Rich Content – Getting Richer …

Technical communication is moving from static documents to richer content.

A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words. In the online world, it is not just limited to pictures, end users of technical documents want more – tutorials, videos, 3D objects and so on. A number of technical communicators already use Captivate, Photoshop, Acrobat 3D and related products. We recognize this need and trend.

FrameMaker enables import of graphic files by reference and enables you to resize, crop, change orientation, rotate and flip the images. With Acrobat 3D, manufacturers can incorporate 3D designs into technical communication (see sample embedded 3D file in PDF). You can manipulate a 3D object (for example, rotation, taking different views, lighting, etc.) in Acrobat 3D, capture or export an image and include that in FrameMaker and RoboHelp. After you create a PDF, you can replace the picture with the actual 3D object in Acrobat 3D and change the orientation, background color, highlight specific areas of the 3D model and so on.

Adobe RoboHelp 6 allows you to insert Captivate demo (simulations, software demonstrations, and scenario-based training) from a topic within RoboHelp HTML and RoboHelp for Word.

In addition, RoboScreenCapture (ships with Adobe RoboHelp 6) enables you to capture screens in 10 different modes, including Free Hand, Virtual Screen, and Multi-region. You can edit screen captures (add image stamps, frames, and drop shadows; add shadow and shape effects; change image colors; flip, rotate, crop, resize images) and export images to common file formats. This also enables adding identifying stamps, such as company name or logo, to each screen capture. After you have edited, you can save images in different formats.

Please let me know your views on the role rich content plays in technical communication and how will you like FrameMaker and RoboHelp to support you in this endeavor.

On a separate note, Aseem, Product Manager, FrameMaker joined me on the Technical Communication blog. I hope to have more colleagues join us as we go forward.

Note – Since I am unable to visit every external link and validate it, please don’t post comments with external HTML links.