NAPS Publishing System NPS — Workflow and Asset Management

Read the latest NPS 2000 Brochure. Learn more about NPS Features in this informative document. See How... Scheduling enables production managers to plan deadlines for different stages of the production cycle. See How... Text Abstracts help writers identify correct story files for Check-Out. See How... Book Position Page Previews enable reviewers to select a set of multi-page Quark documents, and view thumbnails, presented in page number sequence, via the web browser. See How... Art Views provides page builders with flexible art previewing from which they can easily drag-and-drop art into Quark picture boxes. Contact us for more information about NPS. Register with us for information about all of our exciting products.

The NAPS Publishing System (NPS) is a powerful workflow management solution for publishers seeking a high level of efficiency and compatability among users throughout the editorial and production cycle. With this system, users get the flexibility to choose the platforms and applications they want, with NPS providing the integrated environment for working efficiently together. Major elements of NPS's appeal include cross-platform support for both Windows® and Macintosh®; the ability to choose favorite applications such as MS-Word®, QuarkXPress®, and Adobe PhotoShop®; the familiarity and flexibility of an Internet Explorer® or Netscape® web-browser interface; and the application-independent architecture which liberates users to integrate new applications, such as Adobe InDesign® or any other application of their choosing. NPS is 100% application-independent, and displays in its browser interface thumbnails for art files, text abstracts for text files, and multi-page thumbnail previews for page files. It includes extensive file routing capabilities, production monitoring and reporting, querying, versioning, and archiving and purging. The base system provides a fully functional system, but add-on modules are available to provide even greater integration opportunities. The Scheduling Module allows you to set a production deadline, then auto-calculate deadlines for all the steps in your workflow.Once production schedules are established, tracking progress against deadlines is a snap. The QuarkXPress Integration Module provides enhanced capabilities for QuarkXPress users, including full-size online previews of QuarkXPress pages, book position previews of multiple QuarkXPress documents, and drag-and-drop of art files directly from the NPS browser into Quark picture boxes. Finally, if your writers and editors are using MS-Word, and your page layout application is QuarkXPress, HNJ Engine provides a two-way composition link between the two applications and is tightly integrated with NPS. How does NPS work? NPS is built on standard underlying technologies for ease of implementation, customization, use, and support. It utilizes a client-server, web-based architecture with an SQL-compliant database for centralized storage of metadata and file pointers. The NPS Server software runs on a Windows 2000 Server; clients can be Windows, Macintosh, or a combination of both platforms. The interface for all users, whether they are local or remote, is a java-enhanced standard web browser, which can be either Explorer or Netscape. The web-based architecture allows users to access the system's full feature set, regardless of where they are when they log in. The customizable interface provides an easy-to-use view appropriate for each user. Access to particular features is controlled by easy-to-update permissions applied to user groups or individual user logins. A particular user gets the same view and feature set whether they log in from a LAN, WAN, or remote location. The only functional difference between logging in as a local user and logging in as a remote user is in file transfer communications. For local user logins, file transfers occur via TCP/IP, while for remote users, file transfers occur via HTTP. Who should use NPS? NPS is ideally suited to publishing workgroups, where multiple users are collaborating to complete a finished product. It is fully scalable, accommodating small, independent workgroups as well as large multi-unit, distributed publishing operations. Magazine, book, and catalog publishers, among others, are depending on NPS to manage the editorial and production process for all of their publications. Magazine publishers using NPS include Harvard Business Review, Cahners, Boy Scouts of America, and Texas Monthly. Book publishers using NPS include several divisions of Pearson Education, Scholastic, and HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. What are the primary user benefits of NPS? Provide easy-to-use, browser-based user interface Enhance online communication with automated workflow routing and inter-user messaging Give writers working in MS-Word powerful write-to-fit tools, including precise copy fit feedback and picture previews of Quark pages with text in place Streamline page building in Quark with copy pre-placed via "Sticky HNJ", batch import of art and text, and direct drag-and-drop of art from NPS browser into Quark picture boxes Review XPress pages online, in the browser, including multi-document, book position XPress previews for full publication review Track progress and status of publications online Schedule production deadlines and track "Actuals" online or through reports Involve remote users in the online workflow What are the primary system management benefits of NPS? Organize files into a centralized publication hierarchy every user can understand Protect files from duplicate editing via check-out/check-in mechanism Protect files from unauthorized user access based on publication, production stage, and user class Integrate Macintosh and Windows platforms seamlessly in the same workflow system Choose the desktop applications of your choice, integrating them with NPS Submit stories, graphics, spreadsheets and other elements from external sources into hot folders Integrate hot capture from newswires, pre-press and in-house scanning operations, photo archive systems, etc. Easy to manage, web-based system administration, including comprehensive storage management and integrated archiving/purging/retrieval interface What is the system architecture of NPS? Client-Server, with centralized database and file storage SQL-compliant database, using MS-SQL Server Server platform is Windows 2000-based, with file storage volumes on NT, Novell, Unix, or Apple Client platforms can be Macintosh or Windows Internet architecture, using choice of Explorer or Netscape browser as the client interface Fully scalable, accommodating small, independent workgroups, as well as large, multi-unit, distributed publishing operations