The Kleper Report on Digital Publishing - Issue 11.5 September / October 2006

• Dynamic Import, which enables the user to rename batches of files, apply multiple annotations, and more, as files are imported from a camera, disc, or volume.
• Pro Light Table, which supports the display of 1 to 4 images side-by-side for viewing and labeling in full-screen mode. The same point on multiple images can be enlarged for comparison.
• Notepad Feedback Tool, which lets creative professionals and their clients engage in two-way communication. The MediaPro user drags and drops catalog items onto the Notepad palette, adds comments, and then e-mails the file to their client for viewing and feedback.
• XML (XSLT) Import and Export, which supports the exportation of a catalog and its metadata in XML format for use in another application.
• Advanced Web Gallery Options, which now supports CSS, includes direct uploading of exported galleries using the built-in FTP capability.

$199

Contact: iView Multimedia Ltd., 30-40 Elcho St., Battersea Park, London, SW11 4AU, UK, +44 20 7223 8691, http://www.iview-multimedia.com, e-mail: info@iview-multimedia.com.

Intaglio 2.9.1 (MAC)
Intaglio is an inexpensive yet capable drawing program that offers digital publishers an array of useful capabilities for producing vector-based graphics. A complete array of drawing tools can be used to create complex graphics, logos, and typographic treatments. Of particular interest will be the wide range of text effects that can be generated, quickly, and easily, and with ample room for manipulation and experimentation. Users can convert type to paths and use all of the effects that can be applied to graphic objects, as well as edit the glyph outlines. Text can be composed in blocks, rotated, scaled, sheared, and flipped and still remain editable.

The program takes advantage of the rich set of CoreImage filters, Apple Type Services, ColorSync, and the Quartz 2D graphics environment that are built into the Apple OS. These features, along with support for AppleScript, provide the user with exceptional flexibility and imaging potential.

Intaglio brings ClarisDraw into the twenty-first century, providing conversion of ClarisDraw files, and most graphic components, and a user interface that will be familiar. Those who consider Adobe Illustrator CS2 as overkill for their needs should look seriously at Intaglio.

A major benefit to digital publishers is Intaglio's capability to import a PDF and edit it. Users first open a PDF and then convert it for editing, after which they can move and manipulate various graphic element components, including type. Although this is not a complete editing solution, this capability alone can justify the purchase.

A gallery of examples, showing many more of the program's impressive features can be seen at http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/gallery.html. A demo version can be downloaded at http://www.purgatorydesign.com/Intaglio/download.html. $89

Contact: Purgatory Design, P.O. Box 2483, Durango, CO 81302, http://www.purgatorydesign.com.

OmniGraffle 4 Professional (MAC)
OmniGraffle Professional is a fantastic diagramming design application that is an enchanting visual playground for graphic designers. There is a real sense of discovery, realizing that what one can imagine, one can create. Users can produce professional diagrams of all kinds, including charts, instruction sheets, building layouts, etc., as well as create multipage publications incorporating master pages and layers. Although the program is specifically aimed at the creation of diagrams, it can be used to design very sophisticated page layouts, easily, and with a great number of easy-to-use tools, and a library of useful graphic objects.

The objects are provided in categorized groups, such as business and science, and are dragged and dropped onto the program canvas. The objects are positioned on an optional user-defined grid, aligned, resized, grouped, rotated and otherwise manipulated. The user has control over the stroke, fill, color, shadow, etc. providing a significant range of appearance options. Powerful tabbed Inspectors provide direct control over their specifications. Objects can be connected using a variety of lines that remain connected even when moved, unlike most drawing programs.

Users have the option of brainstorming diagrammatic relationships using the Outline view in which topics can be input rapidly and are displayed immediately on the canvas. As items in the outline are rearranged, their corresponding objects are reordered on the canvas, and vice versa. The appearance of the objects can be radically changed by selecting an alternate Diagram Style.

The program is a wonderful accessory to a professional page layout program such as InDesign or QuarkXPress, or an office application, such as MS Word or PowerPoint, since it can export its contents in a wide variety of file formats, including PDF, TIFF, PNG, JPEG, EPS, HTML, SVG, PICT, Photoshop, BMP and more. A trial license is available at http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/download/. $149.95

Contact: Omni Development, Inc., 2707 NE Blakeley St., Seattle, WA 98105-3318, 800 315-OMNI, 206 523-4152, http://www.omnigroup.com, e-mail: info@omnigroup.com, fax: 206 523-5896.

