Integral support for all types of content and for publishing
to multiple channels.
Efficient, configurable task-based workflows with a new
graphical workflow design editor.
New capabilities for remote users working via the Web.
Modern multi-tier database architecture with an intuitive
Web-based administration interface.
The K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform is a versatile, scalable system that delivers multimedia content to a variety of output channels — print, online and other electronic formats. Whether you produce magazines, books, newspapers, brochures, annual reports or online content, K4 provides the tools that allow your operation to run smoothly and efficiently — saving time and cost, and at the same time allowing you to expand your capabilities to grow revenue.
With K4 as the standard platform humming in the background, word people, designers and managers focus on their own parts of the publishing process without getting in each others’ way, allowing writing, editing, layout, photo editing and editorial review to proceed simultaneously and collaboratively. At the same time, K4 combines distant locations into a single editorial office, allowing off-site contributors, freelancers and vendors to log into the system over the Internet using the included browser-based Web Portal. Administrators manage the system through an intuitive, browser-based K4 Admin that features a new graphical workflow editor.
K4 provides a level of transparency in the workflow that lets everyone see what everyone else is working on, with intuitive database querying and automatic notifications that keep users up to speed about changes that affect what they’re doing. At the same time, content protection, full versioning and robust permission controls ensure a level of stability and security that is critical to the publishing enterprise.
ANY CONTENT, ANY CHANNEL
With Version 6 of the K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform, you can manage all your content, regardless of its source or eventual destination, securely and transparently. The system is capable of managing virtually any file type in addition to Adobe InDesign layouts and Adobe InCopy articles, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, images, rich media, PDFs, XML files, or PowerPoint presentations, as well as their template files.
Then, K4 allows content to be directed to as many output channels as needed, such as print, Web, mobile, eBook, social networks, syndication or multiple languages.
TASK-BASED WORKFLOW
The K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform Version 6 introduces a task-based user workflow that provides both simplicity and granularity. At each stage of a project, users see the specific and explicit tasks that are assigned to them. With a simple double-click on the task, K4 automatically presents them with what they need to do the job, such as a text file or picture to edit, a layout to design, or a metadata field to fill in. Numerous tasks can be completed simultaneously: one editor can edit the body text while another authors headlines and pull-quotes for the story, while a Web editor adds keywords to the metadata, while a researcher approves the accompanying photo.
Once a task is completed, the user marks it finished, opening a dialog that presents the available next steps for the object. K4 automatically advances the file in the workflow, routing it to the appropriate person or team as defined in the workflow, with the correct additonal or alternative tasks assigned.
REMOTE CONNECTIVITY
In addition to the plug-ins for InDesign and InCopy desktop applications, the K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform Version 6 includes the K4 Web Portal for connecting via a Web browser.
The K4 Web Editor plug-in lets writers and editors work on InCopy artticles directly in a web browser — no InCopy client necessary. A K4 Web CMS Editor, ideal for Web-first workflows, provides a WYSIWYG editor for native HTML content. And the K4 File Manager enables Web access to a wide variety of other content types right in the workflow, allowing them to be edited in their native applications.
UNDER THE HOOD
The workflow editor gives K4 administrators a visual tool
to build and modify workflows for any kind of object. Version 6 of the K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform is a multi-tier solution that supports Oracle, Microsoft SQL and MySQL database platforms and runs on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and SUN Solaris operating systems.
One K4 database server can handle multiple titles and workgroups, or several K4 servers can be configured to manage all publications across an enterprise.
The K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform includes numerous updated tools for administrators. An intuitive, browser-based K4 Admin tool provides access to system and user settings and features new, easy to use wizards for many key tasks such as adding groups and categories and setting up new users.
Unique to K4 Version 6 is a graphical workflow editor that allows administrators to set up, edit and duplicate simple or complex parallel cross-media workflows to be applied to objects entered in the system.
