Digital Workshop

Hi, could anybody please tell me where I can find the pdf version of the manuals for this new Pro XE 5.0.
I have already look around the DW website and I can't find them and I have been told that this version does not contains hardcopy manuals only in pdf version so I believe it is important for everybody to know where are these manual so we can download them and print them out (if we want to do so. I certainly do since my eyes are not very good to read online manuals).
Reading manuals is the only way to explote all the new features of the product and the help section incorporated to the program is not the best option since it takes ages to print entire sections and a lot of waste of only half pages printed.
Thank you DW for taking care of this need.
German

German,

I think you bought today and were sent the download link. The download doesn't include the manuals because it is big enough already. The manuals are on the CD-rom which you won't have received yet.

However, the New Features are covered by the PDF which is already available here - the remaining manuals are not really any different to the ones you already have as an existing user. As usual the detail is provided in the Help file where they are most useful.

If a majority of our customers feel a printed User Guide is required we will reconsider our decision.

And while we're on the subject... we hope to be releasing a series of Masterclass Tutorials which I hope users will find very useful and productive as they will seek to introduce and then embed particular functions through real world examples. We think this will be much more effective than manuals.

Hope this helps.

Paul Harris

Paul
Thank you for your reply to my question but I was under the impression that because what I purchased was the upgrade with the download link option instead of the boxed option I was not going to receive a cd that contains the manuals but now you are telling me that I am going to receive a cd which contains the manuals in pdf.

Could you please confirm to me that this is the case so I can then just wait until the CD arrives so I can have the manuals in pdf to be able to print them out? (At least the manuals explaining all the new features since as you have explained, I already have the previous manuals from earlier versions that cover the essential basics of the software)

As I already explained to you before, my eyes are not what they just to be and to be reading the "help section" incorporated in the software is very tired for my eyes and when print, well, sometimes you just print pages and pages of half-print because this is the way the help section is setup but a pdf will print the whole manual which is for me much easy to read anywhere and out of the way when I working on my projects.

I understand that for you guys it is very practical to produce a pdf instead of hard copies of the manuals, especially because it make perfect business sense and obviously by reducing the cost of printing you pass this saving to your customers by reducing the price of the software.

So, please confirm to me this issue of whether I going to receive the cd or not and if I am not going to receive it because the option of purchase that I choose then could you please tell me how I can purchase these pdf manuals so I pay you to send me a link to these manuals.

Again, Paul, thank you for not only a great software but a great service. Have a nice day.
German

My quick $0.02 worth. I like hard copy manuals too and I understand some prefer electronic versions. Thats fine. However I do think an option to purchase a user manual seperate to the software could suite all parties. If this were an option I would purchase the printed manual every time. Everyone happy and an extra sale oportunity !

Perhaps DW could do a deal with one of the companies that prints manuals individually to order for those who want them. This would keep production costs of the main Opus product low but permit paper manuals for those who prefer them.

That's a good suggestion and I will certainly look into it.

Thanks.

Paul Harris

Can 04 users have access to the manuals please.

Dear DW
As you can see in different posts, your users are very interested in knowing where are the pdf manuals for Pro XE 5.0.
Do not bury this issue please. As I said before, we are willing to pay for these resources since a lot of us prefer to have manuals in hard copy rather that in electronic form. By providing the pdf manuals at least we can print them out.
There are many new features in this new version that in order to exploit them we need to know where they are and how does them work. The embedded help in the program is not very friendly to navigate and to find answers quickly.
Could you please at least advise us whether you are working on this or if we are just wasting our time asking for them.
Sincerely
German

We are reviewing all forms of support material provided with Opus and garnering comments from customers offline as well as from the forum in regard to the manuals in particular. We will make an announcement as soon as that evaluation has been completed - probably in the next two weeks.

All the manuals we currently have for 05 are on the CD-Rom provided with the package and on this website already. The Getting Started User Guide has been the same for some time so you only need ignore references to 04 and replace them with 05 and the New Features PDF introduces the new features of 05.

Our policy on manuals is that they should be a readable introduction to the program and key features. To cover all the possibilities of the program would provide a huge tome which by its very size would be impossible to use. Furthermore, we have hundreds of 04 manuals left because people bought online and didn't require anything more than PDF manuals - so we are looking at on demand printing as was previously suggested.

The Help file provides all the information you need to use the program effectively. If you're desperate I can supply that as an RTF document but it will contain lots of irrelevant help hypertext etc.

Paul Harris