Keynote Quartet '06 (MAC)
Keynote Quartet '06 is a collection of four products that greatly enhance the usefulness, effectiveness, and attractiveness of Apple Keynote presentations.

The first is Keynote Themes 5.0, which is a set of 30 professionally-designed themes, with up to 24 different slide layout masters per theme. A theme is a particular design idea that is carried through on a variety of templates that serve various purposes in a presentation, such as the opening slide, an informational slide, a photo slide, a credits slide, etc. The themes are named after their main design concept, such as Old Paper, Wood, Network, and Business Pro. The theme literally sets the stage for how the overall presentation will look. Jumsoft's themes are attractive and provide a wide variety of options for the user. In addition, the use of these themes is a welcome alternative to using the 20 themes that Apple provides with their software, and which other users are sure to use. Samples of the themes can be seen at http://www.jumsoft.com/themes/. $45

The use of visual motion in a presentation can be an effective method of attracting and holding the attention of an audience. Keynote Animations 4.0 consists of 150 animated objects provided on transparent backgrounds. The animations can be positioned anywhere on a slide. They can be mixed, overlaid, underlaid, and otherwise manipulated at will. All of the animations can be seen in motion at http://www.jumsoft.com/animations/samples/. The animations can also be used with Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, and Motion. $45

Just as themes work to set a mood subliminally, Keynote Stills 3.0 provide a library of 200 still images, with transparent backgrounds, that provide literal meanings through the use of visual objects. Keys, dice, a light bulb, a bow tie, a mouse, a tire, a wire cutter, a saw, a power drill, a wrapped candy, a battery, and a tea kettle, are al examples of everyday items that help not only to convey a message but to get attention. A display of all of the images can be seen at http://www.jumsoft.com/stills/samples/. The images can be used with Apple Pages as well as Microsoft PowerPoint 2004. Purchase of Keynote Stills 3.0 includes a free copy of Keynote Jam 1.1 which consists of 60 photo objects. These images can be seen at http://www.jumsoft.com/jam/samples/. $39

Although themes provide backgrounds for Keynote slides, users may want to enhance their presentations with photographs to emphasize a key thought, idea, or concept, or to add interest and eye appeal. Keynote Photos 2.0 is a gallery of more than 200 images that can be used in any application where photos are needed. The images, provided in 1024x768 ppi resolution, are very colorful and detailed, and represent a wide variety of textures and object close-ups that are captivating and visually interesting. A display of the photos can be seen at http://www.jumsoft.com/photos/samples/. $39

The quartet of all four Jumsoft Keynote packages can be purchased for a special price of $99, a $65 savings over the individual package prices.

Internet Reviews

MotionArtist 3.0_ (WIN )
MotionArtist 3.0_ is a Flash_ design application created for the non-programmer, supporting the generation of sophisticated animations and interactive Web page components without the need to learn coding or scripting. Through the use of templates, wizards and ready-to-use objects, users can design professional-looking presentations and Web pages with point-and-click simplicity. For example, complicated animation processes, such as defining a motion path, is accomplished by simply drawing the object path movement using the mouse.

The program includes an extensive library of more than 800 objects that can be dragged and dropped onto the project edit window and animated. The content consists of animations, backgrounds, banners, buttons, flowers, special effects, and more.

The output is 100% standard SWF (Flash) file compliant, compatible with popular Web editors such as Dreamweaver. $49.99

Shutterbug v2 (MAC)
Shutterbug v2 is a Web site creation tool that simplifies and automates the generation of on-line photo albums up to complete Web sites. The program cleverly separates content from form, providing an easy-to-use interface for entering text and images, and built-in themes and templates for quickly wrapping the content in an attractive presentation.

The program provides three tabbed views: Content, Preview, and Layout. In the Content view the user inputs their photos, dragging and dropping them into an image window, and adding text. Each photo can have its own caption, and tools are provided to customize the pictures with such things as cartoon balloons and watermarks. Additional pages can be added and navigation links established. Clicking on the Preview tab presents the page or pages in a default layout. In this view the user can see how the content will appear when published to the Web. In the Layout view the user can apply any of 45 attractive themes, and then select templates within a theme to suit their requirements.

The process is quick to learn, fast to use, and the results are professional...all without any coding nor knowledge of HTML. Completed pages are exported to a .Mac account, WebDAV, or folder (for FTPing to a site). $49.95

Contact: XtraLean Software Inc., 100 Queen Street North, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2H 2H6, http://www.xtralean.com, e-mail: sales@xtralean.com.

