At the MEI Pro Pub Summit held Friday, Nov. 16, Andreas Schrader, CEO of vjoon GmbH, unveiled the features that will be included in vjoon K4™ version 6.5, which is scheduled to be in customers’ hands the first week of January. The major updates include the following:

  • Version 6.5 will provide two workflow models: the standard Task Workflow (TWF) for complex cross-media production with parallel processes, dependencies, and rewinds; and the Simplified Task Workflow (STWF) that more closely resembles the status-based workflow in vjoon K4 version 5.9. The STWF option also provides the ability to move from one status to another upon finishing tasks or starting a workflow, allowing users to skip statuses (if desired) and to use automated tasks. The ability to move ahead or back in the workflow can be limited by privileges. Either STWF or TWF can be used for each kind of workflow channel, so you can use both in one publication. You can convert a workflow from a STWF to a TWF and vice versa in the Admin application. Statuses can also be changed by editing the metadata of a file that is part of a Simplified Task Workflow, as it was in Version 5.9.
  • Using Adobe’s Folio Producer APIs, vjoon has extended DPS workflow functionality with renditions. Administrators will find a Renditions publication setting that is tied to a specific resolution, format, and Adobe ID and password. When creating a variant, users can assign the appropriate rendition from a drop-down menu. In addition, using InDesign Server, vjoon K4 will be able to render all specified renditions in one command.
  • All clients (K4 Web Portal™ as well as K4 Layout™/K4 Edit™) have been enhanced with a thumbnail view that shows users image previews and the metadata of any object in the K4 database. By clicking on dynamic buttons of  layouts or K4 Collections™, users will see image previews of any object attached to them. The thumbnail view turns the K4 Query panel into a kind of asset management system for your  production data. It also allows users to browse the object hierarchy and preview any kind of object  in K4.
  • The Filter feature in the Query panel will be extended to all text metadata fields. And users can search more than one filter at once, allowing for granular search functionality.
  • The K4 Query and Attachments panel button bars can be customized, similarly to what can be done in Microsoft Word, browsers, and other applications. Administrators can create various sets of button bars, defining the type and arrangement of  buttons. Admins can make each button bar available to specified users, such as creating a reduced set of buttons/functionality for new users and an extended set for advanced users.
  • In K4 Overview™, vjoon has added two options for viewing and sorting layouts. In addition to seeing layouts according to InDesign page numbering, users can choose to view layouts based on a page number entered in a metadata field, or by an object name, a status, or a section. This feature was developed in response to requests from publishers that do not know page numbers until late in the production process.
  • K4 Revision Manager™ will be reintroduced. It provides the ability to compare versions of vjoon K4 articles, showing additions and deletions while two versions of a document are open.  It also allows users to compare the currently open article to any version and to restore changes.
  • There will be enhanced email notification options, such as the ability to include version notes and to show who most recently finished a task on a file.

 

Tagged with: ,

Posted by: tfpadmin

0