Automated Typesetting

Typesetting involves the presentation of textual material in an aesthetic form on paper or some other media. In previous eras typesetting has migrated from hand set metal letters and characters aligned into blocks of text, to linotype machines which output entire lines of metal type -- later replaced by paper "flats" or Camera Ready Art... to the era of Desktop Publishing which grew out of the invention of the PostScript(R) language in the 1980s. By the early 1990s desktop publishing had turned typesetting and the entire pre-press and printing industry on its head with the availability of inexpensive type and layout software running on personal computers. Anyone with a PC and the right software could publish.

The Internet Era

For many in our industry, the advent of online publishing has come at the expense of the printed word. Datasheets have been converted to downloadable PDFs, "print" advertising dollars have been allocated to the web, and searching on Google is quickly undermining the value of the Yellow Pages and other printed information directories.

Web to Print

The web as an order input media has largely surpassed the fax as the dominant way to order commodity items such as corporate stationery. Today, even processes such as writing a business letter using a shared online template are moving to the Internet. It's a whole new world out there. As in every previous disruptive technological change, those who adapt to change -- or, better yet, anticipate change and provide the answers before their competitors even know the questions -- are most likely to survive and thrive.

PageDNA and VIPER

We decided a long time ago that if we were going to create online ordering systems for printed products with automated typesetting and proofing as a core competence, we'd be well served to develop our own typesetting and proofing engine - which is exactly what we did. Built from the ground up, PageDNA's VIPER ("Variable Imprint Processing Engine and Rasterizer") technology is the result of years of development with input from PostScript(R) programmers who literally wrote the book. VIPER has been in active use since 1997, and has created millions of perfectly typeset orders for hundreds of companies ranging from Fortune 500 firms to medium and small businesses worldwide.

Of course, since we actually work under the hood of our own PostScript(R) engine, VIPER is constantly being enhanced in response to customer needs. It surprises us that many of our primary competitors have chosen to license a third-party product for use as their own typesetting and proofing engine. If automated typesetting is at the heart of Variable Data Printing, why would someone outsource this key functionality to a third party -- and how will they be able to respond to your custom needs? It's a question worth asking them.

Typography Exceptions Handling

At PageDNA, handling complex typography exceptions is easy thanks to VIPER's programmable logic. Scores of examples provided in our searchable Online Documentation show how to handle even the most complex design rules and exceptions. A sampling from our documentation's table of contents on this subject:

Vertical Constraint: Enforce Maximum Lines, Change Leading By Line Count, Change Height of Vertical Spacer By Line Count, Change Font Size and/or Leading, Scale Wrapped Type to Fit Inside Defined Area, Move Fields to Other Block ...

Horizontal Constraint: Scaling Long Lines - Point Size or horizontal scale, Uniform Scaling by Block, Forced Justification / TRACKFILL, Scaling All Lines Uniformly, Word Wrapping, Wrapping with Indent on Subsequent Lines, Custom Word Wrapping ...

Layout and Testing Options: Forced Upper, Lower, or McUPPER Case, Checking Phones: Check Phone Digits are Numeric, Check Phone Labels are Upper-cased, Check Phone Labels end with a Colon, Check Phones are Complete, Tips on Handing International Phone formats ...

Photo / Logo Handling: Scale Uploaded Files to Fit Inside "Picture Frame", Cropping Photos to Fit Inside a Picture Frame, Borders around Photos, Layering Photos, Special Layers, Dealing with Sublogos ...

Dynamic Block Positioning: Moving Blocks Around, Block Centered Between Two Other Blocks, Growing Blocks off Other Blocks, Rotating Blocks ...

Controlling Fonts and Colors Dynamically: Change color or typeface of fonts or other graphic elements based on user input or user's "division" on a site.

Imposition: Intelligent and Flexible Order Batching

Once orders are ready for production, the final step is creating the batch or "gang" of orders to run on the press. PageDNA's Imposition System provides tools to design output plates, combine orders onto a plate, and download PostScript(R) or PDF files conforming precisely to your press operators' needs. This system can save considerable pre-press time and effort compared to manually 'placing' orders. Orders simply fill a queue and then are batched with the click of a button.