What layout program is best for technical writing?
Last year someone asked on the Technical Writers’ list, “I need to do some technical writing for one of my projects. I have Microsoft Publisher. Since there is a lot of layout and strict placement of text…is there a better layout [program]? This was my answer (slightly amended here). The short answer is: yes, there are better layout programs. The REAL question, however, is: what’s the best choice for your particular project? You haven’t told us enough to know whether Publisher is suitable or not. If you rarely need to produce this sort of document (you didn’t say what sort it is or if it’s a one-off or an ongoing requirement), then spending the relatively large sum of money to buy [for example] FrameMaker, and putting in the relatively large amount of time to learn to use it, is not necessarily the most appropriate choice. There’s no need to buy a Lear Jet when a small car will get you where you want to go — especially if you have to learn to fly the Lear Jet before you can go anywh
