Belgium - The Ghent Workgroup's (GWG) Cross Media Subcommittee has released test results and best practice recommendations for four popular digital publishing solutions that integrate with Adobe InDesign to generate files suitable for use and viewing on tablets. The GWG evaluated the four solutions; Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, TwixlMedia Publisher, Aquafadas and AppStudio, using its Designed for Tablets (DFT) Test Suite. The whitepaper may be downloaded here. 

The (DFT) Test Suite was built by the GWG and continues to be used to successfully evaluate Digital Publishing Solutions in the market. Variables tested include text size display, image resolution, and spot color conversions. The results found in the new white paper clearly describe where the different solutions behave correctly (or not); making it possible for professionals to design multichannel content that moves seamlessly in the digital workflow, and provides a predictable result on the tablet.

"The whole point of these solutions is to make it possible for designers to create something once; and for the rest to happen automatically," says Bart Van Looy, Sanoma, and co-chair of the Cross Media subcommittee.

"We recommend that anyone developing content for iPad viewing take advantage of this work to predict the successful visual rendering of their designs on screen," adds Christian Blaise, bleuprocess; and co-chair of the Cross Media subcommittee, developer of the original test components.

Test Environment
As this project was preliminary in its scope, it was decided to limit the initial testing to iPad-optimized published content generated from the authoring application, Adobe InDesign. Vendor solutions were tested in terms of their digital publishing workflows, as well as their corresponding viewing apps on the iPad. It should be noted that for this study, the content tested did not contain any type of interaction or animation. 

The GWG evaluated the four solutions, Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, TwixlMedia Publisher, Aquafadas and AppStudio, using its Designed for Tablets (DFT) Test Suite.

DFT Project background
The DFT Project started in January 2014, and was built on work already completed by Christian Blaise, for Square. The GWG found this preliminary work promising, and wanted to extend the research to other platforms. Square gave the GWG permission to reuse the work that Blaise had already done. This work was used as a starting point upon which the GWG built the complete test suite for evaluation of other solutions in the market.

The whitepaper features a sampling of some of the test patches in the DFT Test Suite. Each one's purpose, and desired outcome is explained, so that users can understand how they work. For questions related to the DFT work, email: [email protected], or [email protected].

For more information about the GWG, including a full list of its members and objectives, visit www.gwg.org. Follow GWG on Facebook for news, events, and more, at: http://www.facebook.com/GhentWorkgroup.