OmniWeb 5.5 (MAC)
OmniWeb 5.5 extends the functionality of this Web browser to new levels (see our previous review at http://www.printerport.com/kdp/issues/old/7.6.html#OmniWeb%204%20(MAC)). The browser is highly compatible with Web sites, and is actually able to be identified (spoofed) as another browser that a particular site might favor.

The browser's long list of features puts it ahead of every available browser, and justifies its price. Users benefit from a tabbed interface, unlimited navigation Workspaces, Ad Blocking, savable browser sessions, manageable bookmark collections, RSS news feeds, defined style sheets for sites on a global or site-specific level, savable search shortcuts, forms auto-fill, password management, page marking, cookie management, spellchecking, HTML source editing, zoomed text editor, and more. $29.95

Contact: Omni Development, Inc., 2707 NE Blakeley St., Seattle, WA 98105-3318, 800 315-OMNI, 206 523-4152, http://www.omnigroup.com, e-mail: info@omnigroup.com, fax: 206 523-5896.

File Transfer/Processing Reviews

Solid Converter PDF to Word (WIN )
Solid Converter PDF to Word provides the user with the capability to process a PDF into a Microsoft Word document that can be edited, and conversely to convert a Word document into a PDF. After the PDF has been processed the user can edit the text and reuse the images. The user has the option of preserving the page layout and formatting including columns, tables, and text flow. $9.95

Contact: VoyagerSoft LLC, 2509 152nd Avenue NE, Suite A, Redmond, WA 98052, 800 880-2654, http://www.soliddocuments.com, fax: 435 671-0157.

ID2Q7 (MAC/WIN)
ID2Q7 is a file conversion program that enables users to convert Adobe InDesign version 1.5 through version 4.x files into QuarkXPress 6 or 7 documents. It is a great time-saver,and is one of the only ways of automating this tedious process. With a single click most of the page elements in an InDesign file are faithfully translated into their QuarkXPress equivalents.

Although the program can not provide 100% translation (see http://www.markzware.com/ID2Q/documentation/ID2Q%20Limitations.pdf), because InDesign and QuarkXPress do not possess the same feature sets, it is nonetheless, an essential tool in digital workflows that involve working with both of these popular applications. $199

Contact: Markzware, 1805 E. Dyer Road, Suite #101, Santa Ana, CA 92705, 949 756-5100, 800-300-3532, http://www.markzware.com, email: info@markzware.com, fax: 949 756-5108.

Fonts/Font Management

P22 Summer 2006 Releases (MAC/WIN)
The P22 Type Foundry occupies a unique place in the typographic community. Its collections are accurate reproductions of classic typeface designs that are critically important to the continuation of our rich typographic legacy. Their latest releases are important contributions to a heritage of craftsmanship, art, and the highest expression of the printed word.

P22 Fonts The FLLW Midway Set is an interpretation of the handwriting used by Frank Lloyd Wright on the Chicago Midway Garden drawings in 1913. It is his own distinctive style of architectural lettering, considerably less formal that the traditional style found on most blueprints. Midway One and Two are quite similar, although Midway Two is slightly more condensed. The two compliment each other and can be used together. The Midway ornaments font contains more than 100 decorative elements that can be used to create borders, boxes, and other design expressions. The set of three fonts is $29.95; individual fonts are $19.95 each.

The Gauguin Set w/ Pro consists of three fonts, two of which, Regular and Brush, are based on the handwriting style of artist Paul Gauguin. The characters are based on notebooks in which he recorded details of his adventures to Tahiti and the South Seas. The Regular and Brush styles are very similar, and differ in that the Brush style is slightly bolder. The Extras font consists of miniature interpretations of his sketches, painting imagery, and woodcuts. The Gauguin Set with Pro is $49.95 and the Gauguin Pro Opentype is $39.95. The Pro series includes more than 350 additional characters, alternate characters for the lower case and upper case alphabet, Central European and Cyrillic character sets, ligatures, swatch characters, and other OpenType features. The TrueType and PostScript versions are $19.95 each or $29.95 for the three font set.

