Coming soon in Q2 2011, the new version 6.4 of the Cross-Media Publishing Platform vjoon K4 is compatible with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. vjoon K4 is also extending CS5.5 with many automated routines that enable, simplify, and streamline process-oriented publishing of tablet editions and eBooks. The new K4 Server Admin application provides a central management entity for the K4 DES (Distributed Enterprise System), as well as for diverse publications, databases, and Adobe InDesign Server. Beyond that, vjoon K4 will ship with many features that make tasks in Adobe InDesign, InCopy, and K4 Web Editor even easier for users to perform. "vjoon K4 version 6.4 makes system administration much more efficient for many publishing houses and corporate publishers, thereby helping to save time and costs," notes Andreas Schrader, CEO of vjoon GmbH. "What's more, the integration with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 simplifies digital publishing for tablets and eBooks to even greater extent."

vjoon K4 version 6.4 integrated with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5

Publishing houses and corporate publishers use Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 to create publications that pair the visual impact of printed products with the interactive power of digital media. In combination with Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite, CS5.5 also offers hosted services for preparing, optimizing, and putting digital publications to profitable use. It sets the future standard for this breed of application. vjoon K4 substitutes automated processes for routine manual chores. For example, it adapts page formats to the various output devices and formats and converts units of measure and styles. Designers do not have to fuss with individual layouts or even the entire publication to convert content into the necessary folio format. The automated workflows in vjoon K4 also take over this labor-intensive task. Creative teams working in a workflow-oriented environment benefit tremendously from the possibilities in vjoon K4. Powerful features such as clearly structured workflows, clear-cut job lists, and notifications of pending tasks are all part of the standard package.

More flexible system management with K4 Server Admin

The management capabilities in vjoon K4 have been extended with a powerful management application called K4 Server Admin. This central entity administers all assigned publications, databases, Adobe InDesign Server, and K4 DES. Users can access several different databases (Oracle 11g Standard/Enterprise, Microsoft SQL Standard/Enterprise, MySQL) simultaneously from a single K4 server, migrate data from database to database, and distribute publications, as the situation requires. This speeds up many processes, particularly backup and archiving. Publications may even be duplicated in a variety of ways, for instance, entirely with all contents or with only the structure remaining intact.

K4 Server Admin also allows many tasks to be executed on the fly. For example, further K4 LDS (local data storages) may be connected to the K4 DES at short notice. Additional Adobe InDesign servers may be temporarily added while the system is up and running. Furthermore, the configuration for K4 DSI (Directory Services Integration/LDAP) is performed centrally using K4 Server Admin. This function enables agencies and service providers to manage several customers and publications in their vjoon K4 system using dedicated K4 DSI configurations for each.

Optimizing functions for more user freedom and friendliness

The development effort for InDesign and InCopy clients and K4 Web Editor focused on extending the ranges of functions while further simplifying processes. This is why further columns with additional information have been added to K4 Query Panel in version 6.4. It now also features five configurable buttons that may be assigned different functions and designs for each workflow. Further extended functions include access to K4 objects by right-clicking frames in InDesign and InCopy, task-driven downloads and views of high-definition images (configurable for whatever task may be pending), extended search options in K4 Query Panel, and switching article formats in K4 Web Editor ICML.