You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've got a project coming up to set up some people with some easy to use software and the basic structure to produce a graphical with annotations mechanical instruction manual that they can update them selves as the project develops.
So what software is going to be better than resorting to putting photos and text boxes in to ms word?
Edit it's not to publish, just needs to be more revisable than sticking hand written labels on a print of a photo.
PowerPoint?
Our Marketing bods use Turtl. I despise it, but it might do what you need?
If it's only a short manual then Word is fine. If it is content heavy then FrameMaker is what you need; for a one off project it won't be worth the cost...stick to Word, then your client can update/amend as they wish.
Ta, yeah PowerPoint would make mores sense than word I guess.
Unfortunately for a one off, Word.
Well if it works well enough it will probably continue to expand to their other processes so not really a one off. Just needs to be simple and not take ages trying to get text boxes to align to the correct position etc.
Online in Wordpress
Not 100% but have you see things like concept board and confluence?
Concept board is like a online whiteboard that multiple users can edit at once.
Confluence lets you document things in articles etc. Add in diagrams etc as well. Link to other confluence articles, or indeed concept boards.
Both very good imo
There will of course be open source alternatives that you can host yourself but confluence is just the one I have personally used.
The proper answer is LaTeX, though it's a bit like learning to manual so you can ride to work (though that also seems popular on here 😉).
There are online WYSIWYG editors now (Overleaf) and I'm sure you can find templates and tutorials that would show you the basics, so it might be worth it in the long run to spend a little time up front.
I think in this case Word is the correct solution. The problem with PowerPoint is that once there is more text that for a single slide that is will get lost over the edges. Other than that is it better than Word. If you can persuade people to keep it all on one slide then I would probably use Powerpoint if I was going to print it and Word if it will also be used on a device
Any solution that requires starting a program other than Word or requires a different logon is lost. It shouldn't be that way but a surprising number of people don't know how to start a program if there isn't an icon on their desktop and have no idea what all their logins are.
Word will just work, BUT, you will need to add a small guide at the end of the document to explain how to fix some known problems and make sure people know the guide is there. For example, to add text on top of an image requires changing the 'wrapping' on the photo. It's easy enough once you know how to do it of course. Same with adding a text box rather than spacing text to sort of fit. And adding arrows. For this sort of thing I put a guide at the end of the doc, a big heading at the start saying look for help at the end and then make sure people know. It still doesn't work but with Word even if the person themselves doesn't know, the person beside them often does.
Watch out for a gotcha with Word and photos. The online version of Word handles the wrapping differently that the desktop version 🙁 so if you open it online nothing lines up. It may have been fixed now but it's been like that for years. I think the solution is use the 'picture as background' type wrapping and then they are the same. It also helps to have people use a hard new page to start each new photo (Ctrl-Enter) rather than lots of carriage returns to start the next new page. It's a bit painful but it can be written down and once people get it it seems fine.
The proper answer is LaTeX
I hear you brother. Beautiful documents that you can wow other people who use LaTeX with.
Mark down is not a bad simple option if you like that kind of thing btw.
The problem with using mark-up languages is that it requires a change of mindset and most people are awful at thinking in anyway other than the one one way they have done X.
That's why I like confluence and similar for easy to workout what you're re doing and for all users.
if it's an ongoing thing, and assuming they have their own intranet, a self-hosted Wiki like wiki.js? I used an online technical manual that had a great feature where any user could add comments (like a discussion thread on each step/article) which was great as they could point out common gotchas, ambiguities etcWell if it works well enough it will probably continue to expand to their other processes so not really a one off
no it isn't 😂 That's a nerd response to a normal-person problem 😂The proper answer is LaTeX
Thanks for the input, it's going to be used by people who don't use computers often and are bolting simple mechanical components together...
LaTeX is going to confuse them! We are talking improving hand written stickier put on photos...
Steps Recorder in Windows will save the flow of screenshots used for a piece of software and annotates them all with labels. It then saves as a zipped up '.mht. file which you can open in Word to resize and move around the embedded screenshots and add your own text.
Worth a try?
Anyone say Adobe InDesign? Setup the template drag and drop the photos and type in the text. Easy and much much better than Word for this kind of thing. It is really easy to get to grips with and you don't need to know all the features.
I suggest using a service such as blurb, they have their own free simple software called BookWright, and you can order proper books in various formats when you're done at a fairly reasonable price print on demand.
In Design, agreed - or if you don't have Creative Suite and get fed up with Word formatting try an online Miro board. It won't give you a result you can print but Miro's good for easy layouts of information that can be moved about and collaborated on as a project develops. I like it for getting things like process flowcharts or instruction manual stages in order at draft stage - easier to collaborate on in Miro Vs using In Design or AI for a pdf output.
(saw this thread while planning a bike owner manual and hoped there was something better that I'd been missing)
I'm surprised no one has mentioned ms publisher? Probably would be my first port of call. Dead simple to use and been included on all PCs I've had/used.
Powerpoint 1st choice for this sort of thing, wors 2nd, LaTex about 20th if there's a lot of pictures, labels and graphical things pointing around
Thanks for the input, it’s going to be used by people who don’t use computers often and are bolting simple mechanical components together…
I'm a manufacturing engineer. If they are bolting stuff together that has CAD and is simple and repetitive, I love a good assembly drawing (think IKEA). Otherwise a good word template saved as a revision controlled pdf is ok, if laborious to create. Really though, you want a full blown MES system.
You can get dedicated software, that's a bit slimmer than an MES, that plugs into the CAD and can embed BOM's, drawings, exploded CAD and even videos.