Frame vs. Flare for My Needs

[Rick Quatro]

Hi Kevin,

 

If you are using Mif2Go for HTML, you can set it up to output RTF as well.
This should satisfy the MS Word requirement and allow you to stay wit
FrameMaker.

 

Rick

 

Rick Quatro

Carmen Publishing Inc.

585-366-4017

rick at frameexpert.com

 

 

 

From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 3:21 PM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Frame vs. Flare for My Needs

 

Hi,

 

I could use the advice of some Frame veterans on whether a switch from Frame
to Flare might be a delusion-inspired wrong turn for me, or possibly the
right way to go.  

  

My company's primary documentation output is PDF user/training/reference
guides authored on FrameMaker 7. Not the current Frame version, I know, but
sufficient with our good templates to produce solid, professional-looking
documents we're proud of. Other current deliverables include
context-sensitive HTML topics produced via Mif2go and a limited number of
"Process Assistance" MS Word topics.  These latter are a sort of MS-Word
help equivalent that our customers can download from our application, edit
if necessary, and even upload back into our application for others if they
want to. I create Process Assistance MS-Word topics by cutting from Frame
and pasting into Word, followed by manual reformatting (ouch).  

 

Our customers (utilities) have been requesting another MS Word output:
Editable MS Word versions of our 20-300 page PDF manuals so that they can
edit them for their own purposes (such as internal training).
Unfortunately, we've been unable to find a workable Frame-to-Word conversion
process to this end.  I can do manual reformatting to Word in our short
Process Assistance topics, but to do it on entire manuals would give me a
nervous breakdown. 

 

So, with better MS-Word output generation as my primary goal, I've been
considering a switch to Flare. Its capability to output in PDF, Word, and
HTML seems as though it might ultimately streamline our processes. As I test
Flare by my 30-day trial, though, I'm reminded of the many things FrameMaker
does really well - things I might be losing if I made the switch:  For
example, precise page layouts, complex graphics, robust tables. To its
credit, Flare seems to offer output versatility, excellent documentation and
support, and a lot of Marketing momentum. 

 

Am I misguiding myself?  Barking up the wrong tree?  

 

Thanks for any opinions or comments.

 

Kevin Ryan

Technical Writer

cid:image001.jpg at 01C97FA7.A9E51B40

Systems & Software, Inc.

426 Industrial Avenue 

Suite 140

Williston, VT 05495

802.865.1170 phone

802.865.1171 fax

 

 


  _____  

 <http://www1.harriscomputer.com/en/conference/> Save the Date! 2015 Harris
Customer Training Conference:
October 21-23, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia - Atlanta Marriott Marquis. 

	

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers-frameusers.com/attachments/20150225/e2761829/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 6473 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers-frameusers.com/attachments/20150225/e2761829/attachment.jpeg>