Organizing, Managing, Retrieving, and ArchivingThe Asset Workflow
Creative WorkflowThe creative workflow is the process of gathering resources, talents, and skills for the purpose of publishing content. The creative workflow involves planning the creation, composition, production, and distribution of the content. This section discusses the major components of the creative workflow and describes typical strategies and best practices. Hardware Found in the Creative WorkflowWhat differentiates a marketing/graphic arts workstation or network from general office productivity? The demands of the creative workflow are extremely different from those of the average technology user in a business setting. Time and again, DesktopMedia is called in to work with an IT staff that cannot support the marketing/graphic art function within its organization because the equipment, storage requirements, bandwidth, platform, and file sizes require a different IT skill set than the majority of the customers they are required to support. A graphic arts workstation must have an extremely fast processor, with a large and fast hard drive, a large amount of memory, a fast video card, a large and accurate monitor, input devices (including tablets and scanners), and an operating system designed to support the graphic arts function.
Your network infrastructure is composed of wiring, switches, and servers and will likely be structured as a client/server configuration. A client/server network means everyone has access to a centralized repository of data, which is easily backed up and secured. Growth of the department is thus easier to manage. The network created to support the client/server structure is efficient and looks like a hub with spokes connecting the desktops (see Figure D.1 for an example of a client/server network in a graphics art department). Any client computer could be physically down without disturbing the other participants on the network. Special attention must be paid to the uptime of this server, though. If the server must be consistently functioning 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, special attention to the configuration of the server to build in redundancy and reduce the risk of failure is very important. Redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) technology utilizes multiple redundant drives to ensure against disk failure. Figure D.1. A diagram of a graphic arts network. The speed of your network and its bandwidth is critical. Moving large files around quickly and efficiently and accessing the outside world and your external customers with these large files requires an infrastructure to support your functions. Gigabit speed and T1 access are commonly found supporting the graphic arts function. Switches designed to manage your network traffic at speeds appropriate for your activity are also equally important to match with your infrastructure. In other words, it makes no sense to have a very fast computer but a very slow network. To have P4 or G5 technology on an old, slow network is like putting a Ferrari on a dirt road. See Figure D.1 for an example of an infrastructure layout. Repositories should be examined for their capacity, speed, and accessibility and then configured and sized accordingly. Many of my clients choose to segment their repositories by workflow. For example, they might have a server for file and print, a server for digital asset management, a server for creating PDFs, a server for job management, and so on. Capacities for digital assets or file and print are far more significant than job management, for example. Everyone is experiencing exponential growth of their resource files. The following questions should be answered during your inventory exercise. Where should we put them? How can we quickly access them? Do they need to be online, near-line, or offline? How secure are they? If you lost all your files in a fire, what would the consequences be and how quickly could you reconstruct these files? Software Tools for the Creative WorkflowPlatform aside, an inventory of your current software tools is a worthwhile exercise. You will be able to determine which tools you currently possess, whether they are legitimate licenses, whether you have current versions, and whether there are gaps in the inventory that you need to fill. The Adobe Creative SuiteYou need a strong tool set "and you need the right tool for the right job." Thus, I recommend an all-Adobe workflow. You should have a tool for every job requirement designed to integrate efficiently together. While there is overlap in some functional areas, no one would advocate using InDesign for illustration or illustration for image editing. The three core products of InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop (as shown in Figure D.2) are must-haves in anyone's toolbox. Figure D.2. The Adobe Creative Suite, Standard Edition. Acrobat
SuitcaseAnother tool I strongly recommend is a good font management utility as well as some strict standards for font technology. It is detrimental to the efficiency of your system to have your fonts loaded in your system folder, "turned on" all the time, hogging your memory. This is acceptable only if you had a few fonts you work with on a regular basis, but if you have many fonts you like to choose from, font management is necessary. I recommend the combination of Extensis Suitcase and Adobe's OpenType font technology. Suitcase allows you to manage your font library by giving you the ability to turn you fonts on and off when you need them. Adobe's OpenType technology, as previously discussed in this book, allows cross-platform compatibility, single file structure, and extended character sets. All Adobe products are designed to take advantage of this font technology. Microsoft OfficeI also recommend Microsoft's set of office productivity applications, which give you the tools you need for editing documents, working with financial data, and creating templates for slide presentations. Branding control extends to correspondence and slide presentations as well as advertising. So, don't forget about the content generated every day by different people in the organization. Make sure there are clear guidelines for company correspondence, specifying usage of fonts, logos, and so on. Additionally, slide presentations should be consistent from any department and should begin with a set of templates accessible by everyone. InCopyDepending on how your workgroup is structured, you might consider InCopy, an add-on application for publishing environments. If you have copywriting job functions within your department, InCopy will work in conjunction with InDesign, adding assignment and annotation functionality to your InDesign workflow. Copywriters can work with InCopy to develop written content and be able to preview its placement in a layout without ever having to leave their desks. FTP UtilitiesThe File Transport Protocol (FTP) enables you to transfer files using the Internet instead of email. Email is not an acceptable method of moving graphic art files because most email products encrypt and compress attachments, which can have disastrous effects on your filesparticularly the