Turn technical knowledge into reusable content. Connect authoring, publishing, and delivery around the products your customers use.
Arbortext is a family of tools for creating, managing and publishing technical information. Publications teams can combine structured XML text with illustrations, manage content through Windchill integrations, and prepare outputs for different audiences.
Support the specialists creating technical information and the people who rely on it.
Give contributors a consistent structure for the document standards your publications require.
Subject specialists can contribute through structured authoring without first becoming XML experts.
With a configured Windchill connection, CAD-derived illustrations and metadata can stay tied to product information.
Give authors and reviewers a shared basis for assessing publication changes.
Define product applicability and reader roles when configuring content delivery.
Explore how technical information supports the teams working around a product.
Build manuals and illustrated topics from reusable structured content, with publication teams coordinating required editions, review responsibilities and the chosen output formats.
Which topics recur across manuals?
Bring manuals, drawings and parts information into the technician’s working context, supporting maintenance planning and repair decisions for the product being serviced.
Which product is being serviced?
Connect documentation planning with the product information engineering already manages, so publication teams can review related content when designs and configurations change.
Which changes affect published information?
Prepare assembly and work instructions from engineering visuals and structured content, selecting information for the relevant product configuration, language and production audience.
Which configuration is being assembled?
Prepare brochures, data sheets and catalogs from relevant product content, with publication styles and selected information shaped around the intended audience and market.
Which details vary by market?
Explore ten capabilities across authoring, publishing and product information, with the four product roles explained where they fit.
Create structured XML topics and documents for consistent organization and reuse.
Document-type and schema validation support the content model used by your authoring workflow.
Support DITA and S1000D authoring through selected document models, schemas and configured workflows.
Manage reusable content components with Windchill integration, coordinating revisions, version information and review workflows.
Define publishing styles separately from authored text and illustrations.
Styler is an add-on. Local publishing and supported output options depend on the selected licenses and configuration; they are not universal Editor entitlements.
Use Arbortext Layout Developer for detailed page composition in complex print and digital publications.
Assemble and publish editions through configured server-based processing. Prepare PDF, HTML and other supported outputs from one source.
Available output options depend on the licensed server capabilities and publishing configuration.
Use PTC Illustrate to prepare CAD-derived 3D visuals for service and assembly documentation.
Arbortext IsoDraw supports 2D technical illustrations for reuse in service and manufacturing documentation.
Connect service publications to product configurations through a service bill of materials and configured relationships.
Help readers find technical documents and parts information through contextual search and filtering.
Content Delivery is a separate product. Scope access, product context, multimedia, and integrations for the environment your readers will use.
Follow one authored inspection topic into a service manual, an online reference and a product-specific collection. Compare the shared wording with the different ways readers encounter it.
Identify the product configuration before choosing the approved inspection instructions.
Configured styles define the manual’s layout and pagination.
Identify the product configuration before choosing the approved inspection instructions.
Web navigation and styling organize the same topic for online reading.
Identify the product configuration before choosing the approved inspection instructions.
Authored product options and profiles define the collection. Its output format is selected separately.
PDF and web examples change presentation. A product collection changes the information set; its output format is chosen separately.
Output depends on authored content, stylesheets and configured profiles.
Start with PTC’s family overview, then explore the service recording below. Bring your own content questions to TriStar.
A recorded PTC presentation connecting technical publications with aftermarket parts catalogs. Watch it with your own service workflow in mind.
Plan the Windchill and PTC Illustrate connections around your service workflow.
Manage service documentation and parts catalogs alongside product information. Configured options and variants help define the applicable information set.
Explore WindchillCreate technical illustrations and sequences for service publications.
Explore service lifecycle managementComplementary products; supported versions, configuration, integration components and licensing define each connection.
A connection can help identify related content. Authors and reviewers still assess the change, revise the applicable information, and complete the required approval and publishing process.
Bring three starting points. Together, they help frame an evaluation around your team’s work.
One manual or parts catalog, plus examples of topics that are reused.
The formats, languages and audiences the publication needs to serve.
Current authoring tools, product information systems and content owners.
Choose an authoring and publishing approach around your team, existing documents and product information.
TriStar describes local, machine-bound licensing and shared floating licensing. Confirm availability and terms for your selected products and deployment.
Begin with priority manuals or parts catalogs. Other documents can stay in Word while you introduce structured XML authoring in phases.
Configured Windchill connections relate technical content to product records and engineering changes. Plan the integration and review responsibilities around your publishing process.
Editor is the authoring workspace for structured XML. Publishing Engine handles server-based output using configured stylesheets and licensed publishing capabilities.
Ready to explore Arbortext with TriStar?
Let’s discuss a practical first step.
