By: Erik Vlietinck
Wed, December 26, 2007 - 11:59:00

http://www.easypress.com
Score:

With Easypress’ deep XML knowledge, a robust document management system (Alfresco) as its backbone, and a lot of sound business logic behind it, Atomik Dynamic Publisher is the first of a new breed of publishing workflow systems. Easypress literally re-invented the traditional publishing workflow system, based on complaints it overheard from users of those systems. It built a true cross-media publishing system that is layout application agnostic.

They created an installer that is as simple to use as a desktop software installer for the Mac, and XML-functionality to support simultaneous publishing to various media, including print. Atomik Dynamic Publisher is scalable from 10 to at least 1000 users with one QuarkXPress 7 or InDesign CS3 server. It separates content from form, and shows none of the typical problems that are related with traditional publishing workflows.

Traditionally, editorial workflow has been optimised for a paper-based newspaper or magazine workflow. The core of such systems is a workflow built around the concept of editions and issues that must be finished within deadlines and printed at a pre-determined publication date.

Content Management Systems (CMS) have traditionally been at the other end of the spectrum. They have been developed assuming that you will output to an Internet-related protocol with rarely any need to bother about deadlines or printing. When the two technology concepts are merged together, you get systems such as QPS 7 or Smart Connection Enterprise 5.

Both of these systems are a reflection of a convergence that has been going on for some time now in publishing. It is a convergence driven by the need for pushing content to various digital media and to paper-based publications.

Layout-Centric Versus Content-Centric

Systems such as QPS 7 or Smart Connection Enterprise 5 have been developed with the layout as most prominent component of the publishing workflow. Hence, the palette-based interfaces with the workflow assets readily available in the layout application. Automatic layout capabilities are guaranteed through servers such as the QuarkXPress 7 Server. At the Adobe side of the equation, the InDesign CS3 Server fulfils the rendering needs.

“Selective Automatic Output” capabilities (the capability to output specific content assets to specific output channels at publication time) are either provided as an additional element in the palette --Smart Connection Enterprise 5 uses its new Dossiers feature and metadata to accomplish this feat (read the free report we wrote on the subject)-- or are dependent on scripting as with the QPS 7 system.

The foundation of both QPS 7 and Smart Connection Enterprise 5 on the functionality of layout applications is the strength and the weakness of these systems --besides their obvious publishing platform dependence. In order not to scare away existing users, the Quark and WoodWing Software must keep their existing functionality largely in place as is and build new functionality on top of it. This results in systems where design is not necessarily separated from content. 

This in turn makes Selective Automatic Output functionality much harder for the developer to create. WoodWing has done it with Dossiers in version 5 of their flagship product, but Dossiers still show up in the palettes of designers as well as of editors. You can ask yourself if these users need to see those Dossiers at all. Do they really need to make a choice where to save their edits into? The answer is that it doesn’t hurt if they are familiar with the publishing setup. For that to happen, they must be internal to the publishing organisation. Journalists often are, but freelancers almost never are.

What would happen if a user would ask for a system that allows for multiple people --internal or external to the organisation-- to edit content, with a proofing and approval cycle that must span as few stages before publishing as possible? In the traditional workflow systems, such a user would get a solution that can indeed be tailored to his needs. In reality, and out-of-the-box, he would get a system aimed specifically at magazine or newspaper publishing.

Cutting Back the Approval Cycle with 50%

Enter Atomik Dynamic Publisher, a workflow system based on Easypress’ deep knowledge of XML and on the Alfresco document management system. Alfresco was started by Documentum founder John Newton in 2005, and is one of the most robust document management systems today. Atomik Dynamic Publisher is Easypress Technologies’ solution for the dynamic publishing market’s needs. It can work with both InDesign CS3 and QuarkXPress 7 --hence it is publishing platform independent. It uses InDesign CS3 Server and / or QuarkXPress 7 Server for rendering its documents in realtime. Writers only need a suitable web browser, and don’t need InCopy or QuarkCopyDesk.

Administrators of the system nor editors or designers must understand about workflow. They do not get palettes in their layout workspace and designers are never allowed to edit content.

Atomik Dynamic Publisher is an alternative for traditional workflow systems in a large number of cases. Given the fact that most of the time and effort in an editorial or publishing workflow goes into the document production process, most publishers will welcome a system that should be able to cut back the proofing / approval cycle with some 50% to 80%. If I should have to choose what to use when, I would probably choose QPS 7 or Smart Connection Enterprise 5 for publishing workflows where a publication is published periodically, such as in newspapers and magazines. SCE 5 would probably earn a higher ranking on my short list than QPS 7 where newspapers are concerned, whereas QPS 7 would go to the top position for magazine publishing although you can use either system for whatever publishing type you wish --but that’s true of Atomik Dynamic Publisher too; by all means, read on.)

But for books, corporate publishing (annual reports, brochures...) and basically everything else that is not periodically output, Atomik Dynamic Publisher would definitely be on my short list. And if a tight budget would be a concern, it would be at the top.

The case for Atomik Dynamic Publisher is made by the ease with which a document can be routed to an appropriate output channel. Routing documents to print is done seconds before the same content is routed into the Enterprise CMS, an area where Atomik Dynamic Publisher shines because of Easypress’ knowledge in the area of XML. With the Atomik Dynamic Publisher system, pushing the content to a Web page can be done almost simultaneously with the output to printed matter.

In Easypress’ view the design of the layout is not an ongoing process. It’s a one-off process done mostly at the start of a document flow. This is true in publishing workflows where the layout doesn’t change once it has been approved of. However, in newspaper and magazine publishing, the design process is more ongoing than for example in the publishing workflow of an annual report. Even then --and perhaps with the exception of newspaper publishing-- design doesn’t change on a whim and every five minutes or so.

With the Alfresco backbone used by Atomik Dynamic Publisher an administrator can make it quite easy on the writers to use the exact layout for each publishing job. Alfresco enables administrators to hide from view what a user shouldn’t worry about to finish his assignment.