Illuminations
In this issue:
- Sifting through the survey data
- From DocTrain West: Demystifying DITA to PDF publishing
- Georgia on our minds: STC 2009
- The conversation continutes at Palimpsest
- Follow Scriptorium on Twitter
- 2009 training center
Sifting through the survey data
Scriptorium closed its survey on structured authoring implementations on March 1 with 616 responses. What have we learned? Free does not equal cheap. Respondents who are using DITA reported larger implementation budgets than non-DITA implementers.
If you participated in the survey, thank you. We will send the report to all participants who requested it as soon as it's available. If you did not participate, the survey analysis will be available for $200.
Watch this space for the results, which will be published in April.
From DocTrain West: Demystifying DITA to PDF publishing
If you missed Sarah's presentation, "Demystifying DITA to PDF Publishing," you can still view the slides. Sarah presents three ways to take your DITA content and publish it to PDF: the DITA Open Toolkit, FrameMaker, and InDesign.
Interested in giving the DITA to InDesign to PDF process a shot? You can find the InDesign template and the XSL to transform the DITA XML into something InDesign friendly on the DITA to InDesign page of our wiki.
Here are some additional DITA resources:
- Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit ($20)
- Handling XSL:FO's memory issue with large page counts (free)
- FrameMaker 8 and DITA Technical Reference ($10)
Georgia on our minds: STC 2009
Sarah O'Keefe and Matt Arnold will be in Atlanta, Georgia from May 3–6 for the 56th annual Society for Technical Communication summit. Sarah and Matt will be at Scriptorium's booth in the exhibit hall, armed with their extensive technical publishing expertise and a pile of free chocolate.
If you're interested in the results of Scriptorium's structured authoring survey, you don't want to miss "The state of structure" from 1:30–2:30pm on May 4. Sarah will share highlights from our survey results.
Sarah's presentation, "The impact of Web 2.0 on technical communication," on May 4 from 5–6pm addresses how user-generated content can hurt or help professional technical communication.
If you're thinking about making changes to your publishing workflow, stop by and visit us. We also have a limited amount of time for outside meetings in Atlanta, so if you'd like to meet with us, please call or send email.
The conversation continues at Palimpsest
Our blog, Palimpsest, is updated several times a week and documents everything from trends in technical publishing to the occasional bit of humor. If you've missed out on the conversation, take a moment to peruse these recent posts:
- On the job learning
David Kelly ponders his ongoing education as he tackles an ever-increasing swarm of technical communication challenges. Must the time required to master the information and the time needed to finish a project always be at odds, or is there an efficient way balance the two? - Adobe Photoshop Express
Sheila Loring takes Adobe's new photo editing and sharing web-based application for a test drive. So far so good. You can easily share up to 2GB of photos for free and fix the red eye in a picture on the fly. - How to get a job
Sarah O'Keefe offers some helpful advice on how to get back into the job market. - Is Twitter down and why should I care?
What is Twitter and why do you hear an echo of moans from coast to coast when it's down? Sheila Loring gives you the heads-up on tweets and how it can help you stay in the loop about technical communication technologies.
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Follow Scriptorium on Twitter
Scriptorium is on Twitter. Follow ScriptoriumTech to get the latest information about new titles, resources, and discounts from Scriptorium.
We're always tweeting about XML, DITA, conferences, and other industry buzz. Follow our consultants on Twitter and see what we're talking about.
2009 training calendar
We have posted our class schedules through June of 2009.
Make the most of XML, DITA, and XSL to improve your publishing workflow. Register for one of our upcoming classes and stay ahead of the curve:
- May 11–15
XSL in Publishing - May 18–21
Introduction to DITA and XMetaL
Scriptorium also offers a full range of FrameMaker courses on the unstructured and structured interfaces.
For information about private on-site or web-based training, see our training options page. If you have any questions, contact training@scriptorium.com, or call 919-481-2701.
Comments? Questions?
We welcome your suggestions for newsletter topics. Drop us a line at comments@scriptorium.com.
If you know colleagues who could benefit from our services, please let them know about us. They can also contact info@scriptorium.com.