Archived V.I.P. Content
2008
InPreflight vs. FlightCheck Test — Buying advice
To see how well InPreflight and FlightCheck Professional 6.x actually are, I ran a test on one InDesign file. As InPreflight is not available for QuarkXPress, the application’s value for QuarkXPress workflows could not be determined.
The file I tested contained a trapping error, several font errors, colour space errors and several linked images that were no longer available. I exported this file to a Certifed PDF (PDF/x-1a:2001). Then, as a reference, I ran this PDF file through PitStop Professional 08.
When do you need a Font Server?
Market size: Font servers can be useful for workgroups as small as 5 people, but in such small workgroups individual, desktop-based font management may suffice. The decision to implement a font server will depend on the workgroup’s workflow.
Matching atomic content structures to a system
The AP report of June 2008 starts from the axiom that you already have an online presence that is well-established, which probably also means you will have a system in place that you can manage your content and design with. Since making sure the content becomes more palatable and attractive entails both design and content, the first thing to do is to examine whether your system is up to the challenge.
With many small to medium-sized publishers using a custom-developed system that bolts the layout and editing application to the online Content Management System (CMS), chances are most of these publishers will have to re-think their technology strategy because a loosely integrated system may not be flexible enough to accommodate for the new model.
Five rules to migrate a printed publication to an online one
Rule #1: You can simply migrate your printed publication-wide architecture and structure but you shouldn’t do that with the in-depth structure.
What this means is that you can use your main sections the way they are presented in the printed magazine --e.g. “News”, “Editorial"-- but you should seriously think over the use of vertical sections. Vertical sections are what bloggers call “categories”, and categories --or a taxonomy of topics if you will-- are very important to organise and manage atomic topics.
For example, you could have a “Lifestyle” section in your printed publication where you start with news on its first page, intermingled with an opinion piece and a start of a background article. On the web, you can re-use this visual structure, but your news item should be a category with background information on the new item created and stored in a separate category that the news story can relate to.
How Medium-sized Publishers See Publishing Evolve
Cross-media and dynamic publishing are two growth markets identified by Frost & Sullivan as well as other analysts. Many large companies and publishers are already turning towards technologies which support cross-media and dynamic publishing. They are buying or are planning to buy systems that integrate the complete workflow from concept over authoring to output into different channels.
Archived Public Content
2005
Kodak P880 AEL/AFL
The more one uses the Kodak P880 the more there is to be surprised about in the positive sense. Professional and semi-professional quality cameras have auto focus and auto exposure built-in, but also allow you to set these manually. The Kodak P880 has these features, and has the ability to mix things.
Design for the Scent of Information
Jared Spool is CEO and co-founder of User Interface Engineering (UIE), a think tank. They advise clients how to design their browser-based systems for the best information retrieval experience possible. This includes web sites, but also knowledge management systems --nowadays better known as enterprise content management systems.
Macromedia Fireworks 8
Fireworks 8 is Macromedia’s last iteration of this vector-based bitmap editor for the web, forming part of Studio 8. The question is whether Fireworks is better than other editors for the purpose it’s been developed for. The new version probably is.
Carrara 5 Pro Review
Carrara is Eovia’s 3D animation and modelling program. Carrara is especially well suited for 3D beginners, packaging, advertising, and to some extent multimedia. In the last few iterations of Carrara, Eovia expanded the program’s capabilities in more than one area. But the application itself largely remained the same. Carrara 5 is a break with the past. In more than one respect.
DuPont Cromalin Largo at Viscom Exhibition
DuPont Colour Communication announces Cromalin Largo at Viscom Exhibition (Booth D06C05), scheduled from 10th to 12th of November in Milan, Italy.
Freeway 4: Full CSS Support
Freeway 4 Pro has enhanced and expanded support for CSS. The support glares you in the eye right in the main window --it’s a blue CSS button-- but oddly enough the ways to change CSS layouts with Freeway 4 Pro isn’t immediately obvious without the new CSS primer being written by SoftPress.
Wacom releases wide aspect ratio Intuos 3 graphic tablet
Wacom released the first wide-aspect ratio graphic tablet, the Intuos 3 6x11 model. This tablet suits double-monitor and 16:9 aspect monitors like Apple’s Cinema displays better. The tablet’s active area has the same aspect ratio as these screens; hence the active area covers the screen one-on-one. Wacom says an increasing number of graphics artists use such wide-aspect ratio screens, which was reason enough for them to release this tablet.
