Tools for technical writing

Adobe FrameMaker – Adobe FrameMaker 8 software is a powerful authoring and publishing solution for technical communicators and an essential upgrade for existing FrameMaker users who want to author and publish technical documentation in multiple languages, says Adobe. It supports Unicode, rich media, DITA and single sourcing.

RoboHelp - The most sought after Help authoring tool (HAT). RoboHelp 7 now supports Unicode, translational workflow, importing Word files, importing FrameMaker files and styles, user defined variables, and powerful collaboration.

Microsoft Word – Needs no explanation. Unstable for big documents.

Interleaf – Competitor of FrameMaker. Wikipedia says Interleaf provides an integrated set of tools for creating compound documents: word processing, graphics, data-driven business charts, tables, equations, image editing, automated page layout, book building-- including automatic index and table of contents, and conditional document assembly.

Arbortext - XML-based publishing system, says Wiki. It now supports Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) based eLearning.

WebWorks Publisher – Another platform for single sourcing the content created. Supports FrameMaker and Word. WebWorks includes pre-defined templates for 11 different output formats. It is not a HAT.

Adobe Illustrator- Vector based drawing tool.

Photoshop – Editing software for graphics.

SnagIt - An easy-to-use screen capture and editing tool.