VersaComp-2000: The Universal Publishing System

Primary Features

• Highly-programmable system that provides easy-to-use commands to control the document-building process.



• Accepts document input files using practically any data coding scheme, including XML and SGML tagged files. Files may be PC files, or mainframe files formatted using IBM standard record types. Accepts either ASCII or EBCDIC files.



• Generates PDF, Postscript, and browser-ready XML tagged output. All three output types can be generated simultaneously, as required.



• Highest-quality composition and pagination available anywhere.



• Merges PDF, TIFF, JPEG, and EPS images.



• Provides many special effects, including: color, screened areas, screened text, outlined text, rotated text, various box styles, and PDF page background tints for improved readability. Generates PDF bookmarks, and links. Bookmark text can be displayed in color, with PDF typeface variations.



• Provides 32 input/output file storage areas. Multiple input files are frequently required for complex documents. Multiple output files can be used to store data extracted during the page building process, for: Table-of-Contents, List-of-figures, List-of-illustrations, Indexes, and anything else you might need.



• Provides high-speed composition and pagination. Many thousands of PDF pages per minute can be produced, depending on the complexity of the document.



• Composes complex footnotes in one-column, two-column, or two-column, balanced layouts. Handles long multi-page footnotes of 50 pages or more in length. Provides high-quality widow and orphan control when splitting footnotes across columns and pages.



• Composes complex tables using any coding scheme you may have.



• Manipulates composed pages for page resequencing and signature generation.



• Handles loose-leaf publishing with multi-level point paging.

Document Coding Flexibility

VersaComp-2000 can accept document files coded in practically any format, including the following:

• XML tagged files
• SGML tagged files
• Non-standard, home-grown tagged files
• Tagless, structured files
• Scanned TIFF files
• COM data files
• IBM mainframe Sysout files
• IBM AFP files
• Xerox MetaCode and DJDE files
• EDI Files

Platform Versatility

VersaComp-2000 is available for the following platforms:

• Intel PC with Microsoft Windows family.
• Sun Sparc with Sun Solaris.
• IBM Mainframe with OS/390 family.

PDF Generation

VersaComp-2000 generates PDF files DIRECTLY during the composition and pagination process, without the need for a post-processing step to convert a PostScript file to PDF. This direct generation of PDF files is possible because of the proprietary PDF Generator developed by Pagetec for VersaComp-2000. In fact, Pagetec was one of the first companies in the world to develop its own PDF Generator, shortly after Adobe announced its PDF viewing products.

The PDF output generated by VersaComp-2000 includes the following automatic features:

• PDF Bookmark Generation (up to nine levels)
• PDF Link Generation (links within the document, links to external documents, or links to web addresses)
• Page Overlay Merge (unlimited number for a document)
• File splitting to allow a PDF file to be split into multiple PDF files to limit distribution of restricted data to authorized recipients.
• PDF File Compression
• PDF Image Merge

Book-Makeup Facility

The VersaComp-2000 Book-Makeup facility is used to manipulate composed PostScript pages, after the document has been composed and paginated. Book-Makeup provides for the modification and/or resequencing of composed pages. Its use includes the following:

• Retrieve composed pages in the sequence required to build multi-page signatures.
• Insert actual page numbers when a page contains a reference to some subsequent page whose page number is unknown when the page reference is composed.
• Insert final page numbers when a document part (such as an index) is composed at the end of the document, but must be placed at the front of the document, with pages numbered sequentially from front to back.

Print-Product Engineering

The VersaComp-2000 Print-Product Engineering (PPE) feature is one of the most important features for anyone publishing large documents with high press runs, because its use can result in large savings in production costs.

The PPE feature allows you to automatically trial compose a document, a number of times, using a different set of composition parameters (such as page size,character size, fonts, vertical spacing) for each run, to determine the set of composition parameters that produces the optimal total page count, while maintaining document quality.

A number of our customers have reported savings of many thousands of dollars per press run by using the PPE feature.

Wide Range of Applications

VersaComp-2000 has a wide range of applications. Users include governmental agencies, technical, legal, financial and commercial publishers, the scientific and medical publishing communities, and publishers of catalogs, directories, and loose-leaf publications.

Here are a few examples of what customers are doing with VersaComp-2000:

• A major legal publisher produces over a million pages per year. All documents are coded with SGML tags. Both PDF and PostScript output are used. Customer also uses the automatic loose-leaf publishing facilities of VersaComp-2000.



• A major state Legislature publishes the daily journals, and related documents, for the House of Representatives and the Senate. All documents are coded with generic tags. Both PDF and PostScript output are used. Multiple indexes are extracted and composed.



• A major printer publishes directories of advertising rates, containing large numbers of display ads, of various sizes. The pagination process uses complex rules for positioning the ads. In addition, a number of indexes are extracted during composition. These production jobs require the use of 7 different input files and 8 different output files. The document is coded using simple commands consisting of an element type code, and a format ID code. The composed output is in PostScript.



• A major printer publishes a variety of special-purpose documents that are produced using the VersaComp-2000 page imposition facility to build signatures for the printing process. Signatures consist of 2, 4, or 8 pages. The document is coded using generic tags. The output is in PostScript.



• A major financial institution publishes customer investment accounts. The input is line printer data (Sysout file). The output is bookmarked PDF files with colored text.



• A major pharmaceutical company converts scanned TIFF files directly to PDF for submission to the Federal Drug Administration.

Document Customization

VersaComp-2000 is so powerful that its composition and pagination features can be matched by no other composition system. For example, page formatting specifications are not fixed in the system, but can change "on-the-fly" based on data elements contained on each page. This capability applies also to running headings, continuation notices, multi-level repeat heads, and many other page elements.

VersaComp-2000 provides unlimited capabilities to transform your data into completely customized documents.