CONTENTS
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1. WHAT IS A TITLE WORTH?
2. CLEANING UP LOGOS
3. NEW AD BOOKING SYSTEM
4. QUARKXPRESS 5 REVIEW
5. INS AND OUTS OF PDF
6. PAPER -- AND ITS VARIATIONS
7. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
9. HINTS
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
11. LAST WORD
1. WHAT IS A TITLE WORTH?
=========================
A discussion on a publishing email list started with a question on the lines of "I have a chance to take over, at no cost, a couple of specialist magazines that were started in the 70s". There were a couple of problems with this statement.
In my book "How to Start and Produce a Magazine" I suggest that the computer program needed more than any other in the process of magazine publishing is a spreadsheet.
One of the major problems in working out costs and potential profits is the number of variables involved in a magazine because of the two selling prices (of the magazine itself and the advertisements in it).
We suggested that the potential new owner really needed to look at a worst case scenario -- the cost of printing with the number of pages needed to carry no more ads than the publications are presently getting.
Monthly publications making a small loss each month can build to a huge loss in a surprisingly short time (as I know from experience), and remember that, on the basis you are describing, you are not being given the magazines. We suggested that the buyer was saving the present owner from having to repay all the outstanding subscriptions. The total of those amounts is what is being paid for the magazines; and if there are 1000 subscribers, that is several thousand dollars. (1000 times the subscription price divided by two will give a rough figure if the subs are spread evenly).
Publications, even between large publishers, often change hands at very small amounts because of those debts to subscribers (and the high cost of refunding small amounts of money). Before the days of computers I bought what was then Australia's major music magazine from EMI for $400 and that included the addressing machine for labels which was worth considerably more than that. After building up the subscription list I gave the magazine away because it was far cheaper than closing it down (subscriptions went well but ads didn't). More recently I bought the local weekly newspaper in a small country town for $1500 and sold it for a slightly smaller amount a couple of years later. In both cases those purchase amounts were a very minor part of the investment needed.
Getting something for nothing can prove to be an expensive buy.
2. CLEANING UP LOGOS
====================
How do you get good looking logos for the smaller advertiser, especially the one who expects great results from a printed flyer or business card?
We normally suggest, clean up the bitmap scan in Photoshop, or maybe Streamline, then have up to half a dozen or more sets of conversion options in Streamline and try each -- deciding on one, if you're lucky or apply different ones to different areas if you're not. As you get more experiences in doing it you might have to try only one or two).
Then, either in Streamline or in Illustrator, use the other tools to smooth lines or edit individual points. In part the aim here is to have at least an acceptable image available if time runs out -- and then continue to tidy it if time permits.
However, Tim Reiner of Comnet in Japan has another suggestion and sent us a copy of their Illustrator plugin, LogoSpruce, which is intended to make the process of manually tracing an outline much easier, once one is proficient in its use. For a complex logo, we can see that this route could be more accurate than tracing in Streamline.
I didn't appreciate what LogoSpruce can do from the original manual, but Tim has now sent their new manual in PDF format, which, even though still "an interim version" really does show the uses for the wide variety of additional tools which load into Illustrator.
If logos are a problem, then this is possibly an answer. It costs US$199, and is available from ThePowerXChange <http://www.thepowerxchange.com> or direct from <http://www.comnet-network.co.jp/eng/product/elogospruce.html>. Download the 259kb user guide PDF from the latter page.
They are in the process of making an auto-demo available for download, as well as a series of tutorial pages.
3. NEW AD BOOKING SYSTEM
========================
One of the major enquiries we get is for software to manage ad bookings and pagination of publications. A number of those we have mentioned in the past seem to have disappeared and those which remain are at the top of the price range.
A new one is PAN Economics, which is based on the well respected FileMaker Pro database software, and which has been tested (and is now running) on five newspapers, ranging from regional daily to weekly.
We haven't yet seen it in use. However Nigel Williams of the developers, Exact Wagga, tells me that it incorporates booking, accounting and automatic pagination of display and classified advertising (including runsheet generation for dummying), a multi-user sales and marketing database and circulation tracking and accounting including newsagents and customers.
