The Society for Technical Communication is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.

The STC Toronto Chapter was founded in 1959 (then the Society of Technical Writers) and is the largest chapter in Canada.

About this Newsletter:

Front Runner Presents:
Keeping it Simple
by Joyce Aldrich

Perhaps you’ve made a few New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you want to lose the equivalent of a Christmas turkey, butt out that last cigarette, or, you may have decided to recycle, starting with that squadron of wine bottles, lined up on the floor, next to your refrigerator.

Having made the effort to put the bottles into the recycling bin, you decide this recycling thing is really not such a big deal and maybe, just maybe, you’d like to extend it to other areas of your life. So, Goodwill gets the stuff you haven’t been using, since time began, and you’re feeling pretty chuffed with yourself, as your personal space becomes more spacious and you start the New Year off telling yourself, “David Suzuki would be proud of me.”

Then, you arrive at the office, after a week of revelry, and take a good, long hard look at the piles of files and unfinished projects you left for “When you get back from holidays.” “Oh, yeah,” you think, “now, I’ve got to get through this mess,” recalling your new recycling state of mind, and wondering if a paperless office is in your future.

Or, you may be that rare individual who has an almost paperless office, with one small drawer of files. Still, even you find yourself scratching your head, from time to time, wondering where the company has archived some of your PDFs.

Whatever your situation, ask yourself what may be preventing you from making this paperless office – this elusive virtual office – a reality? We all have our reasons…time…technology…technology…time…whatever. Okay, you may ask, “Who has the time, not to mention the bucks, to bring in technology that’s going to be compatible with all the different office infrastructures and satisfy everyone’s needs?”

Every business has to communicate simply and effectively, with other businesses, in order to make the world of business go around. Every business wants to have control over what comes and goes in and out of the office, so, when it comes to sharing documents, ensuring security, flexibility and a speedy delivery, all businesses share a common goal. Every business wants to be the good guy, so, being environmentally friendly would, also, go a long way.

With the announcement of Adobe Acrobat 7.0, with new features that take several steps closer to the paperless office, technology style flexes to user needs. Adobe’s new “Simplicity at Work” campaign strategy is aimed at bringing those using the Adobe Acrobat family of products, from Acrobat Reader to Acrobat 7.0 Professional, in line to “Provide the power to deliver documents that give business, creative and technical professionals an intelligent way to get the job done.” Adobe says it will now be possible to “Create and exchange documents, collect and compare comments, and tailor the security of a file in order to distribute reliable and polished Adobe PDF files.”

“Uh oh,” you say, “I only have Acrobat 4.0, but I just use it to read and generate PDFs.” Well, if that’s the case, it’s probably a good idea to, at least, have a look at Acrobat 7.0, because it’s come a long way, even for those of you who have upgraded from Acrobat 5.0 to Acrobat 6.0. So, what’s new? According to Adobe, Acrobat 7.0 Professional can:

1. Easily design Adobe PDF forms, complete with calculations and data validations (replacing paper forms)

2. Scan paper documents and forms to create compact, searchable archives of Adobe PDF documents according to text and document properties, to quickly find files on local machines and network drives (everyone can find your files, including you, and you can find other people’s files)

3. Create a single Adobe PDF document from multiple sources, including portions of Web pages and previously combined Adobe PDF documents. Print, extract or delete the subdocuments and easily add headers, footers and water marks to Adobe PDF documents (flexibility makes you more creative)

4. Enable anyone using free Adobe Reader 7.0 software to actively participate in reviews, using familiar tools, such as a highlighter, sticky notes, pen, strikethrough, dimension lines, clouds, and more, to mark up not only text, but also drawings and charts (more direct line of communication)

5. Sign electronic documents, using digital signatures, for faster electronic approval (now, this is going to save time, and it’s secure)

6. Protect sensitive and confidential documents, thereby controlling permissions (increased security)

With these innovations, and many more to be explored, Adobe Acrobat 7.0 appears to be a universal tool that provides the opportunity to get started on that paperless office solution. To help you get closer to your goal, reduce that pile on your desk and reduce the time spent faxing, waiting, scanning, waiting, looking, waiting…you get the picture…Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc. is offering a half-day Adobe Acrobat 7.0 New Features course for $149.00 CDN plus GST.

For a half-day out of the office, learn what you wished you’d known yesterday.

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To find out more about Adobe Acrobat 7.0 and to book your on or off site training, call Veronica Ennamorato, Director, Operations and Training for Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc. in Toronto at (416) 515-0155 or visit the company website at www.front-runner.com.