WORKFLOW: Digital Assets: The Software Side

Stored assets are only useful if they can be found, so providing a method by which any specific file can be located is the key to an efficient digital workflow. In its most basic form, any log that automatically tracks the contents of your digital repository is a form of asset management.

While some print shops still painstakingly record every job number and file name manually in three-ring binders, a much greater level of detail and convenience can be obtained by using a disc to catalog the various software application.

Many of these programs can be found on the Internet, but few have the history of Portent's Disktracker. Inexpensive and easy to use, yet surprisingly powerful, Disktracker can catalog every file and every folder on a DVD-R within minutes using a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Knowing the hierarchy and contents of a disc is essential, but today's most advanced digital workflows are exploring the uses of metadata. Known as the “data about the data,” these text-based descriptive tags include keywords that describe the contents of a file (such as “red Labrador Retriever”) as well as other useful data. Metadata can store information on a photo's caption or a story's author; the metadata of an illustration or page layout document could include a listing of all linked graphics and fonts used within that document. Magazine and newspaper publishers have been early proponents of metadata, but the benefits of searchable descriptive information will eventually touch all prepress workflows.

Adobe did not invent the concept of metadata, but the graphics giant is responsible for devising and implementing the eXtensible Metadata Platform (XMP), a specification for embedding metadata within graphics applications that has been adopted by many other vendors. Adobe's Bridge application (a component of the Creative Suite package) allows users to create and save complex search queries or add/edit metadata on multiple files, including batch processing. The rest of Adobe's publishing programs can also create or modify metadata tags within individual documents by choosing the “File Info” command.

Printing companies that simply output and print documents as furnished by their customers can manage those files with little more than a few clearly defined operating procedures. But print service providers that deal with large clients or routinely exchange files with external partners may benefit from an investment in digital asset management software (DAM). When paired with an appropriate server, DAM software allows both internal and external users to browse images, documents and other assets using visual “thumbnails.” Modern DAMs also provide access to hidden info (metadata) about the assets and/or provide Internet access via web browsers.

For single users who need to track image files, “personal DAMs” are available that provide browsing and tagging of JPGs, TIFFs and other graphics. Popular options include Mediadex (formerly the single-user edition of Canto Cumulus) and Extensis Portfolio. Despite a low price tag (around $200), these single-user DAMs offer a surprising range of features such as Portfolio's NetPublish for powering Website image galleries.

Serious DAM users are engaged in multiple communication channels with a variety of companies—a scenario known all too well by newspaper publishers and magazine editors. These publication workflows were among the first users of DAM systems: MediaBank, Canto, Artesia and North Plains all offer solutions that cater to the needs of magazine production.

Kodak's Graphic Communications Group extends the functionality of its Eyemedia Digital Asset Management software with Teamworks, an application that streamlines the content creation and approval process for ad agencies, publishers and small workgroups.

Web server extensions to PDF workflow RIPs that provide limited asset management tools have been popular for many years and, as DAM use continues to grow, it's likely that printers will gravitate towards a trusted vendor or known source from the graphic arts industry. Some names that GAM readers will recognize include Agfa's :Arcadia and :Delano, Dalim's Dialogue, Heidelberg's Prinect Printready Content Manager, Rampage Systems' Rampage Remote, Saepio's Asset Management and Screen's Trueflow 3 ArchiveManager.

Xinet's transition from a provider of Open Prepress Interface (OPI) servers to a leading DAM vendor was built upon an existing installed base of Xinet FullPress users. Combining asset management capabilities with the popular OPI engine and print spoolers, Xinet WebNative interactively generates Web pages to view, edit and download assets via the Internet. This product was the first DAM to support the search and display of embedded XMPmetadata. (Xinet is now part of Xanté.)

“Our goal was to make a database of all this stuff we've got on the server, so we could publish it to whoever we needed to on the outside,” recalls Greg Pedersen, LAN administrator for graphic services at Topps. The manufacturer of Bazooka Bubble Gum and collectible trading cards uses Xinet WebNative Venture. “Now we're starting to use WebNative for PDF/X proofing with a handful of vendors, some ad agencies, other printshops and prepress shops, even some artists doing design work.”

As database-driven print manufacturing becomes widespread, it's easy to imagine that future DAM releases will connect more closely into the printing company's business infrastructure. Web-to-print applications will benefit from connectivity to customer asset libraries; JDF-aware DAMs will allow users to approve proofs and release jobs for production. In addition to such practical considerations, innovative concepts such as CogniSign's xcavator (offers a human-like image search via Intelligent Image Recognition Technology) and Caringo's CAStor (software for the scalable storage of fixed content) offer glimpses of the powerful DAM solutions yet to come.