Pageflex, a division of Bitstream (http:/www.bitstream.com) and a developer of enterprise variable data publishing and web-to-print solutions, has announced Studio ID 2.0, a desktop variable data publishing (VDP) plug-in for Adobe InDesign.

This new release includes support for Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) on both the Mac and Windows platforms, and the patented flex technology of Pageflex. Anna Magliocco-Chagnon, president and CEO, Bitstream, says the patented flex technology allows design layout containers (text boxes, shapes, groups, etc.) to dynamically stretch, shrink, and reposition themselves in reaction to the quantity and size of the variable text or images poured into them. The template designer defines layout rules that govern how the containers can flex individually and in relationship to each other so that a pleasing page design is maintained even as the layout changes, she adds.

Users of both Adobe InDesign CS4 and CS5 can take advantage of the new features available with Studio ID 2.0. Similarly, when customers use Pageflex Studio ID they benefit from having access to all of the sophisticated graphic design tools available with InDesign.

Pageflex Studio ID enables users to design, setup, and run variable data projects directly in InDesign CS4 or CS5. No conversion to a Pageflex format is necessary. The InDesign application becomes project central for VDP campaigns, giving users access in one project file to all related templates and assets. Users can create one set of variables and variable business rules and then apply them to any template in the project. Pageflex Studio ID includes a point and click business rule editor for creating if-then-else rules, and support for Adobe ExtendScript when a project requires more complex rules.

Pageflex Studio ID also provides a migration path for those customers who want to make their VDP projects available in a web-to-print storefront now or in the future. Using Pageflex Studio ID, users can prepare variable data templates and projects for use in Pageflex Storefront, a web-to-print solution, as well as Pageflex Server, a load-balancing document processor that can be integrated into existing enterprise document portals. After being uploaded to an InDesign Server-equipped Pageflex Storefront or Server, the files remain in the native Adobe InDesign format throughout the document customization and ordering workflow. The templates can come from either the Mac or Windows version of Pageflex Studio ID, and retain all the design and variable richness as when they are used directly in Pageflex Studio ID.

Pageflex Studio ID 2.0 will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010. It's priced at US$695, which includes output drivers for PostScript, PDF, and PPML, as well as one year of email support and access to online Pageflex user forums.