Writing tools

There are a lot of different writing tools out there for technical writing, most of them are expensive commercial software titles. Fortunately there are also some Free Open Source Software (FOSS) titles available that are just as capable as the commercial options. To this end, I'd like to take a brief overview of the software I use (currently) as I start out in the world of technical writing. I will also separate out Mac and Windows versions as I am in a position to use both operating systems.

On another technical writing blog I was reading, the author had broken things down into the following four tool types:

1. Help Authoring Tools
2. Graphics Tools
3. Video Recording Tools
4. Page Layout Tools

And proceeded to list the most commonly used titles in each category. This is great for knowing what titles/tools you need to know but it is still a very general overview as there is no real standard. Different companies utilise different tools and it is hard (and expensive) to know all of them. Also, they did not cover any cheaper or free options that beginners, like me, can use to produce work while building justification for more expensive options. I have also only had the opportunity to explore tools from a couple of these categories - Graphics Tools and Page Layout Tools - as these are the areas I work in most at this time.

Here is the list of software tools I use personally (and some I have had the brief opportunity to test out); in no particular order:

• Photoshop (Mac & Windows)
• Scribus (Mac & Windows)
• Word (Mac & Windows)
• Monosnap (Mac)
• Notepad++ (Windows)
• TextWrangler (Mac)
• SnagIt (Chrome extension) (Mac & Windows)
• InDesign (Mac & Windows)
• TextEdit (Mac) and/or Notepad (Windows)

Now that I have listed out what I use, it would be more useful to you, the reader, to actually say a little about each tool - likes/dislikes, ease of use, functionality, cost (free/paid), etc.

Photoshop: What can I say about this graphics heavyweight? For most it is the industry standard for image editing. It is a commercial software title (read expensive) but the Creative Cloud subscription option does make it a lot more viable to those on a budget and is available for both Mac and Windows. It's only real competition in the FOSS arena is GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program), which is a powerful editor in its own right but, to me at least, coming from Photoshop it is not as intuitive to use or as polished. I use Photoshop for all my image editing both personally and professionally.

Scribus: Many may not have heard about this FOSS title but you will likely know its commercial opposite, InDesign. Like InDesign, Scribus is a page layout tool and is availble on both Mac and Windows. After having a chance to compare the two, I would have to give the edge to InDesign for its slightly improved ease of use and overall polish. Not to say Scribus is lacking in features, it's not. This has quickly became one of my favourite tools for creating PDF documents, especially where images are included in heavily formatted technical guides. Once you place an item on the page, it stays put unless you choose to move it.

Word: While many might view Microsoft's Word as an industry standard, I personally have a strong dislike for it but am not able to escape from its clutches. It is so widely used that you need to know it, even if you choose to use an alternate; which unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any true alternate out there without its own plusses/minuses. It is a commercial software title with different licensing levels (and costs) and is available for both Mac and Windows.

Monosnap: This is a free screenshot tool for the Mac that works really well for capturing and editing/annotating on-screen activity for help guides. I have used it recently for the creation of a software install guide and found it to be a very easy to use tool.

Notepad++: This is a free text editor for the Windows platform. Among it's many features is a very nice HTML editor that I have used quite a bit lately in creating my first HTML documents. If you're on the Windows platform and want a text editor and HTML editor this one is recommended.

TextWrangler: This is a free text editor for Mac, that I'm actually writing this content in. It is a free offshoot of BBEdit and shares many of its features. It is highly rated for Mac users wanting a text editor and HTML editor.

SnagIt (Chrome extension): This is a free extension to the Chrome browser to give advanced screen capture tools. It runs on Mac and Windows and seems a pretty robust tool, within limitations. It only captures what occurs in the browser window. This is where it looses out to Monosnap for me (on Mac) as I am not usually wanting to just capture the contents of my browser.

InDesign: This is a commercial tool from Adobe that does similar things to Scribus (listed above). I briefly explored the use of InDesign and liked the program, however, I changed my Adobe licensing and no longer had access to it. I make extensive use out of Scribus for all my page layout needs.

TextEdit and Notepad: These two tools are part of their respective operating systems and are useful, if basic, text editors. Many a website has been written in these two tools and as a low cost option (no additional cost over the OS) you can't go wrong with either one.

I would also like to add in one final tool that can be very useful, Google Docs. While I would not use it for creating anything more than a basic text file or similar, it does have great collaboration features; add to that the ability to login from any computer (regardless of OS) via a web browser and access all your files. It is definitely a useful tool to have in your toolbox.