[Framers] Framers Digest, Vol 171, Issue 8

[Syed Zaeem Hosain]

Phillip Norman wrote:

> I address this conversation with wish the simple nearly-free tools I use, should be packaged for a large new set of users, for purchase at very small cost. If Adobe isn't interested, look for other possibilities.

Indeed! 

I still receive this list because I am (a) a relatively early FrameMaker user - started in 1988 on a Sun 3/50, so nostalgia applies to me, and (b) still occasionally fire up version FM 12 to make *small* changes to existing older FM documents.

Otherwise, due to the high cost of "upgrading" FM decision by Adobe form FM 15 onwards, I moved away from their tools some time back. 

Now, the last one is Acrobat Pro and I am trying other PDF tools to evaluate them as functional replacements - so far, the SoftMaker PDF tool appears to be working pretty well for my needs.

My choices - and this will NOT necessarily be applicable to others for their documents, of course! - was to switch to LaTeX markup for all *my* specification documents (using a very nice editor for relatively instant and easy check of the PDF output), and various Magix/Xara tools for image editing, video editing, and brochures. The Magix/Xara tools are not free, but very low-cost, and much less expensive than Adobe ... including upgrades. 

I am happy with those decisions ... indeed, the experience has made me look for other lower-cost products too. So, I am also evaluating SoftMaker Office as an alternative to Microsoft tools that I still use (for presentation and spreadsheets for example).

Z