Markup PDF Pages with Drawings
Using Acrobat, PDF has been established as a popular and user-friendly medium for collaborative workflows. Not only can you add sticky notes or highlight text, you can even draw polygonal or freehand annotations. This tip explains how.
Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
Marrying Digital and Paper Documents
The use of physical paper or digital files is not an either/or choice. The two are complementary. Currently, there are many examples of paper used as an interface to digital processes. The UPC found on items we buy and the barcoded labels on the packages we send are two prevalent examples. Many papers we use to reach our customers or to do our work within our organizations have at least one barcode.
Zukowski, Deborra J. e-Doc (2005). Articles>Document Design>Information Design
Merging Usability Practices with Document Design and Development

Examines the phases of document development and describes how to incorporate them with usability techniques to ensure that your information products remain continually useful and valuable.
Filippo, Elizabeth G. Intercom (2007). Articles>Document Design>Usability
A Millennial Paradigm for Documentation: the Scroll!
Although some zealots have proposed eliminating printed information entirely in favor of online help systems, Adobe Acrobat files, and even e-books, discarding printed books may prove less effective than simply modernizing them. Scrolls are the logical successors to books.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2001). Articles>Documentation>Information Design
Much Ado about Nothing, Part I: The Importance of White Space

White space is a paradox: by definition it contains no information, yet it clearly communicates despite lack of content. Hart describes how to incorporate white space into the information design process.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2008). Articles>Document Design
New Life for Product Documentation
Here are some 'truths' we've all heard: 'Documentation is just a band-aid for poor design.' 'Real users don't read manuals.' 'Super users never read anything.' 'Help doesn't.' But are they really true? I've seen some signs of life in the use of documentation for digital products recently.
Quesenbery, Whitney. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Documentation>User Interface>User Centered Design
Newsletter Design for Non-Designers 
Newsletter design comprises everything from column width and typeface to clip art style and paper color--where do you start? You don’t need to be a graphic artist to design an appealing newsletter—but you need to know the basic principles and how to apply them consistently. Consciously or not, every time you read something, you make judgments about its design. Was it easy to read or skim? Did the artwork seem appropriate? Were the page numbers easy to locate? In this workshop we will review these and other design elements and how to make them work for your newsletter.
Disch, Cheryl and Cheryl Lockett Zubak. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Document Design>Publishing>Newsletters
No More Lost Work, No Matter What You Use!
Create file versions on the Adobe Web Workgroup Server using your favorite Adobe application. Restore any version using Adobe GoLive.
Adobe (2003). Articles>Software>Document Design>Adobe GoLive
Non-Fatal Errors: Creating Usable, Effective Error Messages
It's often easy to identify what kinds of error messages don't help users, but it can be tricky to avoid them, and even more of a challenge to create the opposite: error messages that give users a clear indication of the problem, offer information to help them fix it, and provide tips on how to avoid the same situation in the future. This paper details the steps involved in creating understandable, helpful error messages, and suggests ways of communicating the value of good error messages to managers and executives.
Wilska, Emily. WritersUA (2004). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Online
Nobody reads user manuals for pleasure. And yet we all make our living from them, and hope that what we produce is at least useful, if not actually enjoyable
Bardez, Jean-Paul. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
One Hundred and One Spots, or How Do Users Read Menus? 
Proceedings of a paper about how readers interact with designed documents.
Aaltonen, Antti, Aulikki Hyrskykari and Kari-Jouko Raeihae. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (1998). Articles>Document Design>Interaction Design>Usability
Companies can improve customer satisfaction while reducing training time and product support costs by integrating online documentation with product training. Online documentation can be designed to be not only the reference at the point of use but also the primary instructional medium used during training. This use of the online documentation during training increases user acceptance of it and helps develop the required skills for its use. This expanded role for online documentation provides new opportunities for technical communicators to add value to their roles within their companies. This article defines reference-based instruction and outlines its benefits. It describes how reference-based instruction can be incorporated into an instructional system design (ISD) and provides specific examples of learning objectives and student exercises. It lists guidelines for how to structure usability tests for Help systems, and finally, it advises how technical communicators can use reference-based instruction to ex
Hughes, Michael A. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Documentation>Instructional Design>Education
Online-Dokumentation aus Anwendersicht 
Benutzerinstruktion muß sein. In Form von Online-Documentation ist sie unmittelbarer Teil des Programms.
von Obert, Alexander. Techwriter.de (1998). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Help
Picking the right strength characteristics when you're buying paper can determine whether your job holds up on press, in the mail, or in your customers' hands.
