The Cole Papers, MEI, July 2001

July 2001

Managing pages: Harland Simon's Esprit web planning application, now sold by Managing Editor Inc., provides a view of web page imposition (top), reflecting "penalties" as loaded into the software (below).

Offerings turn Managing Editor into a pretty potent integrator

NEW ORLEANS -- Since a pair of newspapermen founded it in 1990, Managing Editor Inc. (MEI) has given newspaper systems managers the tools they need to meet their challenges.

At first, like the famous Bill Graham line about the Grateful Dead, products from Managing Editor were not only the best at what they did, they were the only ones who did what they did.

Grafting added value onto Quark XPress, making the most of the Macintosh computers' ease-of-use and superior graphics ability, Jenkintown, Pa.-based MEI cleared the ground and set the standards for workflow production tools.

But to stick with the Grateful Dead paradigm, the original band is no longer around, and other competitors have staked a claim to territory that was once exclusive. MEI has not stood still, and was showing products at NEXPO 2001 that should serve to preserve its status as the big dog in the production workflow yard.

In fact, with some of its offerings, MEI was positioning itself as a pretty potent systems integrator. With investments from the venture capital arm of Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose, Managing Editor has seemingly positioned itself to be a continuing major player in the media production game, with its generous kit full of something for every newsroom, plus both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Here's a quick look at the company's offerings at NEXPO 2001:

AdsUp, a wireless remote ad order entry system designed for the Palm OS, which is the preferred operating system for hand-held devices known as personal digital assistants (PDAs), or more specifically, the Palm or the Visor, to name the two bestsellers.

Couple AdsUp with a wireless cellular modem and you have ad sales in a shirt pocket, with the data booked and transmitted (using the Palm OS HotSync) to the central database just once, rather than re-entered at a later time. A $250 PDA running AdsUp is a lot cheaper than a laptop computer, and it's slick and efficient.

FaxAction, customer communications software that handles nearly every type of electronic transmission, not just ad orders. ("It needs a different name," says Dennis McGuire, MEI's co-founder and chief executive). FaxAction, developed by Competent Technologies Inc. of Wilton, Calif., acknowledges the submission of editorial or advertising materials, whether they arrive by fax, e-mail, from the Web, scanned hard copy or electronic file transfer.

With MEI's Roundhouse tracking system, submitted materials can be placed directly into the Roundhouse database. Which leads to ...

Roundhouse 2.5 for Windows, the latest version of MEI's successful Mac-based ad tracking system. Since surveys show that various flavors of Windows are the operating system behind 90 percent of all PCs, MEI has made this product cross-platform, but it won't be shipping until the end of the year.

TruEdit, which is termed "simple and affordable collaborative publishing." With a little help from Adobe in the form of InCopy for writing and InDesign for page layout, this middleware solution integrates both Adobe production tools with a folder-based management system that is a pure Macintosh way of organizing files.

Using familiar drag-and-drop technology, writers can write, designers can design (adding Photoshop and Illustrator files directly to the page), and it all can happen at virtually the same time. Remember, however, that this is not a relational database system and would be unsuitable for a large daily operation.

Essentially, TruEdit is a flat-file system using folders within InDesign. That works with whatever the publication is using as a server -- no additional purchases needed. In fact, TruEdit is a plug-in for InDesign that takes full advantage of the modular, object-oriented coding that makes InDesign so sleekly integrated with the other Adobe products.

It should be shipping now, and for a suggested price of $499 for the TruEdit plug-in and $899 for InDesign, a small publication could set up an inexpensive production system with this software and off-the-shelf Macintoshes. But don't try the system on anything less than a G3 PowerPC.

Harland Simon's ColorWare and Esprit. Here is something completely different -- different in the sense that the computer continues to blur the line of demarcation between pre-press and the actual placing of the publication on the press.

This software, from Harland Simon plc of London and Oak Brook, Ill., will configure a press, tell you where the color has to go based on what's in that Roundhouse ad database, and even say how to configure the press for the most efficient run. And if one part of that press is unavailable, the Esprit software will figure another way to do the job, and also let production managers know how the color will be affected.

It's reminiscent of MEI's bread-and-butter product, the Page Director Ad Layout System (ALS). But rather than ad dummies, this software can show actual press configurations on the fly. The New York Times has decided this is just what its vast number of press configurations needs.

ColorWare figures out how to get the most out of the press's color capabilities, and Esprit then generates the visual representation of the press imposition. What makes it all fly is the integration with ALS. There is one catch: Each press configuration has to be custom built, with the on-site help of the press experts from Harland Simon, and the input of knowledgeable press operators who are experienced in running the press.

It's rather astonishing to see that what Managing Editor started out doing for ad layout now is being applied to the actual positions on the press.

Managing Editor does have many other products, including InDesign plug-ins and Quark XTensions, but all can be classed as tools to enhance the workflow of publications, for the variety of media available.

MEI seems to have the partners and the panache to remain a leader in a race on which the company actually had a head start on everyone else. And it's unlikely the lead will be lost soon.

-- G.P.

Managing Editor Inc.,
(215) 886-5662, e-mail: webmaster@maned.com.

Offerings turn Managing Editor into a pretty potent integrator

From THE COLE PAPERS, July 2001, Copyright © 2001, All Rights Reserved.