Freeway 4 Web Design as in Print
Softpress, the British developer of Freeway 4, claims Freeway is the easiest and yet powerful way to design and develop web sites. I’ve reviewed Freeway in the past, and always found it to be up to the job, but version 4 is something special. You might say Freeway has matured to the point it is very much a viable alternative for Dreamweaver.
DuPont Announces Auto-Calibrating Ink-jet Proofer
DuPont Cromalin b-series is the first and only drop on demand ink-jet proofer that can automatically keep itself calibrated. A robotic calibration module on the inkjet’s print-head includes a specially configured Gretag Eye-One spectro-densitometer that feeds data to the DuPont CromaNet proof server.
Adobe Photoshop CS2 One-on-One
{REL[596100965][splash]cvIMV5A0REL}O’Reilly is busy publishing a complete series on creative applications such as Photoshop CS2, and Deke McClelland’s One-on-One tutorial is one of the stars in the series. The book comes with Total Training Video hosted by Deke McClelland himself. The DVD contains over two hours of lessons and companion material.
The Art of Photoshop
{REL[672328100][splash]cvIMV5A0REL}Is it a coffee table book or a tutorial? Both perhaps? Indeed, both. Daniel Giordan is a renowned Photoshop artist. He has written, or rather created, a book which can be used as a coffee table book --the first chapters contain a beautiful sample of his art. But it is a tutorial and reference book as well, teaching you how to achieve some of the results in his art pieces.
Photoshop LAB Color
{REL[321356780][splash]cvIMV5A0REL}Dan Margulis wrote a book on Photoshop LAB colour and the Canyon conundrum. Margulis calls LAB the most powerful colour space and explains why you should use it to enhance and correct photographs, and not only those that have a canyon as their subject.
Pixadex 2 Review
IconFactory has turned icon drawing into an art and a business. Icons are the visible tokens computer users rely on to see in a blink of an eye what a folder or a file relate to. Pixadex is the joint effort of IconFactory and Panic Software to manage icons.
Eovia Announces Carrara 5
Eovia, developer and publisher of leading 3D software tools, today introduced Carrara 5, the 3D solution. Carrara 5 delivers a robust suite of modelling, animation and rendering tools in a freshly updated user interface.
particleIllusion 3 Review
particleIllusion is a 2D particle effects application developed by wondertouch. With it you add visual effects to 3D animation, video, and images. It is not a plug-in, but a standalone program. This makes it possible to use it with the output of any 3D application, video files, or still images.
MotionBuilder 7 Review
MotionBuilder, Alias’ 3D character building application has become more powerful, offering more integration with Maya 7, and many additional features in comparison with the previous version.
Dreamweaver 8 Review
Dreamweaver 8 is Macromedia’s newest attempt at developing the most compatible and powerful web site creator and manager. The experiences are mixed. Some of Dreamweaver’s already considerable power has been improved, while some other claims do not live up to expectations. But overall, Macromedia has made this version of Dreamweaver worthwhile upgrading for. And wasn’t that what software upgrades are all about?
Apple Aperture; who it competes with
Apple Aperture will be competing directly --albeit a subset only-- with the capabilities and features of Photoshop CS2. No doubt about that, and regardless of what Adobe may have to say. But Aperture competes with other applications as well. For example, with Digital Asset Management software.
Kodak P880 Prosumer Camera
Kodak has stopped making professional cameras. They’ve switched. To making prosumer cameras. Prosumer as in professional slash consumer. The professional part of this camera lies in its capabilities with respect to photographing modes it supports and its RAW capability. The consumer part undoubtedly includes its fixed zoom lens.
Hexagon 1.2 Review
Eovia releases version 1.2 of its Hexagon 3D-modeling application on October 19. The update looks more like an upgrade, with plenty of new features and improvements. The update makes life even simpler than before.
Fixer Bundle Review
FocusFixer, TrueBlur, NoiseFixer and ShadowFixer are all Photoshop plug-ins by FixerLabs, the British developer of SizeFixer XL. Two of these plug-ins take the same approach as SizeFixer: they depend on your camera for correcting the image.
