Prepress
K4 Drives Catalog Production at Omega Institute
Tuesday 10. March 2009 - K4 Integrator Managing Editor Inc. (MEI) has succesfully implemented the vjoon K4 Publishing System at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies. The educational retreat center has already used the popular workflow management solution integrating Adobe InDesign and InCopy to produce two of its seasonal course catalogs and to handle content for its Web site, eomega.org, realizing immediate time and cost savings.
Most recently, Omega used the system to produce its 144-page 2009 Summer Catalog, a full-sized book that has already been sent to the organizations mailing list. The catalog has a print circulation of about 480,000. Omega published its first K4-managed piece, a 26-page brochure detailing its winter curriculum, during its K4 pilot phase in 2008.
By using K4, we developed a clearer understanding of our workflow. It has helped us organize a tremendous amount of data and has streamlined the way various groups in our organization Web, editorial, design, programming work together. The time savings were immediately apparent. Were very appreciative.”
Jennifer Brown, editorial manager at Omega Institute
The educational retreat center has already used the popular workflow management solution integrating Adobe InDesign and InCopy to produce two of its seasonal course catalogs and to handle content for its Web site, eomega.org, realizing immediate time and cost savings. Most recently, Omega used the system to produce its 144-page 2009 Summer Catalog, a full-sized book that has already been sent to the organizations mailing list. The catalog has a print circulation of about 480,000. Omega Institutes K4 setup has about 20 users. The Institute also purchased the K4 XML Exporter for repurposing its print content for its Web site, as well as K4 Web Editor for quick, simple, Web-based text editing and proofing.
Time savings thanks to automized XML export process
Since implementing K4, Omega has created a new, streamlined workflow that has already helped cut production time and materials. The systems powerful database capabilities have allowed staff to collaborate much more easily. Designers can start working on pages before all the print content is available, while editors simultaneously add more text as they receive it. Electronic content management makes it easier for staff to circulate proofs, utilizing PDFs to share and make notes on pages instead of paper printouts. And thanks to the new automated XML export process, Omega was able to repurpose its summer print catalog for the eomega.org Web site in about a quarter of the time it took previously.
Before installing K4, Omega publishing staff collaborated primarily via e-mail, sending documents back and forth for editing and review without any central repository for maintaining the data. The editorial team would wait for content and scheduling information to trickle in from instructors and other sources; meanwhile, the design department could not begin its work until all the information on a page was ready. Under Omegas old workflow, once pages were laid out and ready for final proofing, hard copies would be printed, distributed and marked up for editing. When content was ready to be pushed online, Web staff would spend four to five weeks cutting and pasting materials to be formatted for the organizations Web site.