Brief pecha kucha-style presentation which gives an overview of the various tools and technologies which can be used to generate PDFs from DITA-sourced content.

1. DITA and PDF
There is more than the
DITA Open Toolkit...

2. Tech writers’ rule n° 1: know your audience
■ Who is currently using DITA?

3. Tech writers’ rule n° 1: know your audience
■ Who is currently using DITA?
■ Who is publishing DITA-sourced content in PDF format?

4. Tech writers’ rule n° 1: know your audience
■ Who is currently using DITA?
■ Who is publishing DITA-sourced content in PDF format?
■ How do you publish DITA-sourced content as PDF?

5. DITA2PDF: some explored options
Acrobat
<map>
Distiller
FrameMaker
Word
1
2
3
4
5
FOP
Render X
DITA Antenna House
Open Toolkit

6. The DITA Open Toolkit (DITA-OT)
■ Java-based publishing engine
■ Available on sourceforge.net
■ Integrated in DITA editors: oXygen XML Editor/Author, XMetaL...
■ Uses Apache Ant, a Java-based software tool for automating software
build processes
■ Open-source, “reference implementation” of the OASIS DITA standard
■ “Reference implementation”:
■ = a start, an example
■ ≠ ready-to-use product which gives you high-quality output “out of
the box”
■ FREE, but “the most expensive free software ever created” (J. Griffith)

7. DITA-OT > XSL-FO > PDF
<map>
DITA FOP
Open Toolkit Render X
1
2
Antenna House
3
4
5

8. DITA-OT > XSL-FO > PDF: “plain” PDF or ...
2. Write the other steps of the task.
Caution:
Mind the chunking limit: do not write (a lot) more than 9 steps.
3. Do one of the following:
• Use the <choices> element when the user has to make a decision, based on simple conditions.
• Use the <choicetable> element when there are multiple or complex conditions.
4. Use the <wintitle> element to refer to name or title of:
• Windows
• Dialog boxes, for example the Print Setup dialog box
• Wizards, for example the Installation wizard
• Panes, for example the Resources pane
The <result> element describes the expected outcome for the task as a whole.
Note: If the result is the outcome of a specific step, put this in the <stepresult> element instead.

9. ... medium-quality PDF ...
2.
Caution:
3.
●
●
4.
●
● Print Setup
● Installation
● Resources
Note:

10. ... after some serious DITA-OT customization and
XSL-FO development work

11. DITA > Word > PDF
<map>
MS Word
Distiller
1
2
3
4
5

12. DITA > Word > PDF: DITA Exchange Word Publisher

13. DITA > Word > PDF: DITA2Go
www.dita2go.com

14. DITA > FrameMaker + DITA-FMx > PDF
<map>
FrameMaker
Distiller
1
2
3
4
5

15. DITA > FrameMaker + DITA-FMx > PDF:
high-quality PDF
2 Write the other steps of the task.
Mind the chunking limit: do not write (a lot) more than 9 steps.
3 Do one of the following:
■ Use the <choices> element when the user has to make a decision, based on
simple conditions.
■ Use the <choicetable> element when there are multiple or complex condi-
tions.
4 Use the <wintitle> element to refer to name or title of:
■ Windows
■ Dialog boxes, for example the Print Setup dialog box
■ Wizards, for example the Installation wizard
■ Panes, for example the Resources pane
RESULT:
The <result> element describes the expected outcome for the task as a whole.
NOTE: If the result is the outcome of a specific step, put this in the <stepresult>
element instead.

16. DITA > FrameMaker > PDF: fully automated
process with FMx-Auto
➊ Author content in any DITA editor

17. DITA > FrameMaker > PDF
➋ Publish the DITA-sourced content using a “build file”

18. DITA > FrameMaker > PDF
➌ FrameMaker starts and generates a FrameMaker
book from the ditamap or bookmap

19. DITA > FrameMaker > PDF
➍ FrameMaker saves the book as PDF,
fully “automagically”

20. More (unexplored) options
■ DITA4Publishers: DITA > InDesign > PDF
■ Help Authoring Tools (“HATs”):
■ MadCap Flare
■ RoboHelp
■ WebWorks ePublisher
■ High-end enterprise-level publishing tools:
■ SDL XML Professional Publisher (XPP)
■ Arbortext Publishing Engine

21. Demo?