How Can Newbies Learn Tech Comm Tools Given Their Cost?

I recently received the following question from a reader:

Hello. I’ve read some of your blog articles and they’ve been very helpful. I’m interested in changing careers and am hoping to pick your brain with a brief couple of questions.

First, how do outsiders learn the software that TechComm folks use? I’ve looked at Adobe’s TechComm suite, MadCap Flare and so on, and the costs are enormous.

Second, is there some standardized training program for learning all of these, or is it typically on-the-job training? I can’t imagine people are expected to purchase these software packages on their own and simply learn at home.

If you can find time for a quick response I’d appreciate it. [If not, no hard feelings, but please keep up on your excellent blog.]

I see this question a lot, and frankly, there aren’t many good answers. In fact, another reader recently wrote,

I am an avid reader of your blog. I am working as a Technical writer in an IT service-based Co. I need your inputs on the open source tools or software for the following, which is extremely useful and effective:

Word Processing Tool

Screen Capture Tool

Image Editing Tool

Help-making Tool

Desktop Magazine Publishing Tool

PDF Creation Tool

HTML Editing Tool

XML Editing Tool

Text Editing Tool

I am unsure about the best tool in the market in the Open Source, which we can use without spending too much for costly software like Robo, or Word etc. Can you please guide me on this?

I can empathize with the tool dilemma. Not only are tech comm tools expensive, you can also spend a lot of energy learning tools that you’ll never use. Someone else recently asked me about tutorials for DITA. I think she was trying to ramp up her skills for the job market.

Different tools fit different situations. There’s nothing that works for every situation in every organization. I’m always hesitant to note the tools I’m using because it results in a lot of heated emotions and exchanges. I don’t think there’s any particular tool that is always best in every case. Use what you have access to and what works for you for the project and situation.

Here is what I am currently using:

Help authoring for software applications: Madcap Flare
Illustrations: Adobe Illustrator
Screenshots: Snagit
Screenshot manipulation: Photoshop
Video tutorials: Camtasia Studio 2 for Mac
Blogging: WordPress
Wikis for community content: Mediawiki (Confluence is prob. better, though)
Quick reference guide layout: Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word
HTML editing: Notepad++ (not the same as Notepad)
Audio editing: Audacity
File compression: 7-zip
FTP: Filezilla
Internet browsing: Chrome
CSS web editing: Firefox web developer extension and Firebug

In your exploration of tools, be sure to check out the 2012 WritersUA Tools Survey. Keep in mind that people often use the tools they’re given and don’t usually have experience using many different tools in the same category. (For example, I’ve used Flare, RoboHelp, and Author-it, but not Doc-to-Help, WebWorks, DITA Open Toolkit, Help & Manual, Help Server, and so on. So just because a tool ranks low on the survey, it may not be due to poor performance with the tool but rather due to limited exposure and experience among users.)

When learning tools, see if you can purchase academic versions of the software. For example, you can purchase an academic version of Flare for half the price. The same goes for many Adobe products. When you consider how much you spend on text books, this cost isn’t that unreasonable. Although you can find open source solutions for most of the products above, it won’t help you in the long run if you are unfamiliar with industry standards.

Also, when you learn tools, make a plan to learn them a little at a time. It can be overwhelming to dive headlong into a tool for hours at a time. Instead, I like to pace myself. Especially with robust tools like Adobe Illustrator, which could honestly consume a lifetime of learning, try to do a couple of tutorials a day.

Besides tools, there are a lot of standards to learn as well, such as HTML, CSS, XML, PHP, and more. Each of these standards is independent of tools. But many tools will require you to be familiar with CSS and HTML, so knowledge of standards complements the use of tools.

10 thoughts on “How Can Newbies Learn Tech Comm Tools Given Their Cost?”

Ellis Pratt June 22, 2012 at 12:20 am

There are trial versions of tHe major Help Authoring tools and some free tools (some XML tools). There are also free webinars from vendors, technical writing societies and writing consultancies.

You can also consider e-learning courses (such as as the ones we at Cherryleaf offer) and self-study textbook courses. There are also”for dummies” books on the authoring tools. On YouTube, there a videos from Tom, me and many others that can help.

