Metadata. The mere mention of the word is enough to bring some people out in hives – especially given that it ends in ‘data’, four letters guaranteed to give most ordinary folk the heebie-jeebies.
Don’t panic, though. It’s really not too tricky and it could prove very valuable when it comes to making print production quicker and cheaper. It can also remove the burden of some of the more dreary aspects of your to-do list.
What does it mean? Basically, it means ‘data about data’. In the case of print workflows, that means it’s information that is embedded in a file, or carried alongside it, that says something useful about that file.
Existing examples of metadata include the Job Definition Format – JDF – which is a file format that enables MIS, pre-press, press and post-press kit to talk to each other. Another format, and one much more relevant when it comes to designing and specifying print and other media, is Adobe’s XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform). This is used by all the company’s software products, including Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop.
The aim of these formats is to streamline workflow. With XMP that isn’t just production, but also business issues such as rights management through the embedding of copyright and licensing details. But you’ve got to know it’s there to make use of it, whether that’s manually or automatically.
“What people need is more automation, and I believe metadata is important for that,” says Gradual Software founder Peter Camps.
Camps formed the company with the aim of democratising metadata. He came up with the idea after leaving Enfocus, another firm he founded, which provided the tools to aid the adoption of another Adobe technology – PDF.
“It’s very early days for metadata,” he adds. “The first goal is to allow users to access the metadata that already exists. Current software puts more information into documents than you think and many of the fields are created and filled automatically. Our aim is to make the non-expert able to access them, fill them and use them.”
The firm’s Switch suite of products already provides a ‘software backbone’ that enables the automation of tiresome tasks, such as routing incoming and outgoing emails and sorting and storing files based on predetermined properties.
The right configuration
Switch also includes tools called configurators, which make it simple to make a bespoke workflow from third-party applications. Like all plug-in-type tools, there has to be a configurator available for each desired third-party tool.
When Gradual unveiled the latest version – Switch 07 – it also took the wraps off its Crossroads initiative. This involved software firms that want to use Switch as the enabling tool to develop custom workflows around their own products. Because it’s a modular system, users can build their own workflow a bit at a time, as budgets and needs dictate.
Does it work? It’s difficult to say as yet. It’s relatively early days for Switch, and Gradual UK distributor Positive Focus claims its early-adopter customers are keeping close-mouthed about the benefits.
There are also other suppliers with a focus on metadata and its application to areas relevant to print buyers. Kodak has recently adopted XMP for its remote proofing and approval workflow at the behest of the Digital Ad Lab (DAL).
“The DAL wants all vendors to work together on a common metadata standard,” says Thierry Callot, product marketing manager at Kodak Graphic Communications. “We implemented metadata in Insite Creative workflow.”
This shows the beauty of metadata in making open systems possible. One of the strengths of a metadata-driven workflow is that systems downstream can read it, so things cannot go awry on the way.
Emerging products
New products include Specle Create, which uses XMP to ensure pages are created and reproduced with the right specifications. Pound Hill Software’s MetaGrove plug-ins standardise metadata for use in Adobe Creative Suite applications. Both MetaGrove and Specle Create are sold by Turning Point Innovation.
Sales and marketing director Steve Emerson says: “We’re seeing a lot of printers joining their MIS to their workflows. And there is a big take-up of marketing resource management (MRM) systems such as Aprimo and Pelagon.”
It all points to one thing – automation is becoming de rigeur, both upstream and downstream of print production and buying. To close the gap, users need to get a grip on how metadata and other automation tools can make it happen.
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