In the ever-evolving world of electronic publishing, it is now possible to have a completely paperless file transfer process. Copyedited manuscript, first pages, proofread pages, and final files can all be transferred electronically. This includes all work handled by ICC Macmillan’s New Delhi offices (DTI = Direct to India), thus eliminating the downtime inherent in physically shipping manuscript and proofs, typically three days in each direction.

The process involves only a few basic procedural considerations:

1. Transfer of files to ICC Macmillan
a. Electronic
b. Hardcopy
2. Pages to client and author
3. Electronic proofing of pages
4. Print-ready files to printer

1. TRANSFER OF FILES TO ICC Macmillan: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Normally, all files transferred electronically at any step will be compressed. This has the dual benefit of making files smaller (reducing transfer time) and protecting them from corruption during transfer.

It is important to distinguish between Macintosh and Windows (PC) files.This is especially critical for Macintosh fonts, which will be rendered corrupt and unusable if compressed using anything other than Mac-supported technology. Recommended compression software is:

• StuffIt (www.allume.com/mac/index.html) for the Mac
• WinZip (www.winzip.com) for PCs

In general, Mac OSX technology will not adversely affect PC files. The distinction must be maintained, however, because Mac operating systems prior to OSX supported filenames of only 31 characters, whereas, from Windows 95 on, PCs have supported filenames of up to 256 characters.

The two principal methods of file transfer are by email attachment and FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Email attachments have the potential to clog a mail server, and should be strictly limited to small files. The much preferred method is by FTP. If there is no client-based FTP server at your company, ICC Macmillan will provide password-protected space on our own server that can be dedicated to your use. Normally, there will be input and output areas for each project to help differentiate between rounds as work progresses.

Readily available commercial applications are used to transfer files from home or office systems to the FTP server. For PC users, ICC Macmillan recommends the use of WS_FTP (www.ipswitch.com). For Mac users, we recommend Fetch (www.fetchsoftworks.com) or Transmit (www.panic.com/transmit). There are some free FTP applications that may work as well, but ICC Macmillan has not tested them. One free program that is available for both PCs and Macintoshes is FireFTP, which is a plug-in to the Firefox web browser (fireftp.mozdev.org).

a. Electronic    Once an FTP server and procedure have been established, all electronic files can be transferred through it, including design files, archive files from previous editions, copyedited manuscript (MS Word files, for example), style manual, specs, and so on.

b. Hardcopy     Sometimes there are no electronic files available to conveniently upload to a distant FTP server. In such cases, it is possible to fax materials to ICC Macmillan India. It is not always necessary to place a long-distance call to do this. Many newer office printers have built-in scanning capabilities with a document feeder. With such machines it is possible to scan pages to an image- PDF format that can then be transferred by FTP. Such canners/copiers/printers can be set up to scan directly to an FTP site or the files can be stored for later manual upload.

2. PAGES TO CLIENT AND AUTHOR

In the normal course of production, ICC Macmillan prepares Adobe Acrobat PDF files from our paging software. These files will be uploaded to the proper FTP server and you will be notified by email when they are available. The PDF files can be retrieved from the FTP site by authors, proofreaders, and any other reviewers at the same time.

3. ELECTRONIC PROOFING OF PAGES

As mentioned, proofreaders will have access to PDF files from the FTP server, along with copyedited manuscript. Proofing will be done directly on screen. Any queries will be placed within the PDF documents using Acrobat comments. Comments can take the form of additions, deletions, queries, notes, and drawn elements. Proofread files will then be uploaded back to the FTP site, where they can be accessed by ICC Macmillan’s production offices or by authors and editors.

A major benefit of comments is that they can be exported from a PDF document as notes.The note file, which is usually much smaller than the original PDF, can then be sent to authors or editors, who can import the notes into the original PDF. If more than one reviewer is involved, notes from multiple sources can be imported into the same document and sorted and viewed either separately or together. The professional version of Acrobat allows users to summarize the notes in a way that is easy to view, since it places the notes outside the page area and draws lines pointing to the relevant location on the page. Other concerned parties can then respond to notes or add their own.

4. PRINT-READY FILES TO PRINTER

Once the final pages have been approved, ICC Macmillan will deliver highquality, print-ready PDF files to your printer. Again, it is preferable to deliver these files electronically by FTP, and most printing companies have their own FTP sites for this.

