Tag
Docs-as-Code
7 articles
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When to take the helm back: retiring a docs pipeline once the work turns editorial
A generated LaTeX book taught me the rarer docs-as-code move - not building a pipeline, but dissolving one. When every remaining edit is a one-off typographic judgment, a 453-line generator stops earning its keep, and the right call is to freeze its output, delete the generator, and edit the source by hand.
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PDF/X-4 from LuaLaTeX without Ghostscript: TrimBox, BleedBox, FOGRA39, and the pdfx package
Producing a PDF/X-4 press-ready file from LuaLaTeX without touching Ghostscript: the pdfx package, TrimBox/BleedBox geometry in points, FOGRA39 OutputIntent, CMYK-only color discipline, and XMP metadata - everything a print shop will verify.
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Non-blocking preflight, or: a build that always produces a PDF
One hard stop, five soft failures, a renamed file, and a report alongside it. The design philosophy behind a preflight that never aborts - plus the pikepdf/PyMuPDF six-check implementation and the --strict flag for CI.
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Why hand-maintained InDesign files rot - and what docs-as-code does instead
A 370-cell calendar that shifts every year. A lead's name in three places. An IBAN in an invisible text box. These are not unusual InDesign problems - they are what InDesign files become when they accumulate facts with no single home. Two projects show what the alternative looks like - and where InDesign's own global tools stop short.
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Manage content in files, not databases
Databases are not always the best place for your content. By storing it in plain files, you gain speed, security, Git-based workflows, and a simpler, more reliable publishing stack.
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Strong information typing without the XML overhead
You don’t need the complexity of DITA XML to benefit from its discipline. With Markdown and modern docs-as-code workflows, technical writers can apply strong information typing-tasks, concepts, and references-using lightweight, open tools.
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A web journey: from HTML to Git-based Markdown workflows
Tracing over two decades of web publishing, from raw HTML and Dreamweaver to CMSes, structured content, static site generators, and modern Git-based Markdown workflows. Lessons for solo and team content developers on maintainability, collaboration, and performance.