chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com (Chuck Musciano) (12/01/88)
> We are currently using "troff" for all of our documents, occasionally > using "pic" to imbed pictures and diagrams (we have an internally written > tool that generates "pic" output). While this fills our needs for the > short term, I'm sure that there must be better solutions. We use Frame Maker, from Frame Technology. It gives you imbedded graphics, WYSIWYG document generation, good interface, and great looking documents. It is licensed on a network basis, not on a one per CPU arrangement. You can write custom front/back ends to match any existing document formats you have. It doesn't have a document database, but I don;t know of many packages that do. Best of all, you can get a free demo copy! Just call 1-408-433-3311 for more information. By the way, free demos are a great idea. Frame's demo has everything, but saving is disabled. Some packages which are used for document/artwork generation come with save and print (!) disabled. Who in their right mind would buy a package whose fundamental job is producing an image without testing the print function? When will these vendors wise up? Chuck Musciano Advanced Technology Department Harris Corporation (407) 727-6131 ARPA: chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com
richard@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Richard Foulk) (12/13/88)
> We use Frame Maker, from Frame Technology. It gives you imbedded > graphics, WYSIWYG document generation, good interface, and great looking > documents. [...] If you import intricate graphics from another source FrameMaker will probably ruin them. FrameMaker has an internal precision of less than 100 dots per inch! So, although it has the tools to edit graphics pretty nicely, and it looks okay on the screen, what gets sent to the printer can end up looking pretty sad. The tech support person I spoke with on the phone said that it would improve some with the next version (in 6 months or so) but that it still wouldn't be 300 dpi (which is what most laser printers do). Such a nice package otherwise, too bad the developers forgot to plug their brains in before they started. > By the way, free demos are a great idea. Frame's demo has everything, but > saving is disabled. [...] Trying to demo without the save function is a real pain. Fortunately they seemed happy to provide us with the necessary information to turn it on when we gave them a call. Richard Foulk richard@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu p.s. Does anyone know anything about a package called Alis?
berlin%bu-albert.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (David Fickes) (12/21/88)
Richard Foulk <richard@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>:
> p.s. Does anyone know anything about a package called Alis?
Yes, I looked it over at the SUG show and it is very impressive as an
OFFICE AUTOMATION product. It has lots of tools to handle mail (their own
with a gate to unix mail), simple documents, phone messages and the like.
To a large extend it resembles that terrific product called CEO (which
runs on DG machines). Too bad CEO isn't running on anything besides
DGs...
-d
David K. Fickes dfickes@bu-albert.bu.edu
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein ...harvard!bu-it!bu-albert!dfickes
Princeton University Press / Boston University berlin@buita.bu.edu
745 Commonwealth Avenue - room 541 617/ 353-9249
Boston, MA 02215 617/ 783-4301berlin%bu-albert.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (David Fickes) (12/21/88)
> We use Frame Maker, from Frame Technology. It gives you imbedded > graphics, WYSIWYG document generation, good interface, and great looking > documents. [...] If you import intricate graphics from another source > FrameMaker will probably ruin them. I think this is an overly broad statement to make. Lots of people have been importing "intricate" graphics without problems. Try looking at Sun Technology which is a combination of Frame/Artisan and a few other tools (plus a bit of hand paste-up). I think it is more specific to the type/method you are using for importing your graphics... > FrameMaker has an internal precision of less than 100 dots per inch! So, > although it has the tools to edit graphics pretty nicely, and it looks > okay on the screen, what gets sent to the printer can end up looking > pretty sad. I've never had this problem... even when editing and overlaying graphics onto 1200 dpi images and then outputing to a 2500 dpi typesetter. > The tech support person I spoke with on the phone said that it would > improve some with the next version (in 6 months or so) but that it still > wouldn't be 300 dpi (which is what most laser printers do). I believe you've confused two different issues. One of the questions I'd like to know is: How do you expect to place graphics on a 72 dpi screen with a 300 dpi accuracy? I'd like to know exactly what kind of graphics you're importing (ESPF, raster images?) before I go into it. > Such a nice package otherwise, too bad the developers forgot to plug their > brains in before they started. Suffice to say I think this is uncalled for. - david David K. Fickes dfickes@bu-albert.bu.edu The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein ...harvard!bu-it!bu-albert!dfickes Princeton University Press / Boston University berlin@buita.bu.edu 745 Commonwealth Avenue - room 541 617/ 353-9249 Boston, MA 02215 617/ 783-4301