Sometimes, either because of large file sizes or because client procedures require that hardcopy laser proofs accompany the PDF files, it is necessary to send a CD or DVD. When materials must be shipped from India, allow at least three days in your schedule for this phase. Blueline corrections can normally be made and sent the same day by FTP or email to keep to the schedule.

Handling files electronically can be simple and easy, and DTI has proven to be a time-saving and manageable process.

It is said that animals can smell and feel a storm before it even begins. Guided by a similar instinct, ICC Macmillan likewise envisions the call of the hour for facilitating a smooth flow of information internally as well as for our valued customers. Consequently, ICC Macmillan adopted a comprehensive management information system (MIS) in 2004.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A PROJECT & MIS

The information on a job is input into the MIS server even before the job is awarded to ICC Macmillan. Through this process our Bids & Estimation team ensures the timely quote submissions to our clients.

When the job is awarded to ICC Macmillan, our project managers begin updating the information in the MIS. They create a Job Plan and an Internal Status Report.The Job Plan works as a guiding tool for the production team assigned on a job. The project managers continually update the plan as information becomes available. When the job is launched in production, the teams use the Job Plan to decide their course of action.

The Internal Status Report is another plan in which all details on a job—incoming and outgoing material, pages posting schedule, latest status of the job, etc.—can be found. This report is particularly useful for the project team and the production administration.

HOW THE MIS BETTER SERVES OUR CUSTOMERS

Since its adoption, we have reaped the benefits of the MIS. The system has enabled us to streamline our organization and efficiency at every stage of a project, from estimation to archiving.The MIS:

• Expedites the bidding process, with 99% of bids on schedule;
• Develops customer-based scales;
• Gathers historical data for any kind of analysis customers decide on future projects; and
• Enables monitoring the cost throughout a project’s timeline.

THE CRUCIAL CARDS FOR BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICES

With over a year of success in Direct-to-India (DTI) project management, we plan to expand our services using the MIS over the course of the next few months.These new services will include:

• A weekly production summary for project managers on their respective jobs, thereby improving the communication between production teams and project management with regard to schedule and material requirements
• Newly designed customer-based Service Status Reports for project managers
• Customer access to our MIS to view status reports on a job at any given time
• A search engine for customers to find required information in our MIS
• A forum for queries or suggestions regarding any job or issue

Our goal is to take advantage of the MIS for the growth of the business as well as customer communication and relations. Email janet@iccorp.com or rajendu@iccorp.com with any comments or questions about our MIS.

Jim Link, R&D Administrator

In 1998 ICC Macmillan moved its U.S. operations to Portland, Oregon, and simultaneously, Jim Link began his career here as systems administrator and compositor. Today he serves as our technical liaison—many of our customers know him quite well!

Jim’s talent lies in his ability to figure out why something does not work, and to fix it . . . all in a few minutes. ICC Macmillan Oregon and ICC Macmillan India rely on Jim’s expertise to solve daily problems. He guides development of new systems and software and explains operations between ICC Macmillan’s New Delhi and Portland offices. Whether he is in India, explaining font recognition, preflighting, or workflow development, or at home providing technical support for staff and clients, Jim’s teaching method is thorough, patient, and easy to follow.

Each new day brings excitement in the world of publishing for Jim. He believes that in a future paperless world, students will download their textbooks to portable computers. These books will have all the traditional material found in printed textbooks, plus links to source materials, alternate images, interactive quizzes, and maybe even 3D images.

Acting as an information provider, Jim has participated in education forums since 2000 both at customers’ home offices and at conferences, such as PubTech in Chicago and BookBuilders West in San Francisco.Topics have included LaTeX as a Composition Tool; XML: Fun for Publishing Professionals; Math Options for QuarkXPress; and MathML: An Overview. If your group needs a specialist to explain the various options for creating math or the differences between QXP and InDesign, or to help them figure out what a printer’s report really means when it says a PDF has failed its preflight, call ICC Macmillan and ask for the Font King! He will be more than happy to help . . . that is, if he’s not traveling with his wife, Jean, to various wineries all over the world.

Jim and Jean recently went to Paris, as well as the Champagne region of France.They were invited to be guests at Perrier-Jouët in Épernay where they stayed at the Maison Belle-Epoque, a museum of art nouveau artifacts. After dining with a representative of the winery, Jim and Jean were locked in for the night, but they were free to roam within the walls, view all the furniture and artwork, and play pool in the game room.