Adobe Launches Technical Communication Suite 2

Complete, Integrated Toolkit Features New Versions of FrameMaker, RoboHelp and Captivate

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 software, a powerful upgrade of its one-of-a-kind solution for authoring, reviewing, managing, and publishing rich technical information and training content across multiple channels. Using the suite, technical communicators can create powerful documentation, training materials and Web-enabled user assistance containing both traditional text and 3D designs along with rich media, including Adobe Flash® Player compatible video, AVI, MP3 and SWF file support.

The enhanced suite includes Adobe FrameMaker® 9, the latest version of Adobe’s technical authoring and DITA publishing solution, Adobe RoboHelp® 8, a major upgrade to Adobe’s help system and knowledge base authoring tool, Adobe Captivate® 4, a powerful upgrade to Adobe’s popular eLearning authoring tool (see separate press release), and Photoshop® CS4, the industry standard for digital imaging software and a new addition to the suite. The suite also includes such category leading products as Adobe Acrobat® 9 Pro Extended and Adobe Presenter 7.

“With the Technical Communication Suite 2, Adobe answers the needs of technical communicators for increased productivity and greater integration between FrameMaker, RoboHelp and Captivate,” said Sanjeev Gadre, director of marketing, Print and Publishing at Adobe. “Rich imagery is now expected by technical readers and the inclusion of Photoshop CS4 allows technical writers, help authors, learning professionals and information specialists to add rich visual content to their work.”

Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 is a complete solution that offers improved productivity along with robust support for standards-based authoring including support for Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), an XML-based standard for authoring, producing and delivering technical information. It enables the creation of rich content and publishing through multiple channels, including XML/HTML, print, PDF, WSF, WebHelp, Adobe FlashHelp®, Microsoft HTML Help, OracleHelp, JavaHelp and Adobe® AIR™. The suite also delivers efficiency to the review process by allowing reviewer comments to be imported directly from PDF.

FrameMaker 9 offers a new modern user interface enabling technical communicators to easily author, structure, review and publish complex and lengthy content. It supports hierarchical books and industry standard DITA 1.1, and makes it easy to author topic-based content. In addition, FrameMaker 9 provides a unique capability to aggregate unstructured, structured and DITA content in a seamless workflow. Using a PDF based review workflow, authors can easily import and incorporate feedback reducing the time and effort to develop content. FrameMaker 9 also leverages enterprises’ existing investments in content management systems by allowing users to access and search for stored content.

Adobe RoboHelp 8 delivers essential new features that allow technical communicators to easily author XHTML-compliant professional help content. It increases productivity with support for automation, single sourcing, and closer integration with FrameMaker® and Microsoft® Word. The software also supports Lists and Tables, a new and intuitive CSS editor, powerful Pages and Templates, and a new search functionality making it easier for end-users to find relevant content. Authors can publish content to multiple online help formats, including an Adobe® AIR™ application that offers a seamless online and offline user experience and supports rich features such as RSS feeds and user comments.

“The market for technical documentation has changed rapidly to meet the needs of users, who don’t want to pull out the hard-copy manual and read it from end to end,” said Jim Hamilton, group director, InfoTrends’ On Demand Printing & Publishing, Jetting Technology Opportunities, and Wide Format Printing Consulting Services. “Adobe has taken an approach that could only be accomplished by a company with the broad set of tools as well as the vision to support this evolving market. With the Technical Communication Suite 2, Adobe leverages the strengths of FrameMaker, Photoshop, Acrobat, RoboHelp and Captivate to provide a compelling bundled package for technical writers.”
Pricing and Availability

The Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 is immediately available in North America through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store. Estimated street price for the suite is US$1899. FrameMaker 9, RoboHelp 8 and Captivate 4 are available as standalone products as well. Estimated street price for FrameMaker 9 and RoboHelp 8 is US$999 for each, US$799 for Captivate 4.

Adobe Technical Communication Suite, FrameMaker 9 and RoboHelp 8 are compatible with Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) and Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1. Upgrade and education pricing is available. For more information, visit www.adobe.com/go/buytcs .

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