If you learn best in a classroom environment, then it’s harder if funds are limited, but there is some material for people foe can learn by themselves.
Danie Probst June 22, 2012 at 9:12 am

We use XMetaL here, and though I had very little experience with similar programs, it hasn’t been too hard to pick up because I had a base-knowledge of how XML and HTML work. I think having a basic knowledge of what the tool is for and the concepts behind it is much more useful than knowing what each individual part of the tools does (like the tools within Adobe programs, for instance).

Using a free software like Gimp will help you understand the basic concepts behind Photoshop because they do the same stuff; Gimp is just a WAY more simplified program.

Also, Lynda.com is a great resource for tutorials and such. You do have to pay to use it, but it’s pretty reasonable, and your company might even pay for your subscription (or already have one for you to use).
Patrice Fanning June 22, 2012 at 11:46 am

Tom I think your situation is typical of most people working in our industry – we work with a multitude of tools and those tools are very much subject to change. Interesting to see and make comparisons with your list. I’ve never worked with Camtasia and use Adobe Captivate for video instead. I agree with Danie that it’s more important to understand what functionality tools on the market can offer, than obsessing on developing expertise in any one tool specifically. This is one of the tips included in my recent blog post for newbie technical writers: http://www.technicalwritingireland.com/blog/tips-for-embarking-on-a-career-in-technical-writing/#comments. Another tip was to check out this blog Tom – you never fail to impress!
Rachael Sarah Williams June 22, 2012 at 11:50 am

Excellent and timely post, Tom! I too have wondered how to go about learning the software that many job ads request. I was fortunate to buy a student version of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, and so on) through my graduate program, and even though I purchased it for much less than retail, it was still in the hundreds of dollars. For folks who aren’t in school, options seem pretty limited. And for those who are in school, there are plenty of TC tools that aren’t available at a student discount.

An acquaintance mentioned he’s learning FrameMaker through the web-based trial version. He bought a “How to Learn FrameMaker” manual or two and has enjoyed using FM whenever he wants, instead of having to squeeze all his training into a 30-day trial period. So that’s an idea.

Also glad to see you mention Lynda.com. It’s been a lifesaver for me as I’ve learned a few tech comm tools. I have the basic Lynda subscription, but will probably invest in the upgraded version. It’s more expensive but includes tutorial-specific exercise files for users to download.
Abby M. June 22, 2012 at 12:11 pm

I will most likely be coming back to this blog post for future comments.

As a technical communication major that has graduated, I’m finding in job descriptions a request for some tools that I have never heard. The most common of these tools is SharePoint. What I know about SharePoint is that Microsoft made it, but I don’t know anything else about it. However, I’m thinking about making use of my ability to still have access to my former university’s subscription to Lynda.com to learn something about SharePoint.
Betsy June 22, 2012 at 12:28 pm

You can try your local community college. For instance, here’s a link to Mission College, which has a good graphic design program:
http://www.missioncollege.org/depts/gdes/index.php
And here’s a link to DeAnza, which has a good Tech Writing certificate program:
http://www.deanza.edu/twrt/

Tools can be very expensive. I’m a contract tech writer, so I buy all my tools and my computer. For this reason, I only have the tools that I actively use for paying contract work. For someone starting out it is much better to be able to use a company’s tools if at all possible.

What I’m currently using is: FrameMaker, Adobe Acrobat Professional, Illustrator, Photoshop, WordPress, and MS Office. For screen captures I just use keyboard shortcuts for PC or Mac, then I adjust them with Photoshop.

I used to use Dreamweaver and Robohelp, but since I’m not currently working on help projects, my versions are really old, and not installed on my computer. I also used to have QuarkXpress for desktop publishing, but I don’t do that anymore.
Vinish Garg June 22, 2012 at 3:09 pm

Tom

The quandary is common and is justified. However, I feel that few beginners do not make required efforts before posting such questions.

Many beginners miss out a very important point. They do not think of their strenghts and the kind of profile they are looking for. For example, the candidate does not need any knowledge and hence training in HATs if one’s strength is B2B documentation and the preference is for a career in writing RFPs, Case Studies, White Papers, Project Proposals, and Technical Design Documents.

