The new version (6.4 R2) of the Cross-Media Publishing Platform vjoon K4 is out now and designed to boost workflow productivity and efficiency.
Its highlights include enhanced multichannel publishing capabilities and standard third-party system integration. To this end, its feature set has been extended with some key components. The company has also added some functions available in version 5.9 but not in version 6, thereby achieving feature parity.
"In keeping with the strategy behind the Unified Publishing Process, we are taming the growing complexity in publishing by simplifying management processes. Automated routines, the ability to integrate and manage subprocesses, and standards streamline the workflow, enable lean publishing, and save time and money," says Andreas Schrader, CEO of vjoon (http://www.vjoon.com).
License pools stand out among the extended feature set’s many highlights, she adds. These pools make it much easier for printing service providers and advertising agencies to manage their vjoon K4 licenses. They can group and assign individual licenses to certain publications or customers to ensure enough licenses available for every project. All customers, outside service providers such as translators and proofreaders, and in-house staff are afforded the necessary access to vjoon K4. And, as a fringe benefit of this ability to allocate licenses to several customers, users enjoy real client capability, says Schrader.
New automated workflows for multichannel publishing perform routine tasks, which lightens users’ workload and brings even more order and consistency to the process. Print, tablet and Web editions are usually produced at different times. If, for example, the print and tablet editions are to appear on the same day, editors can devote more time to the digital edition.
It doesn't need to be printed so the deadline can be pushed back accordingly. The Web edition isn't subject to any deadline because it's updated on the fly. The new version 6.4 of vjoon K4 allows editions to be released automatically and independently for every channel. Editors can configure and customize time schedules so that the system automatically replaces the previous issue with the latest issue or leaves the current issue in place.
Version 6.4 R2 also comes with the few functions the previous release had lacked.
The new version of vjoon K4 also offers a standardized approach to networking publishing environments and integrating third-party systems. The Unified Publishing Process calls for end-to-end process control. In keeping with this philosophy, vjoon K4 can now be used to automate and control subordinate processes on integrated systems.
The Cross-Media Publishing Platform determines when content is to be diverted to outside systems. It then hands over the files, retrieves them after processing, and routes their content back into the main workflow. This interaction among components has been optimized in vjoon K4. The new K4 External Task Dispatcher (K4 XTD) allows third-party solutions such as translation management systems and systems for image analyzing/optimization to be integrated and controlled via process-driven mechanisms. K4 Drop Folders automate file importing from one or several "drop" folders.
The respective data may be imported directly from the folders or sourced from an asset management system. K4 XTD, K4 Captions & Credits, K4 Drop Folders, and K4 XML Exporter can be used collectively to automate entire image workflows. What’s more, K4 Object RulesTM adapt layouts to comply with the rules of external page planning systems. This means an editor can actually amend previous plans in an external planning system while a graphic artist works concurrently on the layouts affected by these changes. K4 Object Rules define the placement of objects (pictures, ads, and audio/video objects) and can constrain the right to select the issue, section, status, or assignment.
Adobe DPS and vjoon K4 have been integrated since June 2010, and version 6.4 R2 takes this to another level. The publishing platform has also been interfaced with several other globally leading systems such as JournalDesigner, the planning system from dataplan, and the Web content management system Drupal. Interconnections such as these follow the philosophy of the Unified Publishing Process.
For more info go to http://www.vjoon.com .
