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Technical Manuals, Catalogues and Shortform Handbooks

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

For several years I have been creating a number of different catalogues and manuals.

Rational Catalogues

When you are producing a long product catalogue, it is important to find a way to create it, so that:

The creation is fast
Existing source material can be used with a minimum of modifications
The texts are easy to revise

Not two catalogues are alike, and all of them use different kinds of source materials.

Technical Manuals

The production of a new manual usually begins with a nose dive into the system or product to be documented, and some sketchwork. A prototype is made, whereupon the detailed work begins. When the manual is finished I can send the originals to your own printer, or attend to the whole printing process myself and deliver the finished books to you.

Helping You Out with Your Own Production

If you want to continue production yourself, I can help you with advice on machinery needed, software, and training on these subjects.

Samples of my Production

Consilium Navigation AB, a Swedish manufacturer of marine equipment, commissioned me to create a series of manuals for their newly developed VDR (Voyage Data Recorder), a so called Black Box for large ships. I made the installation, commissioning, maintenance, software and technical manuals. I also made most of the illustration materials mayself, such as photos, electronic schematics, etc. All in English. Consilium Navigation AB also makes speed logs for large ships. It was the same again, a manual series for their most popular log product, consisting of installation, commissioning, maintenance and technical manuals. All in English, too.

Ineo Konsult AB builds CTI-systems (Computer Telephony Integration) for the big telecommunications providers, among others. A digital TDU (Traffic Routing Equipment) is a computer that routes telephone calls that have already been made, to the provider of choice. I wrote the Administrator's Handbook and the Installer's Handbook for the computer system used for administrating all the TDU's in the country.

For the Swedish Post Office I created all the handbook material for the first commercial version of the PostFax-system (later named eFax), the Post Office's gigantic system for fax mass distribution, with fax boxes, voice response systems, alternative roads of distribution and more. The commission required total documentation of all the functions of the software, a hardware description and shortform manuals for the users. The picture shows an example from the user and software manuals.

A shortform manual for the users of the Post Office system, with a lot of clever and ingenious details, all made in CorelDRAW.

A screen shot from the Post Office's Business Case profitability evaluation software. The manual was written and layouted in Word for Windows.

The manual to the client program eBrevPC used in the Swedish Post Office's Hybrid Mail System. The manual was written and layouted in Word for Windows.

The department of Electronic Mail Services, i.e. Hybrid Mail, of the Swedish Post Office, decided to publish their 1999 business plan in the form of a daily newspaper called Hybrisposten (The Hubris Magazine). I got the somewhat dry business plan text and created a 20 page tabloid magazine in Page Maker, spiced it with funny pictures and stories, advertisements fron various sponsors, etc. The magazine was very well received.

A training course catalogue. Such catalogues are often produced with the customer's choice of tools (for better or for worse...).

A large product catalogue with lots of products. For this reason it was layouted in Ventura, which allows the re-use of texts and direct import of data bases.

Technology Partners was one of the first Swedish companies which started doing special design of systems for the mass distribution of faxes. They had found an extremely efficient combination of the OS/2 operating system and fax boards from Gammalink (later Dialogic), and they could distribute several thousand faxes per hour from one PC. I was contacted regarding the operator's manual.

Measuring Systems Scandinavia are selling highly specialised measuring instruments for vibration measurements, quality control etc. One of my numerous jobs with MSS was this manual for a handheld instrument for vibration measurements.

The Swedish Post Office's electronic mail system eBrevPC had been developed further and needed new documentation. I made the handbook, the help files and the help texts for the Web site. I also helped developing the software. The Swedish Post Office's hybrid mail system eBrev was marketed in Europe, and the current syntax documentation was in need of modernising and some investigation. I fixed that, in Swedish and English.

Path: Home Page > [Services >] Manuals > Manuals Background

Samples of my Production
Consilium Navigation AB, a Swedish manufacturer of marine equipment, commissioned me to create a series of manuals for their newly developed VDR (Voyage Data Recorder), a so called Black Box for large ships. I made the installation, commissioning, maintenance, software and technical manuals. I also made most of the illustration materials mayself, such as photos, electronic schematics, etc. All in English.	Consilium Navigation AB also makes speed logs for large ships. It was the same again, a manual series for their most popular log product, consisting of installation, commissioning, maintenance and technical manuals. All in English, too.
Ineo Konsult AB builds CTI-systems (Computer Telephony Integration) for the big telecommunications providers, among others. A digital TDU (Traffic Routing Equipment) is a computer that routes telephone calls that have already been made, to the provider of choice. I wrote the Administrator's Handbook and the Installer's Handbook for the computer system used for administrating all the TDU's in the country.	For the Swedish Post Office I created all the handbook material for the first commercial version of the PostFax-system (later named eFax), the Post Office's gigantic system for fax mass distribution, with fax boxes, voice response systems, alternative roads of distribution and more. The commission required total documentation of all the functions of the software, a hardware description and shortform manuals for the users. The picture shows an example from the user and software manuals.
A shortform manual for the users of the Post Office system, with a lot of clever and ingenious details, all made in CorelDRAW.	A screen shot from the Post Office's Business Case profitability evaluation software. The manual was written and layouted in Word for Windows.
The manual to the client program eBrevPC used in the Swedish Post Office's Hybrid Mail System. The manual was written and layouted in Word for Windows.	The department of Electronic Mail Services, i.e. Hybrid Mail, of the Swedish Post Office, decided to publish their 1999 business plan in the form of a daily newspaper called Hybrisposten (The Hubris Magazine). I got the somewhat dry business plan text and created a 20 page tabloid magazine in Page Maker, spiced it with funny pictures and stories, advertisements fron various sponsors, etc. The magazine was very well received.
A training course catalogue. Such catalogues are often produced with the customer's choice of tools (for better or for worse...).	A large product catalogue with lots of products. For this reason it was layouted in Ventura, which allows the re-use of texts and direct import of data bases.
Technology Partners was one of the first Swedish companies which started doing special design of systems for the mass distribution of faxes. They had found an extremely efficient combination of the OS/2 operating system and fax boards from Gammalink (later Dialogic), and they could distribute several thousand faxes per hour from one PC. I was contacted regarding the operator's manual.	Measuring Systems Scandinavia are selling highly specialised measuring instruments for vibration measurements, quality control etc. One of my numerous jobs with MSS was this manual for a handheld instrument for vibration measurements.
The Swedish Post Office's electronic mail system eBrevPC had been developed further and needed new documentation. I made the handbook, the help files and the help texts for the Web site. I also helped developing the software.	The Swedish Post Office's hybrid mail system eBrev was marketed in Europe, and the current syntax documentation was in need of modernising and some investigation. I fixed that, in Swedish and English.