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CROSS-MEDIA |
Integrates cross-media workflows, with an unlimited number of output channels possible to suit any publishing need, including print, Web, mobile, syndication and translation. |
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Seamlessly links K4 with Web CMS, such as Drupal; electronically generates HTML, XML and other electronic formats conforming to specific CMS requirements. |
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Unique workflows can be defined for each output channel, and can include one or more channels for each file type. |
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Publishers can use their own terms for labeling publication segments and structures. |
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Layouts, text files, images of all types, ads, audio/video, Word manuscripts, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint files – virtually any kind of file – can be managed and versioned within the K4 system. |
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Integral K4 Web Portal enables remote browser access to database and editing tools. Plug-ins work with a variety of file types in their native applications, including InCopy and HTML. |
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CONTENT CREATION |
InCopy and InDesign CS4 fully integrated in a relational database system. Parallel, collaborative workflow provided for writers and editors in InCopy and designers in InDesign. |
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Task-based workflow controls explicitly tell each user what to do at each step. All tasks presented in a convenient hierarchical list view. |
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Simultaneous assignment of individual text objects and metadata fields. Multiple users can edit content and metadata simultaneously. |
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Configurable dependencies between objects: For example, a layout won’t move to final status until all of its contents are complete. |
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Unlimited number of custom workflows to support different task and status requirements based on the type of content: For example, the workflow for a feature story could be different from the workflow for a news item. |
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Powerful, easy-to-use database querying tools let users find what they need when they need it. |
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Write and edit text to fit in Adobe InCopy or K4 InCopy Web Editor with exact copy fitting; galley, full text or WYSIWYG editing mode in InCopy; red lining and edit tracking; in-line notes; notes management. |
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Automatic notification for users when layout, text or images have changed. |
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Automatic version control and history of files and metadata. |
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Multi-links support placement of objects multiple times. |
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PRODUCTION |
Browser-based graphical Workflow Editor for creation and management of detailed custom workflows, with printable workflow charts. |
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Template management for any file type. |
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Browser-based production tracking with K4 Overview. |
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Easy connection for remote users with K4 Web Portal. |
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Built-in Adobe InDesign Server for automatic generation of page previews, PDFs for review, high-resolution output and custom InDesign and InCopy automations. |
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Web-based administration of multiple publications with single login; rights-based access to administration areas to support different admin roles. |
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Multi-level wizards to create issues, users and permission categories as well as to define workflows and tasks; customizable terminology for publication structures to support workflows for any kind of output. |
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TECHNOLOGY |
Modern, multi-tier architecture supports Oracle, Microsoft SQL and MySQL database platforms and runs on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and SUN Solaris operating systems. |
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Scalable for workgroups smaller than 15 users to those with several hundred. |
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Support for Mac OS X and Windows clients in mixed-platform environments |
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Secure user login and logout; user permissions control access to files, metadata and task assignments. |
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AppleScript, JavaScript and Visual Basic support for automating site-specific processes. |
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Seamless integration of applications or other enterprise solutions using open APIs and a comprehensive K4 Software Development Kit (SDK). |
MEI, K4 developer vjoon and a number of third-party developers are always working on modules and add-on products to improve the K4 user experience and increase K4 functionality. Contact MEI to find out how these products can enhance your operation.
ALS Direct
Link your Page Director Ad Layout System to your editorial K4 setup to create a single issue-planning workflow off one shared system. ALS Direct places the ALS issue, complete with ad paths, directly into the K4 database, where the pages can be opened as InDesign documents. Updates continue throughout the pagination process, and K4 page JPEGs can be viewed by the ALS operator. Learn More.
InPorter
A server-side utility, MEI’s InPorter can ingest any kind of file that can be handled by K4 — including InCopy, InDesign, images and Word files — as well as XML and XMP. It then automatically “inports” the content, with its metadata, to the desired location in the K4 workflow. Learn More.
K4 File Manager
Manage pictures, ads, multimedia and other non-InCopy, non-InDesign files with this plug-in for the Web Portal. K4 File Manager allows remote users to initiate workflows and accept and finish tasks. Files open in their native formats for editing, and revised versions are automatically uploaded to the K4 database when the work is finished.
K4 Web Editor
K4 Web Editor lets remote users work with InCopy files from the K4 database via the Web Portal without needing K4 client plug-ins or InCopy on their local workstations. In addition to editing tools and a WYSIWYG view, Web Editor provides the ability to add and review inline notes. Revised versions are automatically uploaded to the K4 database when the work is finished.
K4 Web CMS Editor
The Web CMS Editor plug-in for the Web Portal allows users to capture and edit native content as HTML snippets. Users can edit the HTML files, as well as uploading text, images and video from K4 to a Web site for online posting.
K4 Revision Manager
Revision Manager lets users compare two versions of a K4 article side by side in a single window, with text colors and strikethroughs flagging edits and deletions. When comparing the current article with an earlier version, each change can then be approved or revoked directly from Revision Manager.
Notes Manager
Manage Adobe inline notes within your K4 layouts and articles with this panel, which shows all notes for the open layout. Expanded functionality includes sorting and filtering capabilities for note attributes such as author and time of insertion, and easy navigation between panel and text.
Overset Manager
See at a glance if a layout contains overset; review the overset copy in its own dynamic frame from InCopy or InDesign; include overset frames in printed proof; and get a warning if there is still overset before the document is uploaded to the database. View a panel that lists and locates overset frames and displays information such as length and number of lines.
K4 Overview
Review K4 pages from any Web browser. A password-protected Web interface displays high-resolution JPEG views of InDesign layouts, searchable by query or issue, complete with color cues that signal where they are in the workflow. It's perfect for supervisors and others who aren't K4 users but want to browse stories and layouts and keep track of where things stand. Customers can opt for Advanced Overview, with additional features, including “Prediction Mode,” which shows the pages with all objects updated, whether or not the designers have saved final versions of their InDesign files.
K4 XML Exporter
Whether it’s for publishing to the Web, archiving, syndication or transfer to a digital asset management system, the K4 XML Exporter provides a cost-effective and standards-compliant means for organizing and exporting individual articles or complete issues to XML directly from the K4 database.
MadeToPrint Auto
An integrated solution from axaio, MadeToPrint Auto uses status changes as triggers to automate the output of InDesign pages from the K4 system. This allows preflighting, packaging, proofing and PDF generation directly from the K4 system.
For more information about the K4 Cross-Media Publishing Platform and to arrange to see a demonstration, fill out the form below.