The P22 Declaration Pro Set provides a faithful reproduction of the handwriting used on the Declaration of Independence. The Script and Blackletter fonts closely resemble the penmanship of the 18th century with all of its imprecision and the artifacts of the interaction between ink quill pen and vellum or parchment. The Signers font consists of the signatures of the Declaration. The Pro set also contains OpenType features including a set of Alternate characters and Sorts. $49.95

IHOF Fonts Allyson, a flowing fineline script typeface reminiscent of classic penmanship, is suitable for formal invitations and ornate certificates. It is a revival by designer Paul Hunt of a metal font named "Hazel Script," issued by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler, a Chicago typefoundry opened in 1868. The Pro version, issued in OpenType, contains more than 900 glyphs, providing every imaginable character and symbol, including Central European and Cryillic characters. The regular font is $19.95, the Pro font is $39.95.

Zaner One Pro is part of a family of Zaner fonts based on the hand of Charles Paxton Zaner, considered one of the most important figures in American penmanship. The Zanerian Art College, which he founded in 1888, taught his method of ornamental writing, which is personified in this font. The Zaner Pro Xtras, a part of the Zaner Pro package, adds flourishes, swashes, and illustrations produced by Zaner and his contemporaries. These distinctive and unique designs provide the digital publisher with an entirely new set of design options. The Zaner Super Pro font library, which is comprised of more than 3000 characters, a veritable treasure chest of typographic expression, is priced at only $99.95. Single faces are $19.95, and Pro versions are $39.95.

The Peanut OT Set consists of two fonts, Peanut Regular and Peanut Salted. Peanut is based on the Roman minuscule, with the added features of a somewhat rough-cut outline, and characters that seem to float above the baseline. The Salted version includes several alternate characters, providing the typographer with added design flexibility. The Pro version includes both fonts, and being OpenType, includes contextual ligature substitution. Regular, $19.95; Salted, $19.95; Pro, $29.95.

LTC Fonts The Broadway Set consists of two styles, a regular design and an engraved style. The design was created by Morris Fuller Benton in 1927 for the American Type Foundry, and has since been hailed as a "best in class" example of Art Deco type. The original design consisted only of caps, and a lower case was introduced by Sol Hess in 1929. Hess also designed the engraved variation in 1928 for Lanston Monotype. The two font set is $29.95, and the individual fonts sell separately for $19.95 each.

Creepy Ornaments represents a gathering of historical ornaments and dingbats selected on the basis of their unusual or humorous design. The elements in this collection have little in common, and include a smoking frog, a court jester, a moose head, a bottom denture, a santa with sack, six images of the moon shown in various states and expressing various emotions, and many others. $19.95

The Pabst Italic Set is composed of two designs, Past Oldstyle Italic, and Pabst Oldstyle Swash ($29.95), and is part of a larger family which includes Pabst Oldstyle Regular ($19.95). The design was created by Frederic Goudy in 1902, was named after Col. Fred Pabst, and used for the promotional material of the Pabst Brewing Company. It was later issued by ATF and the Lanston Type Library. The characters have a rough-hewn, hand-carved appearance, and are reminiscent of early America.

The Tourist Gothic Set is a geometric sans serif design interpretation of Modern Condensed Gothic issued by Lanston Monotype. The Alternate style, which features rounded characters was designed by Sol Hess in 1928. The designs retain a clean, modern appearance and incorporate OpenType capabilities and the complete Central European character set. The two style set is $29.95; individual styles are $19.95 each.

The Glamour Set consists of eight styles that reside in a single extended family. The original design upon which the set is based was issued in 1948 by Lanston Monotype, and was named Corvinus by designer Imre Reiner. Reiner designed Corvinus in 1934-35 for the Bauer Type Foundry. This new collection by Colin Kahn has taken the design in a variety of directions, yet all of the variations share a family resemblance (although not always close), and work together typographically. The set provides the typographer with considerable latitude in mixing the faces yet maintaining a consistent feel. The complete set of eight styles is $69.95; a set of four light styles is $39.95; and individual styles are $19.95 each.

Bodoni 175 Pro is the digital remastered version by Paul Hunt based on Sol Hess's design for Lanston Monotype. Bodoni is the classic "Oldstyle" typeface, with distinctive contrast between its thin and thick strokes. Nearly every significant foundry, analog and digital, has produced one or more Bodoni designs. This cut captures all of the feeling and geometric artistry of Giambasttista Bodoni's original design of 1790 and consists of a regular face, small caps, italic, and italic small caps. This pro version features optional long descenders, small caps, ligatures, a Central European character set, lining and oldstyle figures, and "French Oldstyle" figures. The Bodoni 175 Set consists of four styles for $59.95. Individual styles are priced from $19.95 to $39.95.

