PageMaker / InDesign / Quark and FrameMaker

PageMaker versus FrameMaker

Which should you use, PageMaker or FrameMaker? Consensus in the FrameMaker forum is that FrameMaker is better for:

• long, structured, technical documents
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• documents using cross-references and generated lists, such as TOCs, indexes, lists of figures, etc.
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• documents going to online help
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• documents with a high page count

These forums seem to consider PageMaker better for:

• using lots of color
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• newsletters, marketing pieces, and documents where page layout varies a lot
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• typography (with InDesign reportedly being superior in this regard)

Of course, consider the format of and need to update your legacy documentation.

Converting between FrameMaker and PageMaker / InDesign / Quark

If you have an Adobe PageMaker, InDesign, or Quark document and you want to bring it into FrameMaker:

• Export and import the document via RTF.

Similarly, if you are taking FrameMaker to one of these other products:

• Export and import the document via RTF.

Things such as graphics will need to be reimported when you reformat the imported RTF in the destination product.