Classification of prepress automation systems
Today, the development of competition between printing companies in a decisive way influences the efficiency of their activities, which depends on the correctness, smoothness and literacy of the organization of the technological process, in other words, automation of the workflow. Firms that use automation in their activities, in the first place, seek to reduce the cost of human labor, reduce the lead time, improve the quality of services, and, consequently, increase productivity and profits of the enterprise. However, automation is a very complicated and time-consuming process.
The analysis shows that in the process of passing an order along the technological route in the context of the main stages (prepress preparation, printing, post-printing processing), the prepress stage is the most laborious and lengthy. This stage is characterized by the majority of “bottlenecks” in the activities of printing companies.
There is a large number of software tools aimed at automating work at various stages of the prepress stage. At the same time, each of them are specific, have a number of advantages and disadvantages.
The key concepts on which modern automation systems are based are [1]:
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Automation systems of the prepress edition of the publication, based on these concepts, can be classified by purpose as follows: 1) aimed at automating production activities (preparation of the material, its creation, processing, etc.), they are called editorial systems (Prestige, Quark Publishing System, SoftCare K4, AxioCat, WoodWing Software, etc.);
2) aimed at automating the business, managing the enterprise’s activities (customer search, order processing, costing, accounting operations, inventory control, etc.), they are called business systems (ASystem, PrintEffect, Appler, 1C: Polygraphy, Prinect, etc. ). The functions of automation systems belonging to these two groups are completely different, and the only thing that unites them is that they are aimed at reducing the time and labor costs at the prepress stage of production.
Consider more editorial systems. It should be noted that, in general, in terms of the completeness of the scope of the technical process of a system, there are editorial (RS) and editorial-publishing (RIS). The main difference between them is in the support of the layout program. PC does not have the ability to automate the process of layout and prepress. On this basis, the main disadvantage of the RS is the difficulty with the operational planning of the publication. An example of such a system is the Kommersant editorial system.
From the position of the architectural features of the system are divided into closed and open [2]. The first ones are systems, all modules (server, layout program, text editor) which are specialized and written by one manufacturer. It is practically an operating system, as productive as possible, but highly specialized. The second category of systems is based on desktop publishing technologies already created and widely used (QuarkXPress, Ventura Publisher, Adobe PageMaker, InDesign, etc.), with which it integrates seamlessly.
In terms of the creation of editorial systems can be divided into commercial and individually-directed. Commercial created for the purpose of sale, have an official manufacturer, guarantees of support and further development. The latter are usually developed by the editors themselves and are fully tailored to their activities.
The use of editorial systems is most justified when used in enterprises engaged in the issuance of periodicals. Actually almost all existing editorial and publishing systems are aimed at this. Some of them are tailored to the newspaper production (Prestige), taking into account its particular features, some - to the production of magazine products (SoftCare K4). Some systems are designed for small editions, taking into account their features, and some - for large editions. There are also more universal systems that can be used by enterprises of any scale, produced any type of printed products (Adobe Version Cue).
In reviewing the above systems, the main shortcomings of editorial systems were highlighted. Many RIS are not flexible, i.e. they are configured to integrate with certain desktop programs and do not allow the integration parameters to be changed. This, as well as the use of closed-type systems, causes inconvenience for many users who, having become accustomed to working in one software environment, having started working with RIS, are forced to retrain. In addition, closed systems are directly dependent on the closeness of cooperation with the programmer-developer. A highly specialized system can have a negative impact. If a publisher that previously published only newspapers and uses a certain editorial system decides to expand the range of publications to magazines, it is necessary to acquire a new system that would support the publication of magazines.
Also disadvantages include the high cost of editorial systems.
1. Marianna Andreeva. Media management: automation in the editorial // Journalist. - 2009. - â„–4. - with. 34-35.
2. Margo Grigoryan. Faster, better, more efficient // CompuArt. - 2006. - â„–7. - Mode of access to the magazine: www.compuart.ru/article.aspx?id=16209&iid=761 .