One of its attractions is that (at least in Australia) they offer a payment system based on A$10 a day per user with upgrades included. By using FileMaker Pro as their base it operates on Mac or PC and that it interfaces to all existing desktop publishing solutions such as "QuarkXpress, PageMaker, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Microsoft 2000".
We do not have a web address for more information but you can contact Nigel Williams at exactwagga@bigpond.com
4. QUARKXPRESS 5 REVIEW
=======================
The CreativePro review of QuarkXPress 5 by Susan Glinert points to some interesting features and some deficiencies. Part of its conclusion: "Without question, QuarkXPress 5 is a major upgrade, and adherents to this popular and powerful desktop publishing application should rush right out and get a copy. However, With the introduction of InDesign 2.0, XPress is no longer the no-brainer choice for professional DTP."
The review is at <http://www.creativepro.com/story/review/15960.html>
There are other XPress, InDesign and PageMaker reviews at<http://www.designer-info.com/dtp.htm>
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Quark have released the International English edition QuarkXPress 5.0, and, for publishers with multiple-seat installations there is new license management software. Quark License Administrator is a server-based system that lets site administrators create customized user pools and assign customized access privileges to each group. The server can be configured to allow remote users to check out software for use off the network as well as to acquire additional licenses to meet the needs of changing workflows. No more domgles, at least for the top end of the international market.
5. INS AND OUTS OF PDF
======================
If you are responsible for creating PDFs for publishing or printing, or for specifying how such files should be produced, you will find <http://www.direct2.time.com/> valuable reading. It covers to the creation and submission of files for use in Time Inc. titles. Many printers have problems with the files that are sent to them to be printed. Time has established strict requirements to eliminate many of the potential pitfalls in digital file preparation. While they focus attention on exchanging digital advertisements readers can learn a lot about electronic of files.
Time endorses and uses the DDAP specification. The DDAP Association, <http://www.digitaldocumentspanel.com> is working towards enabling a universal system for the exchange of digital ads. Time also allows you access to procedure manuals showing the new printing workflow.
Time used to insist on TIFF/IT format, an extension of the TIFF specification which adds a vector specification to the TIFF raster format (in other words, it is, in old terms, a combined line and tone specification. The programs and plugins to work with TIFF/IT are expensive, but then Time's advertisers are at the top end of the market, and so are their agents. Last month, Time told its printers that June 1st was the target for delivering all content in PDF/X-1a.
What Is PDF/X-1a?
It is a subset of Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF/X1a stands for PDF eXchange 1a. The "1" means that it is a blind exchange document -- all fonts and images are embedded and "a" is the variant that was ISO accredited to standard ISO15930-1 :2001.
PDF/X1a meets the following specifications:
- All fonts and images are embedded.
- All elements are encoded as CMYK, spot or Device N.
- They may not be encoded as three-art color spaces such as RGB or CIELab.
- The MediaBox and TrimBox or ArtBox are defined. - Trap must be indicated as on or off, alerting the printer to the condition of the document. The printing condition characterized (such as SWOP) through the use of an Output intents operator.
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"AutoPilot" is the way long time print system suppliers Callas are planning PDF workflow -- from creating PDF files, preflighting, modifying, trapping, to proofing and printing, but in an open format so that the user can decide what steps to implement. A list on AutoPilot compliant products as well as the White Paper on automating PDF workflows is on the Callas website: <http://www.callas.de/>. It is in the upper price range -- US$2000 per server -- with individual parts available separately, priced upwards from a free usable demo version of pdfInspektor2.
6. PAPER -- AND ITS VARIATIONS
==============================
Paper is alive, or at least, as a product of a natural substance, it behaves as if it is. In a recent email on the PrintShare List (a list populated by practical printers -- mostly those with the smaller kind of printshop), Buck Cowley made the following comments about paper and humidity.
RULES OF THUMB:
Paper has about 5% water. This means if you were to microwave it and drive all the water out, it would weigh 5% less. (This is how you test paper moisture)
For every 10% change in relative humidity, paper changes 1%.
