The new version of vjoon K4 is ready for release and will be available to customers in January. It features a host of improvements in digital asset management, workflow control and usability.

vjoon GmbH, one of the international leaders in cross-media publishing software, is set to release a new version of vjoon K4. As the company announced at vjoonity, the vjoon K4 user conference in late October in Hamburg, release number 6.5 will ship to the company's integration partners before Christmas and will be available to all customers at the beginning of the new year. The update comes with a bevy of new features that make the popular cross-media publishing platform even easier to work with. "vjoon K4 version 6.5 accommodates many user wishes and cateres to current and future market requirements," says vjoon CEO Andreas Schrader. "Our efforts to develop version 6.5 focused largely on leaner and faster processes, better digital asset management and more customizing options. The upcoming release underscores our determination to provide optimum support for our customers' digital and print publishing endeavors."

Digital asset management for all data
One of the new features is a thumbnail view in the vjoon K4 query panels. It provides a quick overview of all content: text, images, collections, layouts and all associated meta data. This new view comes in very handy, particularly when layout designers need to search for specific pictures. The thumbnail view is a welcome addition to the list and layout views that have been a fixture of the application for quite a while, and is now available for all desktop and browser clients. The extended filters for queries within vjoon K4 enable users to further refine their searches with the drill-down function for even more accurate results.

Simplified digital publishing
Users have been able to streamline the publishing workflow since last summer, when vjoon K4 was integrated with the Adobe Folio Producer API. The previous procedure, which required a detour by way of the Adobe Content Bundler's interface and imposed a lot of constrictions, has been relegated to history. Adobe is also very satisfied with vjoon K4's fast-tracked link to the new API, as the company confirmed a few weeks ago at the vjoon K4 user conference in Philadelphia. The cross-media publishing platform is the first and only application of its kind to provide this type of support for Adobe's new Folio Producer API. With the Folio Producer API, publishers can use vjoon K4's automated functions to generate several tablet renditions of the same edition simultaneously and load them to Adobe Digital Publishing Suite servers. Publishers can now use a single InDesign layout to deliver versions with different image formats or resolutions to different tablet platforms such as iOS and Android. Now these renditions can be fully automated in vjoon K4.

More options for controlling workflows and managing the publishing process
Multi-channel workflows are now even easier to configure. Version 6.5 offers a choice of two workflow models to the user. The standard Task Workflow (TWF) is designed for complex cross-media publishing with parallel processes, rewinds and dependencies while the new Simplified Task Workflow (STWF) is designed for shorter, less elaborate processes. Both models provide automated features. The two modes can even be mixed: a Simplified Task Workflow may be converted into a standard Task Workflow at any time and vice versa. In an evolutionary advance, the STWF combines select features of status-based workflow models with the benefits of a state-of-the-art task-based workflow. It enables users who work with simpler publishing processes or older status-based systems to gradually migrate to a modern Task Workflow. K4 Overview also offers new options for sorting and viewing layouts by page numbers, object names, status or section.

Comparing versions of articles
K4 Revision Manager allows users to compare different versions of articles in vjoon K4, trackings amendments and changes. Users can contrast the current file with every preceding version in the database and retract any subsequent changes.

Personalized user interface
Now users can customize the button bars in vjoon K4 query panels to suit their preferences, thereby 'personalizing' the GUI. Administrators can create various sets of buttons and furnish certain users and groups with specific sets. For example, one set could offer a few basic functions for novices and another could provide a wide range of sophisticated functions to skilled users. Administrators may also assign certain functions to various buttons, enabling some user groups to see these buttons and hiding them from others.

To learn more, please visit www.vjoon.com. You can also get more info on the cross-media publishing platform, industry news and updates via the Twitter account at www.twitter.com/vjoon.