VERDICT: A modern cross-media technical publishing solution – that at its centre is old-fashioned and in need of a major overhaul.

We live in a fast-changing, global, consumer society and just about every product, and minor product variation, needs to come with its own technical documentation...

We also live in an increasingly computer-based society which has simultaneously opened up a major new product category - software – and a major new delivery route for documentation – onscreen. Adobe has spotted the massive opportunity this requirement for multiple-language, multiple-version, multiple-media documentation represents and, with its new Technical Communication Suite (TCS), promises to provide a modern, integrated all-round authoring solution at a bargain price.
Computer-based delivery is growing in importance but print remains universal and so the heart of the TCS is a DTP application. Rather than the market-leading InDesign, Adobe has chosen the comparatively little-known Framemaker (see separate review) to fill this role - and for good reason. Framemaker is built on a layout architecture that is tailor-made for producing technical documentation. In particular its use of tagging and focus on single reflowing documents enables conditional handling which, with the latest version 8’s new Unicode support, makes Framemaker particularly well-suited for publishing multiple language versions from a single source. It also means that Framemaker is naturally well-suited to cope with the demands of XML-based workflows.
Framemaker began life as a print-only application, but one of the great strengths that Adobe brings to the table is its Acrobat technology. By exporting documentation to PDF rather than paper, Framemaker makes it possible to provide universally accessible onscreen viewing and, crucially, cut out all print costs in the process. To make the most of PDF-based onscreen delivery, Adobe includes a copy of Acrobat in the box. And not just any copy – this is the top-of-the-range Adobe Acrobat 3D. As well as adding impressive prepress and collaboration capabilities, this version adds the ability to embed 3D files from a wide range of CAD and modelling applications. The resulting models can be rendered in a number of styles and interactively scaled and rotated within the free Adobe Reader application. This capability will be invaluable to certain manufacturers – which explains Acrobat 3D’s ambitious standalone pricing.
PDF excels as a bridge between print and screen, but to make the most of computer-based delivery you really need dedicated screen-based authoring. This is where the two other components in the TCS come in, both of which fell into Adobe’s lap with its takeover of Macromedia. First up is RoboHelp 7 (see separate review), which is designed for producing online HTML-based help systems and has now been updated to offer multiple language handling and deeper integration with Framemaker. Most impressive is Captivate 3 (see separate review) which makes it simple to record and produce professional onscreen software demonstrations, training and assessments which can then be incorporated into both RoboHelp and Framemaker projects for respective delivery via Flash and PDF.
With an advanced print and screen-based publishing solution that takes in XML, PDF, HTML and Flash and that can produce multiple localized outputs from a single source, it looks like the arguments in favour of the TCS are compelling. Particularly so, as the price for the TCS is well under half the cost of the combined standalones. However there are a number of important caveats.

The heart of the TCS is the powerful but intimidating Framemaker

The TCS is designed to tackle a modern publishing challenge but its two main authoring applications, Framemaker and RoboHelp, both feel dated and in dire need of some serious development. This is especially true of Framemaker which still feels like a 20-year old mainframe Unix application. New users in particular are in for a shock, especially when they try to get to grips with structured XML-based publishing – here you need all the help you can get but Framemaker simply throws you in the deep end.
It’s worth persevering with XML as the benefits of a fundamentally structured approach become apparent later in the workflow, particularly when it comes to scalability and integration. Here the TCS’s ability to take a single Framemaker print-oriented publication and use it as the basis for both PDF documentation and online help is a great advance. However 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 made in one program are automatically reflected in the other, is even further off. Moreover integration needs to extend beyond the workflow to the applications themselves. Currently it would be difficult to imagine a more disparate bundle of idiosyncratic programs.
The TCS is not quite the modern, integrated, all-round suite that Adobe would have you believe. And it’s not necessarily a bargain either. To begin with all the standalones are overpriced. Moreover there are relatively few users who produce documentation that simultaneously straddles print, online help, computer-based training and 3D and, as always, if you don’t actually use a program it’s not worth anything to you.
Having said this, Adobe is absolutely right that producing technical documentation is an important job worthy of a dedicated solution. Moreover Adobe is undoubtedly the best company to provide the solution and these are the right tools to do it with.
The vision is good but, after years of neglect, it will take serious longterm commitment and a lot more development effort to fully deliver on the Technical Communication Suite’s potential.

EASE OF USE 2/6
FEATURES 4/6
VALUE FOR MONEY 3/6
OVERALL 3/6