For every 1% change in moisture in paper, it changes overall dimension by 1/1000 (at right angles to the grain direction, 1/3 that in the grain direction.) Example: 11" changes to 11.011 inch.
When one side of paper is a different dimension than the other side, it causes curl.
Here is how to see this at your place:
1) Buy a cheap humidity gauge from Radio Shack.
2) Tape two long strips of paper (newsprint is most dramatic) from the ceiling. One strip being with the grain and the other being opposite.
3) Record the daily length change and the relative humidity.
8. UTILITIES/UPDATES
====================
Portfolio 6 from Extensis is a new version of the management program for digital files which includes "FolderSync" to copy, move, rename and delete files and folders directly and thus keep them synchronized with your catalogs. "Portfolio Express" is a palette to access files while editing images, writing emails, creating etc.
The new version also extends operations to digital cameras allowing files to be moved, copied, renamed, and categorized from camera memory card to hard drive or network in one step and the program works with Mac Finder or Windows Explorer to add any disk, file or folder to an existing catalog or to a new one. US$199.95
Details at <http://www.extensis.com/portfolio>. There is a trial version available but you have to fill in full personal details.
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For back up programs have a look at the Windows freeware option Karen's Replicator <http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp>: "Automatically backup files, directories, or drives. Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network. Files larger than 2 GB are supported. Options include repeated copies at intervals as short as a few minutes, or as long as several months, copy only files that have changed, and the replication of file deletions." It is a 1.3MB download but needs a VB runtime file of 1MB if you aren't already running Visual Basic.
9. HINTS
========
Seen a tiny speck on your output from InDesign which shouldn't be there? Apparently it is now a recognised bug that the frame-break character can be the cause, as it can inexplicably have the underline attribute applied. While the charcater has no width, the underline causes a tiny spec on output. When the underline attribute is removed, no speck will appear in exported or printed output.
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Software book author Sandee Cohen has started a new series for CreativePro.com called "On the Move to InDesign," which turns out a new InDesign tip every Wednesday: The current hint when we looked was on "Inserting Graphics into Existing Frames", at <http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/15978.html>
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Want to know more about producing tables in Word: See <http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TableBasics.htm> a feature written by Suzanne Barnhill and Dave Rado. Recommended in Woody's Office Watch <http://www.woodyswatch.com/> which also points out that if you do a Full install of Office XP, you may not be able to play Solitaire any more! Answer: Don't install the "language/alternative input stuff".
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When you launch InDesign after a system failure it recovers the documents you had open with all "unsaved" changes you made up to about a minute before the failure. At this point it has not yet changed the last saved version of the documents. You have the following options how to proceed: 1, Save it under a new name preserving the last saved version. 2, Save it under the old name overwriting the last saved version. 3, Revert to the last saved version by choosing Revert from the File menu.
10. SOURCES OF INFORMATION
==========================
BookZone at <http://www.bookzone.com/> has a lot of information of interest to those producing books, but much is also of interest to those producing other kinds of publications.
11. LAST WORD
=============
Do-it-yourself logo creation? The idea will strike horror into the minds of most dsigners, but the Logo Creator software version 2.5, could have a place for those producing publications who are asked to "do something special" by an advertiser. It consists of 25 logo templates, each of which can be modified in hundreds of ways. See some examples at <http://www.digitalriver.com/53433/thelogocreator>
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If you have your own domain name and can use any number of email address aliases within that domain, consider using the name of the places you sign up to on the web as your address, such as mailinglistname@mydomain.com. It can make sorting into folders easier and it will be obvious if any spam results from that source.
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Extract from an informative post by Adobe Pacific's Nick Hodge to the InDesign List:
- AI Native is in fact PDF 1.4 (Acrobat 5) When saving as an Illustrator 9 or 10 file. For extra points: change the extension of a .ai file and rename it .pdf. Open in Acrobat. Watch the result. Remember to close mouth.
Gordon Woolf
The Worsley Press
Hastings, Australia.
====================