML isn't up to FM's. ID'a structure features are not on the
> same level as FM's structured authoring features.
>
> On my new Mac-Intel MacBook Pro, I've started using FM 9.x under
> Windows 7 public beta release candidate with VMware's Fusion 2
> application. So far, it's the FM I've always known, and it's only a
> keystroke or two to move between Mac OS X and Windows 7, just like
> switching between applications on standard Mac or Windows. BootCamp
> Requires a separate partition and can't switch between
> concurrently-running OS X and Windows - you need to restart. Parallels
> and Fusion don't have this limitation. Fusion and Parallels can easily
> keep Mac and Windows files on a single file system, so any application
> on either OS can work with any file it recognizes. BootCamp is harder
> to set up for sharing files, and, again, can't switch between OS X and
> Windows without a restart.
>
> If there was an open-source replacement for FM, with all of its
> features and reliability, we'd all know about it.
>
> HTH
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter
> __________________
> Peter Gold
> KnowHow ProServices
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Laurie Little <llittle at words-tw.com> wrote:
>> Hello from beautiful sunny Toronto!
>>
>> I need to recommend a tool for a client who works on Mac, and it's between
>> FM (via Bootcamp/Parallels/whatever) and Indesign for Mac (major functional
>> requirements are conditions/variables/text insets).
>>
>> We're pushing for Frame, since we're the ones who will be converting the old
>> docs/maintaining etc., but the client (thinks he) will be doing some minor
>> maintenance and therefore prefers a Mac (and preferably an open-source)
>> solution if one can be found, so my boss wants to make sure we have all info
>> to present.
>>
>> Since Indesign CS4 *can* do conditional text/xrefs/variables, I need to
>> assemble a good argument for not using it  :-D
>> >From what I've read in various forums (fora?) and blogs etc., Frame is still
>> the preferred tool for user docs, regardless of platform.
>>
>> Just to round out our proposal though, I need to include/eliminate any other
>> alternatives. The ones I have looked at don't seem to do conditional text
>> (which would be critical to this project). Does anyone know of another
>> (Mac/open source) tool that handles conditional text, other than Frame and
>> Indesign?
>>
>> Thanks for any advice/warnings/tips/rants/etc,
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Laurie Little
>> Words That Work
>> www.words-tw.com
>> 905-947-1557
>>
>>
>
>
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