Adobe

From finished manuscript to press in 9 days.
August 1, 2004

Book publishers know the importance of fast time to market, and in few industry sectors is it more crucial than high-tech publishing. High-tech book titles become obsolete the moment a new operating system, programming language or other technology is introduced. At O'Reilly & Associates—a publisher of books covering everything from the Internet to XML, Mac OS X, open source, Java and Web services—accelerating the publishing process can literally mean the difference between success and failure for many titles. When the company decided to publish "Running Mac OS X Panther" in late 2003, O'Reilly and the impending author, James Duncan Davidson, knew

A Proactive Approach
April 1, 2004

Intellectual property drives the software industry, fueling technology and innovation investments. Yet the same advances that drove the computing revolution of the past decade—the Internet, the Web, e-mail, faster processors, cheap memory—have made the protection of intellectual property more difficult than ever. While technology companies tried many techniques to protect their products, virtually all these past techniques were rejected by consumers as unreliable and unfriendly. Today, software companies are turning to 'product activation' as a workable extension of the end-user license agreement. With growing consumer acceptance of activation, it's increasingly clear that activation strikes the elusive, yet necessary balance between user experience and software protection. But all activation

The NORM in Workflows
April 1, 2004

There's been a new trend in digital workflows over the past several years. 'ROOM' workflows used to be the norm. But now 'NORM' workflows are fast becoming the norm (say that 10 times fast). Perhaps this isn't the boldest statement, but there are definite implications for publishers and printers. And, for those PDF purists, to set the record straight, both ROOM and NORM workflows can accept PDF files. First, let's define these two different workflow frameworks. ROOM stands for 'Rip Once Output Many'. In this type of workflow, pages are RIPped into an intermediate format, either unscreened raster or screened bitmap. These files are then

Antarctica Bound
October 1, 2003

With an emphasis on computerized design and workflow; increased use of digital, on-demand and cross-media output; and populist—indeed, personal editorial standards, modern book publishing bears little resemblance to the craft practiced a generation ago. Some in the industry worry that the joined-at-the-hip crafts of publishing and printing are epochs approaching an end. In the future, anyone with an Internet connection and digital cash will be able to publish a nice looking (and, hopefully, nice reading) hardbound, softbound, or e-book. One, some, or all three. Readers will buy them online, for an e-pittance, in numbers unthinkable today, along with the classics, pop titles, textbooks,

Prepress Bloopers
May 1, 2003

Digital prepress, the conversion of electronic information about text and graphics into output-ready form, is a crucial aspect of book manufacturing. But it takes more than looking good on a computer screen for titles to translate from bytes to ink on paper. When things go well, prepress production reflects modern technology at its best. But incorrectly prepared electronic files wreak production havoc, and are the top cause of production delays, surcharges, and missed delivery dates. Here are the most common causes of prepress problems, as nominated by a team of technical experts at R.R. Donnelley, in New York. If your organization hasn't been tripped

Ames Eases Content Conversion
May 1, 2003

Ames On-Demand has released a new version of its popular BookBuild online ordering and content management system. The new release helps publishers better communicate with creative staff, and more easily reuse content across multiple publications, company officials say. It remains directly connected to Ames' high-speed digital presses, allowing custom publishers to manage content, order, and printing entirely online. The update, dubbed version 3.0, provides publishers and writers with a centrally shared, secure publication repository. Users can upload and store content as separate elements, such as chapters, tables of contents, and graphics. Using an online form, publishers can drag+drop the content into templates, get

Publishing Mean and Lean
March 1, 2003

We've always known it's smart to collaborate. Now we're realizing it's stupid not to. This is one of the profound effects of the digital publishing revolution. Before the digital era, it was easy to talk about cooperation and teamwork, and then go about our business much as we always had. Graphic designers didn't have to care about how an editor did their work. Editors didn't have to care about production technology. The printer didn't care how the publisher created those stacks of repro, the publisher didn't care if the printer "fixed" mistakes found at the last minute. And those shadowy figures at the periphery of the

Consumer of Acceptance of E-Books Grows
January 1, 2003

A new consumer survey finds 70% of readers are ready to buy electronic books if they can read them on any computer. The survey also finds 67% of consumers are ready to read electronic books, and 62% would borrow e-books from the library. The research was sponsored by the Open E-Book Forum (OEBF), an industry trade association that promotes e-book technologies. But if consumers are ready to thumb through electronic pages, sentiment among leading book publishers hasn't changed. They believe consumers and retailers still aren't ready for e-books. Publishers are also wondering how to integrate e-books into manufacturing and distribution workflows originally designed

A Day in the Life
March 1, 2002

Frank Romano isn't shy. In fact, Rochester Institute of Technology's chairman of the School of Printing has never been hesitant about putting speeches where his beliefs are. And at BookTech's 2002 conference and expo, he was true to form. During the show's keynote address, Romano argued the provocative case between Random House and RosettaBooks, first as a signal that digital content is becoming increasingly popular, and second, as a way to compare print with e-media. "What's the difference between an e-book and an e-magazine?" Romano asked. "They're both packaged information delivered in some form to you. A Web site is

The Demand For On-Demand
March 1, 2002

Print-on-demand (POD), like so many new technologies that have threatened to shake up the status quo of the publishing industry, has garnered its fair share of attention from both enthusiasts and naysayers. But philosophical debates and questions about its potential aside, there appears to be little doubt about the benefits of POD. Continuing, technological advances will most likely erase any nagging doubts about quality and profitability. One thing is clear, the market for POD is growing. In 2000, U.S. companies spent $3.1 billion for black-and-white POD systems and related services and supplies, according to CAP Ventures (www.capv.com). The research firm projects the market