Printing Helpfile

[sinus]

My printer does just now print and print and print ... 220 pages of IMatch-help! 

With the size of A4 it would be 443 pages, but I print 2 pages on one, so I can half the amount of paper.
The size from this size is for my eyes just still good readable, though a bit small.

During printing I do glimpsing on the pages, and I must say (again):

This is really a VERY good helpfile, with a lot of examples and nice screenshots and images and graphical images.



I wonder, Mario, IF you have once the time  if it would not be possible and (wirtschaftlich) interesting, to let print a book (zb BoD).

[JohnZeman]

For what it's worth Markus I'm virtually paperless now, 99.9% of what I used to print out now goes on my iPad in digital format, including IMatch help. 

[Mario]

I wonder, Mario, IF you have once the time  if it would not be possible and (wirtschaftlich) interesting, to let print a book (zb BoD).

I structured the help to have rather long topics instead of splitting every topic into many sub-topics. This is much better for printing.

But I doubt that many users will ever print the help. It's so much easier to read it on-line or on a tablet. I personally use a fast but small Windows 8.1 tablet and the help looks just great there. I run IMatch 5 also on that tablet 

When using the help I can use the search function and the hyperlinks to jump quickly around. Print can't do that. Help files are basically eBooks and that's all most users will ever need.

[sinus]

For what it's worth Markus I'm virtually paperless now, 99.9% of what I used to print out now goes on my iPad in digital format, including IMatch help. 

I know, John, we should do it paperless.... but 

During a lot of years I have my habit, difficult to change. I take some papers into a restaurant or somewhere else and read AND do write remarks onto the papers. I make also some sketches on the papers and so on. FOR ME that remains better in my brain

It's a bit like reading a book, paperless or a real book: I prefer still to read a real book ... but I see, that I shold change my habit.

[sinus]

I wonder, Mario, IF you have once the time  if it would not be possible and (wirtschaftlich) interesting, to let print a book (zb BoD).

When using the help I can use the search function and the hyperlinks to jump quickly around. Print can't do that. Help files are basically eBooks and that's all most users will ever need.

Like I wrote to John, Mario ... I am sure, there are people out there, where does it print. Print can do that, that's correct. But a tablet can not all do (or not that easy), what a simple paper can do.

So I think, people does it, like they want to do ... great, that you thougth at the people, who does like to print it out.

[Richard]

Hi Markus,

I share your preference for printed matter but not in this case. A book lacks a search function and books don't have Ctrl+F to Find specific words.

Something else to consider is that your printed copy will likely be obsolete as soon as a new version of IMatch is released. Hopefully IMatch Help users are using the feedback at the bottom of help pages to help Mario make the files even better. If so, the Help files will change even though no new features are added.

[sinus]

Hi Markus,

I share your preference for printed matter but not in this case. A book lacks a search function and books don't have Ctrl+F to Find specific words.

Something else to consider is that your printed copy will likely be obsolete as soon as a new version of IMatch is released. Hopefully IMatch Help users are using the feedback at the bottom of help pages to help Mario make the files even better. If so, the Help files will change even though no new features are added.

Hi Richard
the search function, yes, that has a paper not.
About updates:

I do it like I did it with IM3 ... I print a helpfile out, mostly if the helpfile is quite in a good shape ... that is why I waited to do so on the official release of IM5.

Then I look VERY good into this help-file-papers, make notes, draw, put somtimes coffee over the sheets and so on. At some point the printed manual will looks not more very good, but then most of it is in my head ... well, at least, what is important for me.

After the reading, I think, I know the most important things for ME ... there are a lot of things, what for me are not that interesting, like for example annotions.
After this "study" (or during), if a new updat comes out, I will only look carefully at the release notes, without printing and that's it for me.

After this, I think, I should be able to use IM5 quite good for me.

But, yep, to save paper and ink we should not print to much out, that is true.

Maybe, if IMatch, version 11 will comes out, then I will not more print it out, because then we will have (maybe) flexible digital papers, possible to write on it and so on 

[Richard]

Hi Markus,

It has occurred to me that it is likely that many of your notes on pages are to record your understanding of an English word. If I try to read German I get some understanding of what it is like for a non-English reader to use Help files written in English. Even some of the screen shots in Help contain German terms due to settings on Mario's computer and if I had a paper copy, I would make notes in the margin.

It would be a monumental task to try to produce native language versions of Help. However, if I am correct in thinking that one of the main reasons you print the Help files is for, in effect, translation that makes a lot of sense. Since word meanings will not change, what version you print will not matter that much.

I am making a lot of guesses here but if I am right, then your notes on printed pages make a lot of sense. However, they don't do much good for anyone else. I am wondering if forum members who are bilingual could build mini-dictionaries to aid others? One using terms that have special meaning to IMatch users. For you it would be English to German but for others it would be English to _____________. Would something like this be practical?

[Ger]

I am wondering if forum members who are bilingual could build mini-dictionaries to aid others?

I do think it's a good idea. When translating IMatch into Dutch, I built a reference list myself for most of the terminology so I could use consistent wording.
Maybe it's an idea to add a glossary with brief definitions of important words and concepts and link a translation to this?

Ger

[Mario]

That would make a nice addition to the Tips & Tricks board? Easy to link to from the help and also from within the community, and easy to keep up-to-date.

[sinus]

Hi Markus,

It has occurred to me that it is likely that many of your notes on pages are to record your understanding of an English word. If I try to read German I get some understanding of what it is like for a non-English reader to use Help files written in English. Even some of the screen shots in Help contain German terms due to settings on Mario's computer and if I had a paper copy, I would make notes in the margin.

It would be a monumental task to try to produce native language versions of Help. However, if I am correct in thinking that one of the main reasons you print the Help files is for, in effect, translation that makes a lot of sense. Since word meanings will not change, what version you print will not matter that much.

I am making a lot of guesses here but if I am right, then your notes on printed pages make a lot of sense. However, they don't do much good for anyone else. I am wondering if forum members who are bilingual could build mini-dictionaries to aid others? One using terms that have special meaning to IMatch users. For you it would be English to German but for others it would be English to _____________. Would something like this be practical?

Hi Richard
Hmmm, this is a good idea of you! I must say, I do seldom write some word in German at the border of the manual, only sometimes.
But yes, such a booklet would help me or maybe also some of other users or even a lot of users.
Hmm, so, I guess, we should have first a list of English words, what could be translated?!

If I had time, I would try to start, but just at the moment I have quite a lot to do (photos of 45 churches, for example).

Thanks for your idea.