Technical Documentation

Technical Documentation Multilingual product information for all media
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Criteria for good product documentation

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the information should be factually correct and complete,

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easy to locate, use and understand, and

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aimed at a particular target readership with a specific purpose.

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Good products deserve good product documentation

STAR has many years' experience in the production and design of technical documentation. STAR's editors are specialist engineers and produce documentation in languages including German, English, French, Italian and Japanese according to the rules imposed by

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legislation, directives, standards and product liability

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layout, typesetting and typography

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spelling, terminology and national language specifics

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directories, references, glossaries and indexes, etc.

STAR – your perfect partner

As a product developer and daily user of the SGML/XML-based editing system GRIPS and the publication system SPIDER, STAR is perfectly placed to provide the optimum overall solution from a single source.

STAR produces technical documentation for an enormous variety of applications including

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operating, assembly, repair, servicing and diagnosis instructions

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spare parts catalogues, product descriptions and training manuals

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user manuals, administration guides and help systems

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technical service regulations to Spec1000 standards

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spare parts catalogues to B007 or Spec2000 standards

Technical editing

STAR accepts partial commissions as well as complete documentation projects. In order to get to know the client's requirements better, STAR initially provides thorough consultation comprising

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analysis of existing product documentation

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analysis of requirements and definition of aims

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concepts for structuring and design of target-group specific documentation

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development of information structure matrices

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selection of the most suitable tools

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development of information management solutions

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development of multimedia publication concepts

Editing process and workflow

First of all, an editing process is defined. Based on that process, a workflow system is developed which

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automatically carries out the individual stages,

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informs the people involved of the actions performed,

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and ultimately monitors processing statuses.

This ensures that the defined editing process, and therefore the data quality, is adhered to and the amount of manual work reduced.

Implementation and realisation

The specialists at STAR make certain that the product documentation meets the very highest customer expectations. In order to achieve that aim, numerous processing stages are incorporated in the documentation process, including

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local compilation of technically accurate source materials

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selection/structuring of the information

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editorial processing to suit intended target groups

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selection and commissioning of illustrations

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production of drafts and submission for review

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incorporation of review feedback or new technical data

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editorial refinement and completion

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optimisation of presentation modes (image, text, table)

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detailed design of layout

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proofreading by linguists (e.g. reformed German spelling)

Terminological and phraseological consistency

A characteristic of technical documentation is that certain objects or operations may be repeatedly referred to or described. STAR's editors make sure that there is textual consistency. In other words that the same object is consistently referred to by the same term and the same operation is always described in the same way.

Consistent adherence to that principle produces a uniform style in the documentation – even if several editors are working simultaneously on the same body of information.

Translation-optimised editing

Since the documentation is generally translated into several languages, the STAR editors ensure that text is composed in a way that is optimised for translation so that the cost of translation to the client is reduced.

Corporate language and corporate identity

For STAR's editors, the implementation and maintenance of client and project-specific language and terminology is an absolute priority. Compliance with corporate language specifications not only increases the user-friendliness of the documentation, it also forms the basis for efficient communication in an international environment and is ultimately an essential component of an organisation's unique corporate identity.

Graphics and illustration

Good illustrations make documentation more comprehensible. Together with the written explanations, they provide maximum benefit for the user. Pictures are an international language that is understood all over the world. Many of the graphic illustrators at STAR have a technical background which is indispensable for correct composition of technical illustrations.

They are thoroughly versed in a wide variety of illustration methods, including

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perspective drawings of technical products using parallel projection or vanishing point perspective

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line drawings

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halftone and greyscale images

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coloured graphics

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exploded-view diagrams

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photographs and digitally enhanced photos

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2D and 3D schematic diagrams

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cross-sectional drawings for training materials

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pictograms

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presentation graphics

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animations

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advertising graphics

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Multilingual product information for all media