Here we are again in the second part of our interview with Hugues Dupont, our new integrator.
Hugues has become very familiar with the Simple Workspace portal and wanted to share his impressions of his experiences in the publishing industry.
Let’s hear what he has to say.
Caroline Balavoine: From your expert eye and your experience as a layout artist, do you think that the software can be complementary to this profession?
Hugues Dupont: Yes, totally useful, it’s precious software.
The main advantage is the time saving and the reliability of the information put online in the solution by a user. Once it is available, it can be corrected directly by the people concerned! It becomes easier to automate actions that have little or no added value for a layout artist and a graphic designer.
The Simple Workspace solution is enabled, if the information is already available, to pre-fill fields with descriptions contained in a product sheet for example (price, product description, etc.). This information is then taken over by the Simple Workspace database (the Simple MOM offer management application) and is directly updated in the model in a single click using synchronization. There is therefore less risk of error and there is no need to make changes to the text, prices, from the mail, post-it, or other… no more risks of missing photos that point to any folders on the internal network. With the help of the search tool, you can find all the elements you need.
C.B.: What are the advantages of Simple Workspace?
H.D.: In a few words:
Time-saving, reduction of (human) errors, flexibility on a large number of media. With the zoomable preview of the pages in the flatplan, the progress of the project is instantly visible (thanks to the live preview). The statuses allow you to know, according to their color, if a page is finished, in proofreading, or to be corrected.
Moreover, there is even a correction annotation function integrated into the tool; this is very useful, as it avoids switching to an additional third-party document validation software. Moreover, you can also change the pagination automatically by inserting a page between the others, the rest is done by the Adobe InDesign Server.
Another interesting point concerns the templates, let me explain. If the templates contain grids and the modules are created beforehand, this makes the creation of layouts accessible to the uninitiated. The placed elements are arranged to the millimeter in the interface just like in InDesign later on. This can be very useful for small companies creating documents without layout artists or graphic designers.
For large companies, layout artists and/or graphic designers can work directly on the pages in InDesign for more advanced layouts and express their creativity with the help of the page export and import tool: check-in/check-out.
On the editorial side, all the elements for web, print, and translation are gathered and the progress of the project is facilitated by the status reports. This is not always the case with publishing solutions, especially in the days of Perigee.
Each user has access to his or her own space in the interface (with rights and roles depending on the business or type of user). This way, users are not disturbed by functions that are useless for their business or their role… or even, they are not allowed to do certain actions or see certain features. One last practical point, external users such as photographers, photo engravers, translators… can connect remotely and upload, export, or enrich elements in Simple Workspace.
C.B.: Compared to your previous experiences, how does the solution differ?
H.D.: This goes back to what I said before… I really liked the responsive aspect of the modules (image + text offer), which is totally new to me and unheard of. Slipped on the page, these responsive modules can be enlarged, enlarged. The images as well as the text automatically take the allocated space, including the price or color tables, and split according to the allocated width. For an editor as well as for a layout artist, this is already less justification work, which is a definite advantage! It avoids having to make several modules since only one is adaptable to various surfaces.
Compared to other solutions, I find the Simple Workspace portal more successful, more visual (in terms of the interface, colors …), the flat plan is flexible. Indeed, it is possible to place an image on a page and a text on another one, which is impossible to realize with the other software I used, at the risk of having a “crash”.
For more than 20 years, J2S has been offering multi-business solutions for advertisers, agencies, and their clients. As a result, with all of these business areas combined, J2S is constantly improving its solution, so you can imagine getting tips from an “advertiser project” for a “catalog project”: for example, the mechanics of tables. Finally, customers participate in the evolution of the interface… this is a process that is also used by Adobe, which involves its community of users in the development of the solution.
C.B.: You said for example that you wish you had known about the tool earlier. What other aspects of the tool have impressed you?
H.D.: With the solution, you no longer need to “put on your spelunker’s clothes” to find such and such an offer on page X of an old catalog Y: Everything is automated! The product sheet is ready to be formatted, what a time saver! It is in this type of situation that Simple Workspace is complementary, an ally to facilitate the life of layout artists, graphic designers, and editors alike. The time saved through automation can be transferred to creative tasks. Indeed, in our business, it is necessary to be a force of proposal on the creation: the editors, on the titles, the layout artists and the graphic designers on the layouts, etc.
C.B.: You said for example that you wish you had known about the tool earlier. What other aspects of the solution have impressed you?
H.D.: With the solution, you no longer need to “put on your spelunker’s clothes” to find such and such an offer on page X of an old catalog Y: Everything is automated! The product sheet is ready to be formatted, what a time saver! It is in this type of situation that Simple Workspace is complementary, an ally to facilitate the life of layout artists, graphic designers, and editors alike. The time saved through automation can be transferred to creative tasks. Indeed, in our business, it is necessary to be creative: the editors, on the titles, the layout artists and graphic designers on the layouts, etc.
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We thank Hugues for this exchange, you will shortly meet him on Microsoft Teams or on Google Meet.
You could see how quickly Hugues became familiar with the Simple Workspace portal. With his fresh and expert eyes, Hugues talked about the Simple Workspace solution as an indispensable, complementary tool in the publishing industry.
Did this make you want to know more about the solution? Contact us for a demonstration of the solution!
Stay tuned to Chez J2S to discover other members of our team.
(Read my interview: What is a Success Manager at J2S? )
Caroline Balavoine
Sales & CSM
