ZOETERMEER, THE NETHERLANDS – March 31, 2004 – Pre-media company Peach in Groningen, the Netherlands has implemented an extremely fast and functional way of creating completely automated personalised publications. Custom-made versions of the ‘Baantjer’ detective novel ‘De Cock en de wurger op zondag’ (‘DeKok and the Sunday Strangler’) and children’s book ‘De Kameleon in de Branding’ are already published in this way.
With XML Impression from Dutch systems house Techno Design, it is now possible to introduce variables within a database to produce an edition of one single personalised book. In a relatively short time, Peach and Techno Design have developed the correct XSLT’s (Extensible Style sheet Language Transformation*) to convert data from FileMaker, and to design the corresponding templates in QuarkXPress. The result is that the FileMaker database and publishing software now work together seamlessly.
It is vitally important that every customer receives the correct book. Consequently, publisher Mathijs Suidman from Personalgifts.nl confirms the benefit of this innovative working practice. “The book is not worth anything if production goes wrong. Peach has organised this seamlessly with XML Impression. I can personalise books much further with XML Impression. For example, the ‘Baantjer’ detective novel De Cock en de wurger op zondag (DeKok and the Sunday strangler) is published in a personalised form. The customer can include a dedication in the front of the book and the name of sidekick character ‘Vledder’ can be changed to any other name. When you publish such books you have to be certain that it works.”
Peach’s Managing Director Geert-Jan Engelmoer adds: “With XML Impression we can now publish unique books directly by taking the variables that the customer enters on the website and then putting them into the database. The orders arrive by mail on Tuesday morning, the printers deliver the books on Thursday, and they are posted on Friday morning. The programme is capable of producing a ‘Baantjer’ book of 102 pages including cover within 25 seconds. That’s how quick it is.”
“With the help of XML Impression, Peach has created an application which optimises our technology to the fullest” comments Frank Dros, CEO of Techno Design. “This application facilitates an error-free process from customer details to the completed end-product.”
XML Impression is Techno Design’s print publishing solution to automate QuarkXPress software using XML standards (EXtensible Markup Language). The content of an XML file is used to automatically create, save and output QuarkXPress documents. The XML file defines the needed template and where to store the result document(s). XML Impression can dynamically lay out content, replace existing content and create new pages and action items.
More information about the valuable collaboration between Peach and Techno Design can be found in the Success story.
* A language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents.
About Techno Design
Software developer and systems house Techno Design offers publishing technology solutions in language, production and database publishing, selling all over the world. For the last 12 years, Techno Design has been one of the major creators of program additions and turnkey solutions, like single source publishing solution IPM.
About Peach
Pre-media company Peach Lighting Studio bv in Groningen, the Netherlands, has for the past 15 years taken commissions from companies in the field of prepress and pre-media. Peach specialises in digital and database publishing and other forms of automated workflow processes. For more information, please visit www.peach.nl.
About Personalgifts.nl
Personalgifts.nl in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, develops concepts and products that are sold as uniquely personalised gifts and incentives on their website www.personalgifts.nl. Within their product range the company publishes books and other publications with personal and/or unique information. Personalgifts.nl aims at both the consumer market as well as the business market for their customers, business relations and company staff.
For more information, please visit our website at www.techno-design.com or contact:
Techno Design BV
Koraalrood 100
2718 SC Zoetermeer
The Netherlands
Contact: Mr Wi-jo van de Wijngaard
Telephone: +31 79 361 80 36
E-mail: wwijngaard@techno-design.com
The product names used in this message are for identification purposes only. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.