The Goudy Sans Set is composed of six styles based on Goudy Sans Light and Bold designed by Frederic Goudy between 1922 and 1931. They were digitized and extended in 2006 by designer Colin Kahn who added both a regular and a hairline weight. Despite the variety of stylistic interpretations, the fonts are easily recognized as belonging to the same family. The designs have a simple elegance, and the characters are very cleanly constructed. The italic styles are oblique versions of the roman and have significant embellishment suggesting a cursive style. The designs have withstood the passage of time and maintained their utility. The complete set of six styles is $69.95; each individual style is $19.95.

Squareface Set is classified as an Egyptian or slab serif. It has a geometric design believed to be based on Stymie Extrabold, but with square rather than round corners. It was designed by Sol Hess (1896-1953) in 1940 and used primarily for display purposes. Hess served as the manager of the Lanston Library in the first half of the 20th century, and commissioned many significant typeface designs from Frederic Goudy. It is available as a two style set (Regular and Small Caps) for $29.95, or separately for $19.95 for each style.

Jenson Pro is a set of five type styles inspired by the designs of Nicholas Jenson, who designed type in Venice from 1470-1480. His type designs are classifed as "Venetian," are considered the first true romans, and are highly representative of the Renaissance. His designs are most usually identified by the slanted cross stroke of the lowercase "e." The Lanston Jenson was designed in 1893 by J. W. Phinney, based on the William Morris "Golden Type" which he designed for his Kelmscott Press private editions. These new digitized versions feature a true italic, as opposed to an oblique, and a new heavyface, based on Phinney's 1899 design. The Pro set of five styles is $59.95; the Regular Pro and the Italic Pro are $29.95 each; and other individual styles are $19.95 each.

Kaatskill Pro is based on a design that Frederic Goudy created in 1929 for an edition of Rip Van Winkle that was published by the Limited Editions Club. Jim Rimmer designed the italic version based on Goudy Deepdene Italic. It is a classic book design that Goudy himself said was "_as truly an American type as anything so hidebound by tradition as type can be." The Kaatskill Set consists of two styles at $39.95; the Regular Pro single style is $29.95; and the Regular, Small Caps, and Italic individual styles are $19.95 each.

Ornamental Initials are classically designed single character embellishments typically used at the start of book chapters, or for personal stationery. This set, about which little is known, consists of a negative and a fill version of each character so as to produce two color caps. That process is described by P22 at http://www.p22.com/tip/tipmar03.html. $19.95

Contact: P22 type foundry, POB 770, Buffalo, NY 14213, 716 885-4490, http://www.p22.com, e-mail: http://www.p22.com, fax: 716 885-4482.

Font Showcase 5 (MAC)
Font Showcase 5 provides a simple, uncomplicated font viewing window that can display installed fonts, or let the user select uninstalled fonts, either singly or by the folder-full. Fonts can be printed in single line specimens, and groups of fonts can be organized in Font Books. A slider on the right side of the screen quickly and responsively resizes the selected font from 9 to 128 points. $24.95

Contact: MacCoding, http://www.maccoding.com.

Charmas (MAC)
Charmas consists of two font utilities that are helpful in selecting fonts and producing professional-quality specimen sheets.

The first utility, FontFinder, is a window consisting of four parts. The first is a search field at the top that can be used to locate specific fonts, or fonts containing a specific word, such as "gothic." All of the fonts that meet that criteria appear below the search field, in the upper left part of the window, with the available font styles (regular, italic, bold, etc.) appearing to the right. A specimen of the selected font appears in the lower half of the window in sample text that can be set by the user. In the lower right corner of the window are controls for setting the font size (9 points to 288 points) and general view size (100-300%) of the specimen.

The second utility, FontBook, provides the choice of four specimen sheet layouts. When opened, the installed fonts appear in a list at the top of the window. The first font is displayed in the main window in the default view which consigns the entire page to a display of a single font. Other views can show up to two fonts per page. The user can use the two arrows at the top of the window to move through the font list, or use the drop down to select a particular font. Users can output pages as PDF or TIFF files or print a single page or an entire catalog. Approx. $24 U.S.

DTP Reviews

MLayout 2 (MAC)
MLayout 2 (see our review of the original version at http://www.printerport.com/kdp/issues/old/v9n3.html#MLayout%20(MAC)) is a full-featured publishing environment that offers a transition path to QuarkXPress users by providing a native import capability that interprets QuarkXPress 3.3 files. This is especially important in PDF workflows, since the application can output high resolution PDF documents for print or the Web. The program is also useful in that it is Unicode-based, meaning that its composition engine can deal with many different languages. The modular design of the program supports specialized capabilities such as mathematical equations and tables. $399

Contact: SoftMagic, 5F, Han ChungAng B/D, Yoksam-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-080, Korea, 82.2.558.0222, http://www.softmagic.com, e-mail: info@softmagic.com, fax: 82.2.569.2103.