In addition (a) As Ellis has mentioned, many HATs are available as trial version. MS Word is generally available to all users. Adobe offers trial versions of DreamWeaver (for HTML/CSS hands on) and of Photoshop as well. MS Visio is part of MS Office suite (for basic level flow-diagrams) (b) If the candidate asks such a question while preparing for an interview, I am sure the hiring managers understand that writers actually the learn use of HATs on job itself. To handle such questions is what makes interviews exciting (for candidates as well as for board) .

Interstingly, the core of technical documentation is to learn products by oneself. But generally, the energy and temperament with which we learn a product to be documented, is missing when we try to learn a new software for ourself. That is true for a chef who is unsure of ingredients of a dish while preparing it for self.
Charlene Kingston June 22, 2012 at 5:45 pm

I have long believed that technical writing is an apprenticeship career. You have to spend time in the trenches to get access to the tools and to understand the real world challenges of businesses.

Someone who manages to get a license for the software without really understanding the business context can’t become a journeyman practitioner. It’s about more than software skills.

I started my technical writing/user assistance company after 10 years invested in a corporate career. I could never have understood my clients and their challenges if I had not invested that time understanding the business supported by technical writing and her sister disciplines. It’s not just about learning the how-tos of a tool.

If I were a corporate tech pubs manager today, I’d be looking for ways to assess the aptitude of people entering the career instead of looking for people who have 3 months time dinking around with the software. I’d also be setting up mentoring and peer support programs, along with informal internal training on the business, business analysis, software development, and the myriad of processes and disciplines required to succeed in tech pubs, content strategy, and elearning.

This is definitely not a career where someone can just decide to become a freelance tech writer and hang out a shingle without some serious experience in the trenches. No matter how talented or how much aptitude that person has.

One thing that always shocks me is running into software tech writers who are unable to figure out how to use the software they are documenting. I’m not talking about software with horrible UIs, but reasonable software, software that is fairly well designed. I’m talking about a basic disconnect in abilities. It’s like someone who is chronically lost who decides to go to truck driver school and do cross-country jobs.

As a manager, I always see it as my job to develop the talent around me. On-the-job training is all most tech writers have. We can’t afford to take the attitude that nurturing talent isn’t our jobs, or we are killing off the next generation of writers. Our industry should ask more of its managers, not less.

How can we have great journeyman writers in the next decade if we are not teaching them now how to excel in the multi-dimensional environment where we work today. Who knows what challenges they will face as our Western society continues to rely on technology?
Kevin Matz June 23, 2012 at 2:03 am

The costs of technical writing tools are prohibitive. I’m struck by the contrast with the software development world, where over the past 15 or so years there’s been an incredible shift away from proprietary products towards open-source tools and frameworks. (A majority of programmers today would probably agree with the statement “If you have to pay for it, it can’t be any good.”)

If you’re looking for tools for getting tech writing work done, you can probably manage quite well by cobbling together various free or open-source products like OpenOffice/LibreOffice, GIMP, Scribus, and so on.

But if you’re trying to break into the field of technical writing, obviously hiring managers will want to see experience with the more mainstream proprietary tools. (Sadly, actual analytical talent and writing skills don’t seem to matter as much as having the right checklist of software tools on your resume.)

Some vendors, most notably Adobe, are now selling access to their products on a month-to-month subscription basis, which can help you get started without a large initial investment. Unsurprisingly, this is likely more costly in the long run. (I’ve found that software subscriptions are like gym memberships in that sometimes you might go for weeks without using them.)

You might consider enrolling in a distance-education course or a local night-school class. With proof of your student status, you should be able to qualify for educational discounts.

For learning how to use the various tech writing tools, while you can sometimes find good tutorials and videos on the web, my favourite resource is the video courses at Lynda.com. You might also want to check out O’Reilly Safari. A subscription there can save a lot of money over buying technical books.
Ellis Pratt June 23, 2012 at 2:36 am

I would beg to differ with Kevin. Firstly, a Documentation Manager will have the candidate’s tools knowledge about 4th on the list of their priorities. Writing tools, time and project management come above it. Yes some recruitment agencies and employers fuss about tools, but they don’t know the role well enough and are applying the rules that apply for other IT roles.

Tools like RoboHelp and Flare are popular because they work. I’ve seen programmers cobble together their own authoring tool, and they often fall down when it comes to link management and condutional text. They often are poor from a usability perspective. But if you think you can develop a tool that’s as good, and you’re willing to give it away and support it for free, then go for it.