 Profiles Magazine is always on the lookout for new ideas concerning the use and administration of PTC software. We encourage you to share your knowledge and help your colleagues by writing an article for Profiles. You don’t need to be an accomplished author—our editors will be glad to help you with that task—rather, we need your technical expertise. You can help thousands of your fellow software users and get a little recognition for yourself in the process.
Article Queries and Submissions
The first step in getting published is to send a query to our editorial staff. Queries are required for all articles EXCEPT Tips & Tricks. Once a proposal has been accepted, you can then begin the process of writing an article. You will receive a complimentary Profiles Magazine T-shirt just for submitting an article proposal meeting our guidelines, regardless of whether we accept it or not. See the Query Guidelines below for details.
If you wish to submit an article for Tips & Tricks, please use the story and image preparation guidelines as shown below and send your materials directly to our Publications Administrator:
Rhona Hill
Materials become the property of PTC/USER, Inc. when submitted. We do not accept proprietary information or any other non-publishable materials. It is the responsibility of the submitter to obtain all necessary approvals from their employer prior to publication.
Review and Acceptance
The Profiles Magazine Technical Review Board will examine your submission. Your submission either will be rejected or conditionally approved pending editor review. You may be asked to provide clarification or revision of portions of your article. Prompt response to requests from our Editorial Staff will help expedite approval for publication.
Article Query Guidelines
We will review proposals for the following editorial features:
Tips & Tricks - Tips & Tricks articles are step-by-step technical descriptions of software techniques utilizing PTC software and are typically 150-750 words.
Partner Perspectives – We are looking for stories covering industry trends and technology by PTC/USER Industry Partners (500-750 words). The intent of this feature is NOT to promote a product or service, but to educate users on new methods and approaches, or emerging solutions utilizing new technology. We will NOT accept product announcements or testimonials.
Cool Tools – We would like application-specific stories about the use or potential use of a new software or hardware product (500 words).
Administrator Insights – This feature is comprised of user-written case studies regarding the installation, configuration, use and administration of PTC software. The general outline of a story should begin with a discussion of a problem or challenge to be solved followed by the strategy used in the solution, and concludes with results and ongoing activities of the project (500-2000 words).
Cover Story – This feature is the lead article in a given issue, and includes a wide variety of stories of general interest on PTC-related topics. Preferred articles focus on approaches to product design challenges; complex modeling and assembly techniques; design methodologies; development of collaborative design environments; system administration; and data management (1500-2000 words).
PTC News – updates on PTC software and services, written by PTC personnel (500-1000 words).
PTC/USER News – updates on regional user group and technical committee activities (500 words).
To submit a query, please follow these guidelines:
- Write a title and short abstract for your proposed story (twenty-five words or less). Include a sample image if appropriate. Include an estimated word count.
- Include a list of additional materials that could accompany your article (illustrations, photographs, animations, part/assembly/drawing files, scripts, etc.)
- Indicate if your material is original, or if it has been previously published.
- Please include your contact information (name, address, phone, e-mail address).
- Submit to Rhona Hill.
Story Preparation Guidelines
Once your query has been accepted, you can begin development of your article draft. All drafts must adhere to these guidelines:
- Copy must be provided in Microsoft Word format.
- Copy must be in English. Proper spelling and grammar are appreciated.
- Copy must be submitted with all supplemental files. Please indicate in your copy where any images should be referenced.
Image and Supplemental File Preparation Guidelines
Create your images with the following suggestions in mind:
- Always generate in the highest quality format possible. Use the highest quality value for JPEG; TIFF files should be generated at 300dpi.
- Menus and palettes should be saved as bitmaps (BMP or TIFF). Please do NOT save as JPEG or GIF files.
- Avoid use of shaded backgrounds in Pro/ENGINEER windows. Shading can cause banding and/or artifacts to appear in the final output.
- Provide appropriate captions to accompany each image.
- If you are submitting multiple files, please compress them into a single PK-ZIP archive file before transmitting.
- Please name files logically, adhering to accepted conventions for file extensions (.JPG, .GIF, .AVI, etc.) File names should be clearly referenced.
Compensation
Authors submitting articles for selected feature categories are eligible* to receive compensation for their efforts. Compensation amounts will be determined by story length.
Compensation will not be disbursed until a final version of the story has been accepted and approved for publication. PTC/USER contractors and board members are not eligible for compensation. 
* PTC employees, PTC/USER Board members, and Partner companies are not eligible for compensation.
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