PublishNow! could be used by a print or pre-press house to extend online job creation to a range of customers or, conversely, it could be used in-house by a large company as part of a brand management system that generates print-ready PDFs to send to external or in-house printers.
Sansui already has several UK customers in this area, all based in London: Capital Printers uses it so its property selling customers can set up their brochures; TDG Printers uses it in co-operation with a major international retail client to create in-store promotional and poster campaigns; and ad broker Accord Holdings uses it so its agency customers can edit existing ads for different regions or campaigns. One of the US users, coupon producer Valpak Direct Marketing, puts PublishNow! onto laptops which franchised sales staff take into customer sites for creation, previewing and ordering.
Simple composition
The use of InDesign Server gives PublishNow! users all the features of a professional layout and composition system, while Sansui’s rules, templates and web browser front end mean that end users don’t need to be designers at all. The familiarity of InDesign also makes the initial template creation easier. It can also link to OBDC-compliant digital asset management (DAM) databases – it offers direct links to Interwoven MediaBin, with Canto Cumulus links under development.
From the owner’s viewpoint, there are the usual web-to-print advantages of 24-hour customer access plus reduced pre-press costs. Because the templates are all set up, approved and checked in advance, there’s no need for proofs or revision cycles and customers enjoy shorter lead times.
Sansui is based in India with its main development site in Pune. It employs about 100 people worldwide and has US and European offices for sales and localised integration. The European office is in Gloucester, run by Ish Parekh.
PublishNow! was originally developed for use with document templates based on PDF documents with variable form fields. The switch to InDesign as a live composition engine actually came a couple of years before Adobe released its own InDesign Server – Sansui developed its own server plug-ins and negotiated a license with Adobe. It now uses the “official” Adobe server.
Although primarily intended for InDesign Server, Sansui can also configure PublishNow! for the equivalent Quark Dynamic Document System if customers use QuarkXPress.
Templates to plug-ins
Templates start life as standard InDesign (or XPress) documents created by a professional designer and run through the approvals process with the customer. Fixed elements are saved as InDesign templates, with Sansui’s own plug-ins used to set up the variable elements. The plug-ins are: FlexiFit (for defining rules for text and image fitting); Tagging (adds labels to variable fields); HTTP (uploads the document, forms and images and creates the form); and Resizing (which lets you resize or crop an image to fit a box).
FlexiFit lets users set up dynamic resizing of text or images using a simple set of menu boxes to create the rules. If the copy available is more or less than the frame allows for, it can resize the frame or the text size and leading. Pictures can be scaled or the frames can be resized within pre-set limits.
Tagging means the visible names for the elements writing the job, such as headlines, logos, phone number fields and so on. Tags are saved as XML DTDs, which can be applied to other templates for consistency.
Once a job template is uploaded into the server, the PublishNow! controls allow the administrator to release it for online access by the customer. Each customer can have a number of users with different access privileges.
There are tools to tailor the web page contents to each customer, or individual users. These web pages can contain practically anything, so there’s no standard content set. However, Sansui’s demonstration of PublishNow! displays a six-stage workflow that takes the end user step by step through the process of setting up and naming a new job, choosing the correct template, adding variable content, previewing the final result, and then placing an order.
Images and other content can be chosen from an online DAM database if needed, or uploaded from the end-user’s database to the PublishNow! server. With DAMs, you can pre-enter searches or collections into the templates, so only the relevant images for each job type are displayed. Once chosen, images can be scaled and cropped to the aspect ratio of the target box.
When the job is approved and ordered, the high-res image components are integrated into the InDesign document, before this is exported as a print-ready PDF file. If required, emails can be sent to the production department to say that the job is waiting.
New module
At the IfraExpo show in Amsterdam last week, Sansui announced a new Ad Resizing module for PublishNow! This can take existing PublishNow! ad files and automatically resize them for other publications – text can be dynamically adjusted and re-flowed if necessary.
Parekh says that there’s no fixed pricing structure for PublishNow! as every system is configured specially for the customer: “No two clients have the same requirements so nothing is ‘out of the box’. We can customise anything and incorporate DAMs, contact management systems, links to third-party solutions.” A full system can cost “between five and six figures” to configure and implement, but Sansui will host a system for you based on transaction fees.
Capital Printers has been using PublishNow! for more than three years, starting with the PDF template version and moving to the InDesign Server version last year. “We spent a long time looking for a system,” says technology development manager Dyrck Lamble. “We considered Pageflex, but it was expensive and needed a lot of specialist knowledge to create the templates. The tools we use to create the Sansui templates are those we used already – Quark, and now InDesign.”
He says that PublishNow! has proved very cost-effective: “We were spending a lot of time and energy putting together layouts for brochures. Our customers are not designers or printers, they did not understand why 12 corrections for full points should be chargeable! We can now produce a better product with less effort, while the customers pay less for the final product so they use us more.”
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform InDesign Server at owner site accessed by customer web browsers
Price Basic package from £60,000 including InDesign Server
Contact Sansui 01452 535786 www.sansuisoftware.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
Adstream Essential
A new web-to-print system from the company that developed the Quickcut online ad creation and delivery system. It uses PDF templates accessed through a web browser and Flash window. Templates currently have to be created by Adstream (which adds considerably to the cost), but a template tool for customers’ own use is being developed.
Price £5,000 pa plus negotiable transaction and template charges
Contact Adstream UK 020 7539 8400 www.quickcut.com
ROI Distribution Xralle
A scalable web-to-print product for print management, ordering, document creation, purchasing and on-line transactions. It runs on the user’s own server. It incorporates Pageflex .EDIT software for on-line document creation, based on PDF templates. Print-ready PDFs with JDF job tickets are generated. Pageflex Mpower can be added for variable data jobs.
Price POA
Contact ROI 0845 602 3558 www.roidistribution.com
Press-sense iWay
iWay Prime handles on-line document creation, ordering and workflow. It links directly to Xerox Freeflow and Océ Prisma digital press front ends, but works with any production system. It outputs PDF files with JDF job tickets and can also create variable data print jobs. iWay Manager is an add-on MIS for small printers and copyshops.
Price POA
Developer Press-sense www.press-sense.com
Contact distributor NCS 01661 803040 www.ncs-plc.co.uk
