Help+Manual News

eWriter Viewer v5.1 with Microsoft Edge

We officially released eWriter Viewer version 5 with full support for Microsoft Edge (Windows version).

Changes in Version 5

eViewer for macOS

  • Accessibility improvements and better support for screen readers and macOS VoiceOver.

eViewer for Windows (32/64 bit)

  • Accessibility improvements and better support for screen readers
  • Supports Microsoft Edge as display engine, with a silent fallback to MS Internet Explorer if the Edge runtime is not available
  • Compared to the beta version released in April, the Edge display engine is now significantly faster and supports custom context menus.
  • Update v5.1 (Aug 7, 24): with MS Edge, external file links did not work when they were executed from an <iframe>. This was the case with external file links were included in ebooks compiled with standard skins.

Download of all packages:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/ewriter/

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Fast-Help Converter Updated to Version 1.4

This is good news for our growing Fast-Help user community: we have updated the converter application for Fast-Help databases!

Download:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/fasthelp/

Version 1.4 fixes several conversion issues, in particular with Fast-Help projects created (or started) with old versions of Fast-Help. The update solves missing images, missing tables and errors when converting CHM text popups.

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SnipSVG and HelpXplain Updated

We are glad to announce the immediate availability of SnipSVG 1.3 and an updated version of HelpXplain.

SnipSVG got new object alignment functions (similar to HelpXplain, which already had them for quite a while) and both apps implement improved clipboard handling: when copying images to the clipboard, some programs (Microsoft Outlook, for instance) do not place the actual image on the clipboard, but a HTML fragment with an embedded picture. Both, SnipSVG and HelpXplain can now read and paste this format.

In SnipSVG, we have implemented a list of default sizes for social media postings. This app is ideal to create this kind of images, but you had to know the typical sizes by heart. The new helper function sets the picture frame to a dedicated size, so that your social media postings look perfect.

As a result of a dedicated picture frame size, we realized that it would be a good idea to implement object alignment functions. Normally, you move objects around and resize them as you like, then simply auto-size the picture frame. For a dedicated frame size, however, it is helpful to have the reverse option and move/resize objects to the picture frame. The six new arrangement options are implemented in the Edit > Arrange menu.

 

SnipSVG 1.3

  • Can paste images from clipboard in HTML format
  • Share to clipboard as PNG: if the picture had a transparent background, the PNG image on the clipboard was misinterpreted by some programs (resulting in a black background, not transparent)
  • Share to HTML/RTF: when sharing an image with numbering tags, the numbering table used wrong symbols for tags > 10.
  • Default sizes for social media postings implemented next to the picture width/height settings.
  • Object alignment functions added in Edit > Arrange.

HelpXplain 1.8.3

  • Can paste images from clipboard in HTML format
  • (Object alignment functions were already implemented in earlier versions)

 

All updates are available from our download page.

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Maintenance Updates in May

We are glad to announce the immediate availability of Help+Manual 9.5 and an updated Translation Assistant.

Help+Manual 9.5 comes with OCR

Read the rest of this entry »

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Reminder: Google Analytics switches off “UA” version

On July 1, 2024, Google Analytics 4 will have fully replaced the old “Universal Analytics”.

From that date, Google will begin turning off all Universal Analytics services and Universal Analytics APIs, which means Universal Analytics properties will be inaccessible through the Google Analytics front-end and APIs.

If you are using Google Analytics in Help+Manual’s and haven’t migrated to Google Analytics 4,  it’s time for a change, because the old version will stop working on July 1. Read the rest of this entry »

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BETA: eWriter Viewer v5 with Microsoft Edge

Many of you have been waiting for this, some asked for it. Here you go:

eWriter Viewer v5 with support for Microsoft Edge

eWriter Viewer v5

 

This is a beta version! We ask you do download and try the redistributable package and report back any problems you might find.

Download:

https://www.helpandmanual.com/download/eviewer-v5-developer-redist.zip (beta)

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Fast-Help Converter Released

In our effort to support the FastHelp user community and provide a smooth transition from FastHelp to Help+Manual, we have released a converter application for FastHelp.

The converter takes a FastHelp database and fully converts it into a Help+Manual project. The software retains all details including topics with conditional text, variables, links, images, hotspots, etc.


FastHelp to Help+Manual Converter

 

Click here to download the FastHelp converter

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SnipSVG 1.2 Update

We are glad to announce the second update of SnipSVG, our new free screen capture and image editing tool for Windows and macOS!

SnipSVG uses SVG vector images as its primary format. SVG images can be used directly in HTML and many other applications. They give you the same sharp quality at all zoom settings, and unlike JPG or PNG images you can always edit all the elements of the image separately.

Changes in Version 1.2

  • Picture crop: Border trim function implemented. The border trim crops an image by a fixed amount of pixels. This function is particularly useful to remove the visible 1-pixel border from Windows 11 screenshots. Windows 11 displays borders with a translucent color,  so that the window background may shine through, resulting an a thin border line with mixed colors.
  • File menu: the Close command got a keyboard shortcut – CTRL+W. This shortcut closes the current tab. To quickly close the current tab without being asked to save the changes, you can use the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+CTRL+W.
  • Bugfix in Save-to-SVG: the plain text version of text objects and shapes with text exported the wrong text color. It had written the color code as “BGR” instead of “RGB” and this has affected all text that was not black, white or green.

 

Download

Please download SnipSVG from the SnipSVG homepage.

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EC Software Acquires Fast-Help.com

We great pleasure we announce the acquisition of fast-help.com to continue support for the FastHelp user community. FastHelp is a software for multilingual technical documentation, originally developed by IT Training Academy Ltd in London, UK. EC Software strives to provide ongoing support for the FastHelp user community and a smooth transition of existing multilingual documentation projects. Read the rest of this entry »

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SnipSVG 1.1 Update

We are glad to announce the first update of SnipSVG, our new free screen capture and image editing tool for Windows and macOS!

SnipSVG uses SVG vector images as its primary format. SVG images can be used directly in HTML and many other applications. They give you the same sharp quality at all zoom settings, and unlike JPG or PNG images you can always edit all the elements of the image separately.

SnipSVG for Windows and macOS
SnipSVG for Windows and macOS

 

Changes in Version 1.1

  • Windows version, minimize to tray: the option to save all tabs has been changed to “close all tabs”
  • Load from SVG: bug fixes when reading numbering tags and text objects from SVG
  • Share with numbering tags: numbering tags with labels use the label text for the description table
  • Share as RTF with numbering tags: numbering table descriptions are black text (they had picked up the color of the numbering tag before)
  • Paste from HelpXplain: paste of entire slides disabled, all pasted objects become unlocked and visible.
  • Paste file link to an SVG file from clipboard created an error
  • Toolbar Select button now not just ends insert mode, but clears selection as well

 

Download

Please download SnipSVG from the SnipSVG homepage.

 

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