By: Erik Vlietinck
Thu, April 15, 2004 - 8:25:00

Score:

Adobe InDesign works perfectly together with InCopy to form a publishing workflow system that competes with systems like Quark’s Publishing System. It compares favourably with legacy systems that are usually custom-built and not open to upgrades except for those programmed expressly by the developer, or to easy cross-media publishing. The InDesign/InCopy tandem with Smart Connection Pro changes all that.

WoodWing's current version of the system is completely overhauled with two palettes instead of one and more user-friendly features. The system now has a Smart Connection palette holding a listing of all the files contained in the publication folder, and an Elements palette holding all the workflow information and its associated commands in the form of buttons, pop-up menus, drop-down lists, and context menus.

WoodWing competes in this area with Unisys (Hermes) and K4's publishing system. However, only the Smart Connection system stays very close to the original Adobe applications and adds little overhead in terms of database support or features that change the application's behaviour dramatically.

In fact, about the only change in the application's behaviour is the addition of a menu, and the addition of a save dialogue subsystem that even has its own versioning system.

How does Smart Connection measure up against those other systems? Well, I have had the chance to try out three of these systems: the Adobe Bridge, Smart Connection, and Hermes. The Adobe Bridge is a useful addition to the InCopy/InDesign tandem if your workgroup is only two to three people in size. Once it passes the 3-figure mark, I would advise to look for another, more powerful solution.

The reason for this is that the Bridge does not prevent errors. I test and review all these applications on my own, and even simulating a two-man strong workgroup without even simultaneous workflows by the designer and the editor resulted in a chaos. The Bridge uses the Link palette as its workflow control panel. The features of this panel are not expanded anough not to run into chaos. The result is that if you don't exactly know which InCopy story goes into which text frame, you may never recover from that memory lapse.

The Bridge isn't helpful; on the contrary, it allows you to put your content wherever you see fit, even if this means the workflow setup is broken. I threw off the Bridge after two weeks trying to make it work in vain.

Smart Connection vs. Unisys Hermes

Then I tested Unisys Hermes. Hermes is a database-driven system which uses Smart Connection as the intermediate between InCopy and InDesign and the Hermes system itself. Hermes is an enterprise-level system, with the need to install the Hermes system. It makes sense if you have a lot of users and a complicated publishing workflow that benefits from a hybrid solution.

Smart Connection Pro CS, on the other hand, is file-system based, yet suitable for large environments. It adapts to the user's needs because you can set up a workflow and configure that workflow using your own terminology. This makes it a system that is suitable to any publishing environment, including those not aimed at newspaper or magazine publishing.

On the other hand, Smart Connection Pro will not suffice if the publishing environment gets complicated, with a need to search and find files quickly. File systems aren't very suitable to find exact content matches; that's what databases are for. WoodWing is working on a version of Smart Connection, called "Enterprise", that will use database technology like MySQL or Microsoft's SQL Server at its base.

I found the new version of Smart Connection is a bit more user-friendly than the previous one. The Smart Connection palette is now a listing of files with the ability to show some in preview mode (images). It lists all the files in a publication folder inside the workspace folder on your disk, and allows you to open them by double-clicking. The Elements palette is where the action takes place. It lives in InDesign; InCopy only has a Smart Connection palette. Here, you get icons that show the status of your InCopy stories, columns that show information on each story, image or layout file in the document (columns can be turned off, dragged to another location, etc), and a bunch of buttons and menus with which stories can be checked in, out, created, and removed from the document.

It all works fairly intuitive and there isn’t much to working with Smart Connection that would make you scratch your head. The main “feature” if you wish---and the one that sets it apart from the Adobe Bridge to which it can be compared except for workgroup size---is Smart Connection’s rigid policy when it comes to document and workflow security. I have never once run into the sort of problems the Bridge gave me.