InPorter unifies cross-media environments such as print-plus-online while reducing costly manual intervention. It simplifies and streamlines the process of taking content that’s outside the K4 environment — from your Web site or an archive or other storage location — and placing it in your K4 workflow.
Files to be "InPorted" are typically dropped into a watched folder, either manually or by an automatic process you set up. InPorter does the rest.
How it works
InPorter is a server-side utility that automatically checks into the K4 database any object K4 can manage — Adobe InCopy documents, Adobe InDesign layouts, pictures, ads and related content files — as well as XML files, such as copy from the Web.
Using InPorter’s intuitive setup utility, a K4 administrator configures feeds for different types of content. When content arrives in the watched folders, InPorter checks it into K4, applying the default metadata defined for that feed or using custom metadata read from an XML-based job ticket or from XMP metadata embedded in the file.
InPorter then passes the file, with associated metadata (including custom fields as needed), to the K4 workflow.
Custom XSLTs and JavaScripts can be written to convert files that don’t conform to the InPorter schema.
Once the files are checked in, they immediately show up on the to-do list of the K4 user to whom they’ve been assigned.
XML to InCopy, automatically
InPorter has specific XML-processing capabilities for ingesting XML-based content into an InCopy-based K4 workflow. Whether the content is coming from your digital asset archive, a wire service, a database, a syndication partner, your Web site or another K4 publication, InPorter can automatically turn an XML feed into a new InCopy article and check the article into the K4 workflow.
With InPorter, you have the flexibility to publish to and from multiple channels with minimal impact on production. Whether it’s a list of restaurant reviews and accompanying photographs or InDesign files being repurposed for a new edition of your textbook, InPorter can link your content source and K4 — automatically.
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Content Source |
Type of File |
InPorter Processing Steps |
K4 Result |
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Reader e-mail |
Text |
Dynamically convert e-mail into InCopy article |
InPorter checks objects into K4, using metadata to assign the object to the appropriate publication or project, to kick off a workflow and to route the object to the assigned person or group. |
Articles flow into a pool of potential letters to the editor, with metadata listing reader name and e-mail for follow-up contact. |
|
Digital asset management (DAM) library; picture desk; photo shoots |
Images (any format, such as .jpg, .tif or .gif) and metadata (XMP) |
Interpret metadata to automate check-in to appropriate workflow |
Photos are labeled ready for production, placed into the appropriate section and assigned to a layout artist or team, complete with cutline, credit and usage information. After placement in layouts, images associated with articles can be exported as part of a package for archiving, Web publishing, syndication and so on. |
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|
Slush manuscript submissions |
Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) |
Apply metadata to each file |
Manuscript submissions are imported and processed automatically for review and potential entry into publication workflow. |
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Archive of previously published InDesign files |
Adobe InDesign (.indd) |
Run script to test readability of text; capture readability index as metadata before checking file into K4 |
Layouts are checked into the workflow for a new edition of a textbook, and routed to appropriate editor for review, comment and assignment. |
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|
Wire-service feed |
XML |
Dynamically convert XML into InCopy articles |
Fully styled articles are routed to article workflows for different sections, such as national, international, sports and lifestyle. |
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News budgeting system |
XML job ticket |
Parse job ticket to create InCopy articles from templates, then check into K4. |
Articles are assigned to the right staffers based on news budget requirements, and linked to other systems, such as photo DAM or Web CMS, with a unique ID. | |
Windows
Macintosh
For more information about InPorter and to arrange to see a demonstration, fill out the form below. You can also fill out a form and view the InPorter In Action webinar.