BookAssembler (MAC)
BookAssembler is a PDF-based application that centralizes the page assembly process for composing books and other publications for print and Web output. The program supports a workflow that assigns jobs to a variety of workers based on the particular plan devised in the software. PDFs produced by the various parties are imposed in the BookAssembler environment. The program provides an innovative origami-like animation to show how each job will fold and to check visually for the proper placement of all pages.

The program also supports the generation of eBooks and WEbzines for online reading. It can generate automatically, a table of contents, and supports hyperlinks, multimedia links, automatic page turning, Web skin authoring, and more. $1000

Contact: SoftMagic, 5F, Han ChungAng B/D, Yoksam-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-080, Korea, 82.2.558.0222, http://www.softmagic.com, e-mail: info@softmagic.com, fax: 82.2.569.2103.

Animation Reviews

CrazyTalk Media Studio (WIN )
CrazyTalk Media Studio is a wonder of the computer age...software that can add animation and voice to a static facial image, essentially bringing it to life. The process is relatively easy to accomplish, and the results are quite startling...approaching the animation of the dead!

The user loads an image, preferably one that clearly shows the subject's face. The subject can be a real person, a pet, or a comic illustration. The user makes a few settings over the face, indicating, for example, where the corners of the mouth and eyes are. Pre-recorded wav files are imported, or the user can use their own voice to record directly in the program. After these steps the user can run the animation and bring the face to life. Numerous adjustments can be made in the timeline editor which translates the voice into facial expressions, lip shapes, eye, head and shoulder movements, etc. Since the original photo may show the user with their mouth closed, the user can add teeth and a throat color for when the mouth is open while speaking. After tweaking the settings the finished animation can be output as MPEG-4, Targa, WMV, AVI, RM, BMP images sequences, and more. $149.95

Contact: Reallusion, 2033 Gateway Place, Fifth Floor, San Jose, CA 95110, 408 573-6107, http://www.reallusion.com.

Digital Audio

MP3 Maker 11 deluxe (WIN )
MP3 Maker 11 deluxe (see our review of the previous version at http://www.printerport.com/kdp/issues/current.html#MP3%20Maker%2010%20deLuxe%20%28WIN%20%29) adds several advanced features to this low-cost package. New is the MAGIX Headphone Surround sound capability that enhances listening even on inexpensive speakers. Other significant features are MAGIX AudioID, which automatically fills in incomplete ID3 song identification tags; Universal Plug & Play to use the application as a music server or network client; MAGIX Music Editor 2.0, to professionally edit music in real-time; and many more.

The program has the well-earned distinction of being the "most successful music management software in the world" based on U.S. and European sales in the category of "Music Software." New users will appreciate both the video and online tutorials. $29.99

Additions/Extensions Reviews

Blow Up (MAC/WIN)
Blow Up is a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements that supports the upsizing of images without the pixelation and jaggies that would normally result from extreme upward resizing. The software utilizes a proprietary image scaling algorithm that maintains images smoothness, sharp edges and lines, up to six times (3600%) without objectionable artifacts.

The software defies the commonly held belief that digital images can not be magnified significantly without sacrificing image quality. Blow Up does an excellent job of resizing CMYK, RGB, Lab, grayscale, and duotone images, including 16- and 32-bit files.

The Blow Up interface supports control over sharpening with a slider ranging from 0 to 100, and a slider for adding grain also ranging from 0 to 100. The sharpening control acts on the loss of contrast along sharp edges, while the grain control adds simulated film grain to produce more realistic results.

Although there are competitive products on the market Alien Skin can proudly state that this plug-in produces "the highest quality image resizing available." In addition, the software does not require the user to save files in a proprietary file format. With the growing popularity of large format printing, this software is an invaluable tool, and an excellent investment. $199

Contact: Alien Skin Software, LLC, 1111 Haynes St., Ste Zero, Raleigh, NC 27604, 919 832-4124, http://www.alienskin.com, e-mail: alien-skinfo@alienskin.com, fax: 919 832-4065.

