VizWorld.com

If you use InDesign for your layouts & graphics work (popular in publication work), then Zevrix has a few new tools you may find interesting.

First off is the BatchOutput Server v4.9.8, which automates InDesign output by processing files from “hotfolders”.  Mark a folder for monitoring by the BatchOutput Server and it will automatically convert the files to PDF and PostScript, freeing your workstation for other use.  This version supports font auto-activation, updating modified links, variable output filenames, and custom e-mail notifications of the process.  If you work with lots of large InDesign files this seems like a must-have at $699.95, with a free trial to get you started.

Related is the BatchOutput plugin for InDesign, vastly improving the PDF Preflight process used normally.  With this new version of BatchOutput, v3.6.4, you can batch preflight hundreds of InDesign files overnight and get the results in the morning.  Supporting several of the features of BatchOutput Server, it is meant to run on a single machine.  Available for $119, with a free trial for new users.

Lastly is their File Courier application, now at version 1.1.2.  Another plugin for InDesign, it lets you trivially compress, password protect a PDF version of your document and then automatically send an email with all of the relevant information to your client.  It supports FTP uploads, network folders, and email attachment transfers, and several logging and tracking features.  Available for a mere $29.95.

More details on all three products in press releases after the break.

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Science adobe, indesign, plugin, zevrix

Anyone who’s ever worked with Adobe InDesign to build publications has inevitably run into the final step, Pre-Flight, where you find a few hundred problems with your publication.  Then comes the arduous task of going down the list fixing each problem one-by-one.  Wouldn’t it be nice if InDesign could just tell you these things as you go along?  In CS4, it can thanks to “Live PreFlight”.  And today the Flemish Innovation Center for Graphic Communication (VIGC, Belgium) has released 13 standard profiles for various printing industry niches, at no cost.

“The Live Preflight function in Adobe InDesign CS4 is a blessing for the printing industry ” says Eddy Hagen managing director and trend watcher at VIGC. “You have to deal with problems at the source. Trying to fix them afterwards which is the traditional process not only leads to a loss of quality but also loss of precious time.”

The profiles are available for free download on the VIGC site.

Graphics adobe, indesign, print