Tools Used in Technical Writing

You must have come across job opportunities where the employer seeks candidates proficient in various tools like Snagit, Framemaker, Photoshop and Visio. If you are wondering why so many tools are required to be learnt by a technical writer then read on. This article will give a brief overview of these tools so that you know why these tools are required in technical writing.

Adobe Framemaker: Adobe Framemaker is the tool you use to create manuals or ebooks. It is mostly used for large documents. Framemaker is of two types – structured and unstructured. Many companies use Microsoft Word as a replacement to Framemaker for writing the manuals. The latest version of Framemaker is 8 and was released in 2007.


SnagIt: SnagIt is a screen capture tool which helps in capturing the screen. If you think that Print Screen does the job too, you are right but SnagIt has many features which makes the job of a technical writer fast and easy. Basic capture profiles of the software include A Region to File, A Region to Clipboard, A Window to File, A Scrolling Window etc. You can also create videos with this software. SnagIt comes with a SnagIt editor which helps in editing the captured screenshot.

Photoshop: It is a graphics editing program mostly used by Web Designers. It is very useful for technical writers as well. It corrects the minutest of errors in a graphic and allows you to save the graphic in different formats like png, gif, jpeg etc. The advantage with using Photoshop as the graphic editor program is that each change in the graphic is done on layers and if you are not satisfied with any particular change you can delete that particular layer. When you save the graphic as psd format you can make changes in the graphic any time later too. The latest version is CS4.

Visio: Visio is software which helps in the creation of diagrams and flowcharts.




RoboHelp: RoboHelp is a help authoring tool which helps in creating Help files that you can find integrated with all softwares. For example, MS Word, Photoshop, Flash etc. You can create both HTML as well as a Flash Help with this software. You can also write tutorials with it and set the tutorial according to the proficiency level of the user.

Other tools that may be used for technical writing are Corel Draw, Flash, Dreamweaver, Epic Editor, and Frontpage.

If you do not have the above software and want to practice, install the trial version and learn the tools.