RSSReplay (MAC/WIN)
RSSReplay is an Adobe Dreamweaver (MX, MX2004, and version 8) plug-in that enables Web site designers and administrators to add RSS feeds easily. The user need not know any RSS/XML coding, nor does he or she have to copy and paste postings from the RSS feed source(s).

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a method of publishing whereby site publishers can distribute their postings, blogs, etc., to readers (subscribers) who will receive them automatically, and view them through a Web browser or RSS reader. This system should be of interest to digital publishers since it enables site publishers to reach a large audience at the moment new information is posted, and enables subscribers to aggregate content from a large number of sites in one place. This is a powerful concept and its implementation is becoming increasingly popular.

RSSReplay, gives a Web site developer the capability to republish an RSS feed on their site that emanates from any source. Any content used in this way should be used with proper attribution, and any necessary permissions should be secured.

The RSSReplay plug-in is installed by double-clicking it. The Dreamweaver application takes care of placing it in the proper location. From inside Dreamweaver the user places the RSSReplay icon within a page layout, and uses its associated Property Inspector to ascribe where the feed will come from by inserting the source URL, how the feed will appear, i.e. headlines only, headlines with stories, etc., and how it will look, stylewise. The process is very straight forward, and the user can preview the feeds immediately from within Dreamweaver.

A complete tutorial is available at http://www.rnsoft.com/en/products/rssreplay/content/tutorial/index.php. The single Web site edition is $29, the five Web site edition is $39, and unlimited Web site edition is $59.

Mechanical Cubed (MAC)
Mechanical Cubed are a set of integrated tools that can work with either Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator, CS or CS2. The tools help to maintain essential job information and specifications that must be communicated accurately throughout the job workflow.

The Slug Cubed element can display over sixty different metadata elements relating to a given document, including such details as the job number, file name, key personnel, fonts used, placed graphics, inks, and much more. The slug appears on-screen and is maintained in the file as it progresses through the workflow. The slug can be tied to an external data source, such as a spreadsheet which contains job metadata that can be imported to populate the various slug fields eliminating the need for re-keyboarding and removing the possibility of introducing errors in the process.

The Crop Cubed element enables the user to input crop and fold marks and maintain the settings with an accurate depiction on screen, and subsequently in print. The position of the marks help to ensure that the job will be cut and folded correctly and within the job specifications.

Establishing common settings for repeat work can significantly reduce production time by eliminating those repetitive settings that every job must have. By saving and reusing Mechanical Cubed files, workers not only save time, but remove the possibility of errors that might occur when setting up a new job.

A free demo can be downloaded at http://www.tripletriangle.com/mechanical, or by e-mailing demos@tripletriangle.com. $326

Contact: Triple Triangle, Suite 112, 396 Washington St., Wellesley, MA 02481, http://www.tripletriangle.com.

Imposer Pro (MAC/WIN)
Imposer Pro is an Acrobat plug-in that enables users to create a new PDF from a multipage PDF with its pages imposed into printer flats, either 2-up, 4-up, or 8-up, and in one of five imposition types, Standard, Work & Turn, Work & Tumble, Split Web, and Sheet Wise. The program allows the user to select which pages to impose and how many signatures to generate thereby making it possible to use the same original PDF to output several different impositions.

The plug-in automatically calculates what are sometimes difficult measurements, such as creep, page gaps, spread gaps, bleed, crossover trapping, and plate margins. The newly created imposed PDF includes printer's marks and information about each flat. The imposition is affected by the type of binding selected. There is support for Saddle Stitch, Perfect Bound, Stacked (for 3-hole punch, spiral bound, or comb bound), and None.

After pages have been imposed, they can be previewed. The preview shows the page numbers, page head directions, and signatures. Clicking on a page will display the corresponding PDF page.

Impositions that will be used repeatedly can be saved as "imposition styles," retaining all of the settings for reuse. Styles can be updated and resaved as necessary. $399.99

Contact: alap, inc., (A Lowly Apprentice Production), Inc., a division of Quark, Inc., 1800 Grant St., #800, Denver, CO 80203, 303 894-8888, http://www.alap.com.

sciPROOF Workstation Edition (WIN )
sciPROOF Workstation Edition is an add-on for Microsoft Office that enables a scientific proofreading workflow that checks for both spelling and formatting. The program's powerful database engine, composed of over 250,000 scientific, medical, and chemical terms, is accessible directly from within Microsoft Office, eliminating the need for copying and pasting or switching between applications. The program, which is accessible from Microsoft Word, Outlook, Outlook Express, PowerPoint, FrontPage, Excel, Access, Visio, Publisher, One Note, and Microsoft Project, supports all of the foreign languages that are configured during installation.

