Adobe Technical Communication Suite review

Adobe has spotted what it considers to be a massive gap in the market for the production of multiplatform technical documentation. With its new Technical Communication Suite (TCS) it aims to fill that gap, providing a modern, integrated and all-round platform at a bargain price.

While online documentation is growing in importance, print remains universal, so DTP is at its core. But rather than the market-leading InDesign in this role, Adobe has chosen the relatively obscure FrameMaker (web ID: 137286), which is tailor-made for producing technical documentation. In particular, its use of tagging and a focus on single reflowing documents enables conditional handling. Along with the new Unicode support, this makes FrameMaker well-suited to publishing multiple language versions from a single source, as well as better suiting XML-based workflows.

FrameMaker began life as print-only, but Adobe brings Acrobat into play here: by exporting documentation to PDF rather than paper, it's possible to provide universally accessible onscreen viewing and, crucially, cut out all print costs. To make the most of that, Adobe includes a copy of the top-of-the-range Adobe Acrobat 3D in the box. As well as adding impressive prepress and collaboration capabilities, it will also enable you to embed 3D files from a wide range of CAD and modelling apps, which can then be scaled and rotated within the free Adobe Reader application. This will be invaluable to some - hence, Acrobat 3D's ambitious £825 standalone pricing.

The two other components in the TCS (both from the Macromedia acquisition) come into play for making the most of dedicated computer delivery: RoboHelp 7 and Captivate 3 (web ID: 137355). The latter makes it simple to record onscreen software demos, training and assessments, which can then be incorporated into RoboHelp and FrameMaker projects, for delivery via Flash and PDF respectively.

With these advanced print- and screen-based features for producing XML, PDF, HTML and Flash in multiple localised outputs from a single source, the TCS does seem compelling - particularly as the price is well below half that of the combined standalones. But there are some important caveats.

The TCS may be a modern publishing challenge, but its two main authoring applications, FrameMaker and RoboHelp, both feel dated and in dire need of serious development.

The benefits of a fundamentally structured XML approach become apparent when it comes to scalability and integration, and the ability to take a single FrameMaker print-orientated publication and use it as the basis for both PDF documentation and online help is a great advance. But it's only the first step: while you can import FrameMaker files into RoboHelp, you can't do the reverse, and true round-tripping - where edits are automatically reflected across the whole suite - is even further off. Integration also needs to extend beyond the workflow to the apps themselves. Currently, it would be difficult to imagine a more disparate bunch of idiosyncratic programs.

So when it occasionally feels as if you're using a 20-year-old Unix application, this isn't quite the modern, integrated, all-round suite that Adobe would have you believe. And it isn't necessarily a bargain either. All the standalones are overpriced to begin with, and there are relatively few users who produce print documentation, online help, computer-based training and 3D and, if you don't use a program, it's worth nothing to you.