fonts. Additionally, most email programs impose a file size limit for attachments. None of this is the case for FTP, which is a straight transfer of data with no interference placed on the files being transported. The only limitation here is the size of your bandwidth to the Internet, which can affect the speed of your transfer. Consider using an FTP utility that enables you to perform this function easily. Products to consider include Fetch, Transmit, CuteFTP, and WSFTP. Output DevicesInventory your current output devices and reassess your needs. As always, define and redefine your requirements for output: black- and -white output versus color, content proofing, color proofing, contract proofing, short-run digital in-plant production, variable data, finishing options, and wide format. There are many needs in graphic arts and marketing for output, and many devices on the market cater to those various needs. Define your requirements, both immediate and for the next 3 years, and review only those devices that meet those requirements. InkjetsFor example, perhaps a small footprint desktop printer is all you require. In this category of printer, the technology options are inkjet or laser. Weigh your decision carefully when considering a small footprint inkjet. The entry price points are attractive. However, when you factor in the price of consumables over the course of a year or the lifetime of the device (never more than 3 years), it might make more sense to purchase a color laser. Additionally, modestly priced inkjets do not support the PostScript language and you might not be happy with the quality of your graphics upon output. Desktop LasersDecide whether you need the device to be networkable, meaning it's accessible by others on the network. The page languages the device supports are also important; in graphic arts you should always purchase the Adobe PostScript language, level 3. Consider the duty cycle of the device. How many pages per minute will you need to produce? And remember that color output will be slower than black and white. Which type of stock will you need to run through these devices and in what quantities? It's imperative to factor in the manufacturer's recommended stock and the ink, dye, and toner into your purchasing decisions. Will you need to print on wide format? Will you need UV inks to prevent fading or to stand up to strong lights? Will you have additional finishing requirements? Is it more costeffective to generate this output in-house digitally or with an outside vendor offset? Quantity is generally the triggerthe longer the run, the more cost-effective offset printing is. In general, the key factors in deciding a laser purchase include color, the cost of toner, the duty cycle, and the size and weight of the substrates you want to use. Networked Digital Copiers and Laser PrintersThis industry has exploded as commercial printers have entered the short-run digital markets and many companies are bringing these devices into their own in-plant production areas. They offer high-speed, just-in-time production of all kinds of materials, including technical documentation, manuals, marketing material, newsletters, catalogues, and even books. These devices are often shared by workgroups, and many brands on the market today can cater to the graphic arts market. See Appendix C, "Printing Processes," where digital production printing is covered in more depth. Also see the section "Variable Data Publishing" for information on which of these devices are well suited for your purposes. Many manufacturers provide onsite analysis of your output requirements to match the best model for your production demands. Wide Format InkjetWide format inkjets have become more affordable, and many are appearing in-plant and have many uses. Oversize pieces that cannot be produced on the devices previously mentioned have a home in the wide format market. Many industries use these devices, including retail, sports and entertainment, and even manufacturing. These devices are essentially large inkjets. The technology of these devices is covered in Appendix C, but I thought it best to include these devices here as well as because they can be an important part of the creative workflow. Quantity and timing will dictate this purchase. If you need to quickly turn around small quantities of banners, posters, signage, CAD drawings, and so on, a device like this is a logical purchase. Key features that will factor into your decision-making include the quality of color, the speed, the size (the width of the paper), and a variety of substrates. If you need this device to function as a color proofer, special attention needs to be paid to the RIP and the rendering of images. See Figure D.3 for an example of each of the devices I've just described. Figure D.3. Common output devices found in the creative workflow. After you have narrowed down the list, it's important to test output. Spend a little time selecting representative jobs you would use this device for. If it's a PostScript device, make sure the device has a valid, current printer description (PPD) for the platform you work on. Send these test files to the device, and then evaluate that output for speed, color, and finishing options. Determine whether the footprint for the device will fit in the area you intend. Does this device require much maintenance or special ventilation? Will you have to calibrate the device on a regular basis? Are service contracts available, and local personnel to service the device? Be careful about long-term financing on these devices. A 5-year financial commitment for a device you outgrow in 3 years will leave you locked in, at the very least, to this vendor or manufacturer with your only recourse to upgrade with this organization and/or brand. Variable Data PublishingDigital output devices capable of producing high-speed color output can have many uses. If this is a current requirement or a 3-year strategic marketing goal, you should consider variable data and short-run digital production. As mentioned previously, personalized marketing is a maturing software segment with many applications on the market that allow you to marry your data with your page layout. You've long been mail merging in MS Word, haven't you? You can take it a step further with "if/then" expressions commonly found in programming. For example, you could say, "If my customer likes chocolate ice cream then insert a picture of ice cream in this graphic frame." You can create custom marketing pieces that look like they were designed specifically for their recipients.
As previously indicated, visit Adobe's website at http://www.adobe.com/products/vdp/ for more information on variable data publishing. |
I view Acrobat as the "finishing" option for a significant amount of your composited content. You can finish a layout using Acrobat for the shear purpose of making it a universally accepted file format. You can finish your layout by ensuring it has the proper security. You can finish your layout by adding interactivity, form fields, or a signature. And you can finish your layout by turning it into a slide presentation.
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