Among the features are: • A Spell Checker, which works with the native host application, using the primary program's spell checker for the initial checking, and sending unrecognized words to the sciPROOF spell checker. • A Style Checker, which checks for proper use of font styles (italics, bold, underline, etc.), sub- and superscripting, and ALL CAPS. • A Greek Symbol Checker, which verifies the proper use of Greek symbols and inserts them appropriately. • Internet Searching of PubMed can be performed from within a Word document. • A Scientific Glossary of over 30,000 terms is accessible by the user.

A free demo version is available at http://www.sciproof.com/demo/. $129 on sale for $79.

Smart Styles version 4.0.2 (MAC/WIN)
Smart Styles version 4.0.2 is a plug-in for Adobe InDesign CS2 that combines object, table, and smart text styles into a single powerful palette. See our previous reviews at http://www.printerport.com/kdp/issues/old/v5n5.html#Smart%20Styles%20for%20InDesign%201.5%20(MAC/WIN), and http://www.printerport.com/kdp/issues/old/v9n1.html#Smart%20Styles%20CS%20(MAC/WIN). Users are able to design quite complex typographic and object formatted text blocks and tables and store their attributes in the Smart Styles library palette. They can then easily assign those attributes by dropping the saved style onto the target area. The target instantly takes on the appearance attributes of the source. This capability is a major time-saver and can endow a less than experienced InDesign user with extraordinary design expertise. The Smart Styles libraries can also be shared among members of a workgroup.

The program goes far beyond the innate styles capability of InDesign. Digital publishers will marvel at the intelligence that the plug-in displays in mimicking the layout of a given text frame. In a publication environment devoted to newsletters, for example, the user need only compose a sample text frame with a bold 36 point headline, a 22 point bold italic subhead, a 14 point italic by-line, and 12 point body text, drag it into the Smart Styles palette, and have it available to apply at any time in the future to a lead story. A smart style can also contain page item style properties, such as drop shadows, running headers and footers, stroke, fill, transparency, corner effects, multiple columns, text wrap settings, InDesign nested styles, inset, and more.

Smart styles are created by dragging and dropping a styled page item onto the Smart Styles library wherein the software analyzes the formatting structure and retains it for re-use. The styles are given names and users can edit the styles, turning off any properties that they do not want to propagate. A QuickTime tutorial is available at http://www.woodwing.com/smartstyles/WWSmartStyles_example.mov. $239

Contact: WoodWing Software, Smitsven 18, 1504 AM Zaandam, The Netherlands, +31 75 61 43 400, http://www.woodwing.com, e-mail: support@woodwing.com, fax: +31 75 61 43 399. In U.S.: 888 563-3427, e-mail: info@woodwing.com; Woodwing USA, The Ford Building, 615 Griswold #531, Detroit, MI 48226, 313 962-0542, e-mail: usa@woodwing.com, fax: 313 962-9644 .

AKVIS Enhancer (MAC/WIN)
AKVIS Enhancer is a plug-in for Photoshop compatible applications that can restore or reveal detail to underexposed, overexposed, and midtone areas of a digital image without manipulating the overall exposure. It can produce rather amazing results in photos that appear to lack detail. Unlike the controls that are native in Photoshop, such as Levels, Enhancer can show details in highlight and overshadowed areas without degrading the parts of the image that are satisfactory. The program works by increasing the difference between adjacent pixels and reveals details in the shadow, midtone, and overexposed areas.

The plug-in working area provides sliders for adjusting the Level of Detail, Highlight/Shadow priority, and Intensity. Results are in real-time, enabling the user to make slight adjustments and immediately see the results. The user can also toggle between the Before and After views. The results can be quite stunning, and the speed by which significant improvements can be made is quite amazing. The demo version, available at http://akvis.com/en/enhancer/download-photo-enhancement.php can be used for ten days. $69

Contact: AKVIS, Pacific Business Centre, P.O. Box 34069 #381, Seattle, WA 98124-1069, 206 309-0821, http://www.akvis.com, e-mail: info@akvis.com; fax: 206 984-3919.

AKVIS Retoucher (MAC/WIN)
AKVIS Retoucher is a plug-in that is works with Photoshop compatible applications, such as Corel Photo-Paint for Windows. It enables the rapid removal of scratches, flakes, stains, dust, and other imp

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