The analysis shows that in the process of passing an order along the technological route in the context of the main stages (prepress preparation, printing, post-printing processing), the prepress stage is the most laborious and lengthy. This stage is characterized by the majority of “bottlenecks” in the activities of printing companies.
There is a large number of software tools aimed at automating work at various stages of the prepress stage. At the same time, each of them are specific, have a number of advantages and disadvantages.
The key concepts on which modern automation systems are based are [1]:
- a single repository of information, which allows several users to work simultaneously with the same information, provides information security, provides mechanisms for structuring information, etc.
- automation of workflow and internal communication, which speeds up the production cycle;
- Support for various types of input and output information, which provides flexibility in working with customers.
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Automation systems of the prepress edition of the publication, based on these concepts, can be classified by purpose as follows: 1) aimed at automating production activities (preparation of the material, its creation, processing, etc.), they are called editorial systems (Prestige, Quark Publishing System, SoftCare K4, AxioCat, WoodWing Software, etc.);
2) aimed at automating the business, managing the enterprise’s activities (customer search, order processing, costing, accounting operations, inventory control, etc.), they are called business systems (ASystem, PrintEffect, Appler, 1C: Polygraphy, Prinect, etc. ). The functions of automation systems belonging to these two groups are completely different, and the only thing that unites them is that they are aimed at reducing the time and labor costs at the prepress stage of production.
Consider more editorial systems. It should be noted that, in general, in terms of the completeness of the scope of the technical process of a system, there are editorial (RS) and editorial-publishing (RIS). The main difference between them is in the support of the layout program. PC does not have the ability to automate the process of layout and prepress. On this basis, the main disadvantage of the RS is the difficulty with the operational planning of the publication. An example of such a system is the Kommersant editorial system.
From the position of the architectural features of the system are divided into closed and open [2]. The first ones are systems, all modules (server, layout program, text editor) which are specialized and written by one manufacturer. It is practically an operating system, as productive as possible, but highly specialized. The second category of systems is based on desktop publishing technologies already created and widely used (QuarkXPress, Ventura Publisher, Adobe PageMaker, InDesign, etc.), with which it integrates seamlessly.
In terms of the creation of editorial systems can be divided into commercial and individually-directed. Commercial created for the purpose of sale, have an official manufacturer, guarantees of support and further development. The latter are usually developed by the editors themselves and are fully tailored to their activities.
The use of editorial systems is most justified when used in enterprises engaged in the issuance of periodicals. Actually almost all existing editorial and publishing systems are aimed at this. Some of them are tailored to the newspaper production (Prestige), taking into account its particular features, some - to the production of magazine products (SoftCare K4). Some systems are designed for small editions, taking into account their features, and some - for large editions. There are also more universal systems that can be used by enterprises of any scale, produced any type of printed products (Adobe Version Cue).
In reviewing the above systems, the main shortcomings of editorial systems were highlighted. Many RIS are not flexible, i.e. they are configured to integrate with certain desktop programs and do not allow the integration parameters to be changed. This, as well as the use of closed-type systems, causes inconvenience for many users who, having become accustomed to working in one software environment, having started working with RIS, are forced to retrain. In addition, closed systems are directly dependent on the closeness of cooperation with the programmer-developer. A highly specialized system can have a negative impact. If a publisher that previously published only newspapers and uses a certain editorial system decides to expand the range of publications to magazines, it is necessary to acquire a new system that would support the publication of magazines.
Also disadvantages include the high cost of editorial systems.
1. Marianna Andreeva. Media management: automation in the editorial // Journalist. - 2009. - â„–4. - with. 34-35.
2. Margo Grigoryan. Faster, better, more efficient // CompuArt. - 2006. - â„–7. - Mode of access to the magazine: www.compuart.ru/article.aspx?id=16209&iid=761 .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/119581/
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