My apologies for the duplicate content. We're creating and distributing a lot of brochures over the next few weeks to announce our new DMP FLO Suite version. But I'm noticing that it sometimes takes a while for this information to get to all of the customers. And some of you do regularly visit our blog. So I will be posting some of the documentation here as well. Just ignore it if you have the PDF file. That reads easier.
Introduction
The new version of DMP FLO Suite focuses in a large way on production improvements. Our early versions were centered mainly around database publishing. That way, we were able to build a very solid engine of functionalities around InDesign Server and other components. Following that, we put those functionalities online with digital asset management and web2print solutions. And a content management system on top of it all to create alternative interfaces. Version 3 was all about marketing and communication. Easier interfaces for marketing departments, even simpler web2print applications, artwork status management, and so on.
And now we’re making the transition to an even wider solution by integrating certain production workflows. Flexibility remains key. We adapt our software to the existing environment, and follow your exact needs as closely as possible. Another advantage of the transition is that end users (external to your company) can now use DMP FLO Suite interfaces to participate in your prepress workflows. So the production automation is not just limited to a few simple scripts.
InDesign Server CS 4 support
One way to support production is to allow you to use the most productive tools. A lot of new functionalities and interface improvements exist in CS 4. As soon as you are ready to migrate your prepress department to the new Creative Suite, you can also upgrade to the new InDesign Server.
Media Server and Media Viewer
Initially, our new Media Server and Media Viewer products are not new features per se. They actually replace the technology of Yawah’s eRez and the FSI Viewer. But because of the buy-out of Yawah by Adobe, we were forced to replace these components. Some alternatives existed, but the choice was made to start a crash program and recreate the technology ourselves. For starters this is mostly just the replacement of the existing FSI features (with a single very nice addition). But now that we control the technology, a lot of effort will be put in it over the next few months to add completely new features for the 4.1, 4.2 and 4.5 versions.
And actually we already found the time to expand on the previous possibilities. In DMP FLO Suite 4.0 it is possible to create standalone flash viewers of PDF files. Rather than require an imaging server, this viewer allows end users to stream the PDF files completely based on a single directory of files.
For printing companies, this means that the services that you can offer around these Viewers are much enhanced. PDF files with company brochures, product descriptions, folders, … can be placed on the website of your customer, without them needing to link to your own server.
Elpical Claro Single integration
That left us with the replacement of eRez itself. We didn’t feel the need to write this technology ourselves, since we very quickly found another piece of software that went beyond our expectations. Elpical Claro Single not only replaces the image rendering capabilities of eRez, but it also adds a whole new line of features of automated image enhancement to the DMP FLO Suite. Brightness, contrast, and many more settings are not applied to incoming images based on a single profile, but rather the individual images are inspected to see which settings are most ideal for them. In database publishing workflows like the ones we set up regularly, this is invaluable.
Callas pdfToolbox integration
Less time fixing small mistakes means more time for quality production. For that reason, we embedded callas pdfToolbox functionalities within the DMP FLO Suite. PDF preflighting (with reports for users or administrators) can now be called from within the FLO Suite interface, or from any custom interface. Profiles can be created from pdfToolbox plug-in.
Enfocus Switch integration
Prepress automation is something we could have created ourselves. Mostly it’s just copying files from one location to another, right? We didn’t really feel that way. So rather than trying to make this part ourselves, we spent a lot of time making a seamless integration with software that already has the tools for advanced prepress workflow automation. Configurators in Enfocus Switch, which allow you to use FLO features within the Switch flow, and vice versa.
Development Tools
Increased production can also be attained by giving you even more flexible development tools. The faster new applications can be put online, the more small tools you can develop that are completely tuned to your environment. Or the more standard solutions become available because of the work of our integrators.
Direct links with Visual Studio, an external API, possibility to use your own object libraries, …
Export Settings – other integrations
Even when the development tools are completely fine-tuned for fast production, there are still areas where we can save time in production. One of these areas is the integration of external applications. A new feature (Export Settings) allows integrators and developers to choose from a pre-defined list of software (MIS, prepress automation, accounting, …) and receive file formats (usually JDF or XML based) that can be used for communication.
Web2print 2.0
We also gave a complete overhaul to our generic web2print contentFLO application. A new interface, but also a lot of new functionalites. File sharing, online proofing, configuration wizards, and so on. All of it available for download by our customers
Workflow Corrections 2.0
Similarly, we put a lot of effort in the expansion of our correction workflow application. This also got a new interface, and a lot of features centered around flexibility and configuration for a large amount of end customers.
Roadmap
We’re quite proud of the accomplishments over the past few months, but it doesn’t stop here. Our customers can expect another large number of features over the next few months. Several new type applications are being built in contentFLO, and will become available soon. The flash viewer will be expanded, and will give some more features to artworkFLO by consequence. And more and more integrations with external applications will become standard functionality.