Time for PDF

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, August 1, 2002 by Guy Gleysteen

Byline: Guy Gleysteen

Recently, at Time Inc., we decided to examine our strategies for production publishing technology. It became clear that the DC2 file format simply wasn't flexible enough to support our future goals, so we investigated other file formats. We quickly realized that Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) seemed to fit the bill as the critical building block in our strategy to develop soft proofing, electronic magazines, digital asset management systems and process automation workflows. To minimize the scope of possible problems with our new PDF format, we asked our advertisers to supply the more print-centric version of it called PDF/X-1a.

Since deciding in February to move to PDF, we have spent most of our time working on our PDF workflow's implementation, focusing on three areas: communication with advertisers, technology and training.

As part of our communications program we've spoken at industry events, engaged professional associations (like the Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publications Association) and hosted a number of activities to talk about the benefits of PDF and Time Inc.'s plans to make the conversion by midyear. These efforts were important, but the most critical exchange still takes place between the ad services teams and the advertising agencies. Those conversations are the real engine of change.

On the technology front, we launched a Web site, www.direct2.time.com. This page has everything an advertiser needs to know to produce a PDF file for a publication. The site also contains a variety of templates that users can download to help establish software settings and configure quality checks.

Inside the Time & Life Building, our titles use Adobe's Acrobat 5.0 and CREO's Prinergy as their primary file management tools. Prinergy enables our magazines to accept PDF, TIFF/IT or Postscript files, so - regardless of original format - documents are quickly converted to PDF/X-1a for delivery to our printers. We inspect the files using Enfocus Pit Stop Pro 5.0. That task has been greatly simplified since PDF files can be readily displayed for a quick check and are fundamentally easier to troubleshoot than either TIFF/IT or Postscript.

It's worth noting that we specifically designed our core technology solution to accommodate the inevitable complications that will surface in the switch from legacy file formats to PDF. It has been misreported occasionally that our magazines will only accept PDF/X-1a files after June 2002. We've asked advertisers to make the switch to PDF, but we have positioned ourselves so that we are able to accommodate their needs - and ours. There's an adage in the software industry that applies here: in order to insure the success of the new stuff, you also need to support the old stuff.

So where does all this get us? In February, we said we would be ready in June, and we were. Fortune magazine's July 8th issue contained the first live PDF form, and the July 22nd issue will be 100 percent PDF. For the weekly titles, Sports Illustrated leads with its first PDF forms in its July 15th issue and will be 100 percent PDF with its July 29th issue.

From a starting point of zero at the beginning of the year, approximately 10 percent of the files submitted to the magazines are now coming in to Time Inc. as PDF files. Advertisers have been supportive of the transition. Interestingly, the challenge hasn't been in convincing agencies to switch to PDF; it's in educating agencies to switch from initially supplying PDF 1.2 files to providing the print-centric PDF/X-1a format.

Still, the fact that we are talking about which PDF format is "best" for print tells you something about how well we are doing. There's a lot more to accomplish, but we think we're well on the way.

Guy Gleysteen is the director of printing for Time Inc.

ASK THE EXPERT

I manage a busy newspaper and magazine production department. I'd like for us to become a profit-center, rather than just being a necessary but non-profitable part of the operation. We have all the equipment and the talent, so what can we do to make some money? How do we promote those services, and how do we keep this "extra" work from interfering with our primary tasks? - Patti Moran, production manager of Ottawa Business Journal, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Steve Spingola, production director of IDG's Macworld, responds:

To make some money, you can open up your production department as a pre-press service bureau offering everything a conventional bureau offers, including page composition, scanning, color correction and CTP technologies. You can expand that to include print brokerage, contract negotiation, advertiser customer service, paper buying and inventory.

Your own printer and paper suppliers are a great source in helping you promote your services. They most likely have clients/publications in your local area without the advanced techno logical resources you have at hand. Also, get on the Internet and find local publications and (especially start-ups) that could use your help. Build a Web site that simply explains what you can provide. Read mastheads and contact people.