Sidles, Constance J. Adobe Magazine (1997). Articles>Document Design>Prepress>Paper
Opening PDF Documents in Full Screen Mode
Adobe Acrobat allows users to configure the opening settings of PDF documents to display them in full screen mode. It's as effective as a PowerPoint display and very easy to accomplish. This tip explains how.
Shea, Dan. PlanetPDF (2007). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat
Page Design: Directing the Reader's Eye 
Sevilla discusses principles of effective page design and techniques that ensure consistent document layout.
Sevilla, Christine. Intercom (2002). Articles>Document Design>Visual Rhetoric
A PageMaker to PDF: Converting Your PageMaker Files 
A three-page manual for creating Acrobat PDF files from page-layout files.
Carpenter, Amy. TECHWR-L (2009). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe PageMaker
Peaks and Pitfalls of Implementing a New Documentation Strategy 
In 1993, Compaq Computer Corporation ventured into a totally different market--the consumer market. Once known primarily as a company that manufactured high quality, expensive business computers through its elaborate dealer network, Compaq was faced with selling its units to consumers through retail outlets. As a result, the PC Marketing Communications department concluded that its current documentation set was not giving the students; retirees; homemakers; and small business owners, who work out of their home offices, the kind of information they needed to be productive. This led the department to the challenge of creating a new documentation set that would meet the needs of these new customers.
Clifton, Deborah, Deborah R. Crockett, Diana Jaques and Sharon B. Jones. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
No discussion of printing would be complete without mentioning the variety of binding styles available. Jobs have been destroyed in the bindery due to the lack of planning or because the binding process was taken for granted.
Copresco (2001). Articles>Document Design>Finishing>Binding
Practice Human Factors for Document Design 
Writers of performance- and response-oriented documents, such as instructions, procedures, proposals, and grant applications, need to consider the interaction of human factors with conventional document design factors such as accessibility, readability, legibility, consistency, style, language, and suitability to audience. This session explores that relationship, based upon a summation and synthesis of previous Annual Conference presentations as modulated by this presenter's extensive technical communication experience. It will be of particular interest to newcomers to the profession who seek to broaden their grasp of its intricacies.
Peterson, Dart G., Jr. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Document Design>Usability
Problems with Colors - and the Solution: Color Management
The profession of the technical editor is rapidly changing, from the pure text manufacturer to a data manager, which leads inevitably to intensive occupation with the production of the final product: the technical documentation on paper or online. The color matching reproduction on the local screen or printer plays a new, important role. Particularly since the meaning of color in documents increases rapidly.
Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Document Design>Prepress>Color
A Process for Creating Interactive Instructions 
In an undertaking such as the metamorphosis from printed instructions to on-line instructions, it is important to have a process in place. Relying on the process used by the User Interface Design Department at Thomson Consumer Electronics has helped my department remain focused and on schedule with the project. This paper briefly outlines the Consumer Information Design Department’s process for creating an interactive instruction manual prototype, and might serve as a guideline for others who may also be making the leap from paper to interactivity.
Lesandrini, Jay. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Interaction Design
Producing Brochures in the Technical Writing Classroom 
Producing brochures for real clients teaches college-level technical writing students about constraints of cost, time, and the availability of materials. Brochure writing also provides opportunities for learning more about editing, collaborative work, document design, and the problems which may occur during the production of real documents. Brochures of good quality can be produced by a class in approximately three weeks, or nine classroom hours. Grading brochures is expedited through the use of a simple heuristic.
Ryan, Charlton. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Document Design>Technical Writing
QuarkXPress is categorized as page layout software - software that lets you easily place text and graphics on a page. Using well-designed page layout software has the feel of moving actual columns of text, blocks of color, and images around and pasting them into place. Unlike a word processor, which is driven by a continuous text flow, QuarkXPress gives you complete control over the elements you place on each page. QuarkXPress is a standard at most publishing companies and advertising agencies.
Lycos (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress Technical Manual Project
The following is a step-by step tutorial outlining how to make a technical manual suitable either for print or for screen display as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.
Mike's Sketchpad (2002). Articles>Document Design>Software>QuarkXPress
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