Manual writing software

[Bobodopalus]

Hi all

ive been writing a few manuals for my HMI screens recently and there has to be a better way that what im doing on word.

i take a screenshot from the HMI and label the buttons and put explanations underneath, if the website lets me i will add a screenshot.

i would like to know what you guys do in terms of this kinda stuff?

there's probably an easier way to do it in word or something or maybe you use specialized software, i would love to know.

[Gambit]

From GT designer you can print to file and have *.bmp files for all base sceens, windows screen, libs , parts etc.

You could also print to Pdf and just edit that file

[Bobodopalus]

yes NB designer does this also, allows to print every screen which is nice.

im more interested in the documentation side and how people link their descriptions and such to the image.

the way i do it on word is maybe the wrong way to go about it. i give each button on the HMI a number and then write a description for that number, its quite long winded to do on word, creating text boxes arrows etc.

i keep trying to upload an image but i cannot, im aware the site has been having issues

[DanW]

I use the writer app in LibreOffice, a freeware competitor to Microsoft's app Word in MSOffice.

LibreOffice Writer is far less fussy than MSWord when placing graphics on the page.  I struggle with Word when I was adjacent photos (on a horizontal axis), not just sequential (vertically one after another).  Have to be careful to save docs as .docx rather than their proprietary format, but that's not a big deal.

 

 

[Bobodopalus]

yes thats my biggest gripe with word, it is very awkward to add images to