We compile software manuals and create online help systems for a wide range of applications. We attach particular importance to meaningful screenshots and the consistent use of software terms.
Alma Gnani
Technical Documentation
Compared to traditional operating instructions, the use of screenshots is often one of the biggest challenges when compiling software manuals. As the software is constantly being updated, some screenshots are already out of date once they have been added to the documentation. On the other hand, purely text-based descriptions are tedious to read and difficult to understand. In this respect we try to find a workable balance for the best results. We also use screen recording tools to record short sequences of software operation and add these videos to the documentation as animated screenshots. This improves comprehension and adds more variety to the descriptions.
Creating screenshots means a considerable amount of work, which doubles with each additional language. It is also often difficult to display all software statuses correctly with the simulation software. When producing publications in many languages, we therefore reduce the amount of work required by adding item numbers and captions to the English screenshots.
The software manual can be integrated into the control interface of your machine as an online help resource. By linking topic IDs, the corresponding topic is automatically opened in the online help when a help button or the F1 key is pressed (context-sensitive integration). This is a real benefit for the operators and makes troubleshooting much easier.
