Adobe overhauls technical publishing and eLearning suites

Adobe has upgraded its technical publishing and electronic-learning packages

Adobe today launched version 2 of its Technical Communication Suite (TCS), and a new electronic learning system, dubbed Adobe eLearning Suite, which includes the latest version of Adobe Captivate.

TCS is Adobe's package for authoring, managing and publishing technical information, and comprises an extended version of Acrobat Pro 9, together with Captivate 4, Framemaker 9, Photoshop CS4 and RoboHelp 8.

The eLearning Suite is formed from another group of Adobe point products, brought together through new workflows and Adobe Bridge and Device Central. It includes Captivate 4, Flash CS4, Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Acrobat Pro, Presenter 7, Soundbooth CS4, Adobe Bridge CS4, and eLearning extensions to Flash and Dreamweaver.

As with Adobe's Creative Suite 4 Master Collection, the major improvement in both new packages is the workflow between the individual point package upgrades.

"People want an end-to-end system for technical document publishing, incorporating support for visually rich media like Captivate movies and 3D models," said R J Jacquez, Adobe TCS and eLearning Suite senior product evangelist.

TCS offers Flash Player video support, together with AVI, MP3 and SWF file support.

Jacquez explained that one of the principal requests from users was the inclusion of Photoshop CS4. "We are adding lots of workflows, especially for users reviewing and updating technical documentation," he said.

Framemaker has been upgraded to version 9, and the main upgrade to Adobe's RoboHelp help system provision tool is a move to XML-based projects with a b uilt-in XHTML-based editor.

The eLearning Suite relies heavily on the upgraded Captivate package, which Adobe said includes over two dozen improvements, including single SWF file publishing, text-to-speech conversion, enhanced project templates and round-trip Microsoft PowerPoint workflows.

Adobe Captivate 4 also supports PDF publishing and AVI output for publishing to YouTube.

Adobe's Technical Communication Suite 2 and eLearning Suite are available now with an estimated price of £1,509 + VAT each.