Announcing these new features and enhancements to eDesign!
Double Clicks in Page Edit: previously, clicking the canvas with the text tool or shape tools caused a dialog box to appear for manual entry of shape settings. While this is similar to InDesign, most of you found it confusing, so this has been changed to a double click. Double click any empty part of the canvas with either the shape or text tool to get the manual settings dialog.
New Cropping Button: There is also a new cropping button in Page Edit. Select an image and the button will show in the control panel. This button allows the user to move the photo and frame handles independently. This is also a shortcut for this feature: hold Control/Cmd and double click any image. The usual “keep the frame where I put it” picture manipulation mode is still available, as well.
New Editor Permissions: Discussions with the IT Advisory Council and customers have led us to grant additional permissions to the Editor role. Now the editor can update portrait names in the library, flow portraits, move spreads, and run the index. Check the eDesign Help for a complete list of the permissions for each user type.
Library Save-As: Users are able to save candid images back out of eDesign by right clicking on the image in the library..
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
TECH – eDesign New Features Release
We’re happy to announce the release of several new eDesign features!
Smart Template
Custom Endsheets
Facebook Sneak Peek
Pop-in Fun Shapes (Beta Test): These can be found under Pop-ins > Fun Shapes (Beta). Try them out, and check the eDesign Help for a Cool Tips topic with ideas on how these can be used in your layouts.
Check out the eDesign help menu for videos and tutorials on all these and more!
Smart Template
Custom Endsheets
Facebook Sneak Peek
Pop-in Fun Shapes (Beta Test): These can be found under Pop-ins > Fun Shapes (Beta). Try them out, and check the eDesign Help for a Cool Tips topic with ideas on how these can be used in your layouts.
Check out the eDesign help menu for videos and tutorials on all these and more!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
TECH – eDesign Photo Features Release
We’re happy to announce the release of several new eDesign photo editing and management features!
Photo Editing: Picnik.com and Aviary.com are our partners for photo editing features. These tools provide a far more rich editing capability than anything that exists within a yearbook tool today. Picnik features are available in eDesign today, and Aviary features are coming soon.
To access the Picnik photo editor, right click any candid, portrait or art image in the eDesign Library or Library Panel. Click “Copy to Photo Editor” and off you go. There is also a new series of help videos that outline how to use these tools for common photo editing purposes. Please watch these eDesign help videos to reduce any confusion you or your staffs may have.
Aviary will become available within 1-2 weeks. When it is released, it will still be in Beta testing. Note that these tools require a connection to the partner site in order to work.
Save Images back from eDesign: Right-click an eDesign library image and click “Save Image As” to save a copy of the image back to your computer. Very useful if an original image has been misplaced, or you’d like to have an offline copy of a particular edited image.
Upload 50 images at a time: the upload limit has been expanded to 50 files at a time. Of course, you’ll still want to encourage photographers to screen out any images that aren’t usable, or are duplicates. Otherwise, the staff will have to comb through many more images to find what they are looking for.
Distribute Feature: Thanks to the efforts of the development team, the distribute function is ready for a re-launch! This feature had positioning issues previously, and has since been corrected. Simply select multiple page objects, and distribute buttons will appear in the control panel. (Note for the InDesign users: this feature does even distribution.)
Photo Editing: Picnik.com and Aviary.com are our partners for photo editing features. These tools provide a far more rich editing capability than anything that exists within a yearbook tool today. Picnik features are available in eDesign today, and Aviary features are coming soon.
To access the Picnik photo editor, right click any candid, portrait or art image in the eDesign Library or Library Panel. Click “Copy to Photo Editor” and off you go. There is also a new series of help videos that outline how to use these tools for common photo editing purposes. Please watch these eDesign help videos to reduce any confusion you or your staffs may have.
Aviary will become available within 1-2 weeks. When it is released, it will still be in Beta testing. Note that these tools require a connection to the partner site in order to work.
Save Images back from eDesign: Right-click an eDesign library image and click “Save Image As” to save a copy of the image back to your computer. Very useful if an original image has been misplaced, or you’d like to have an offline copy of a particular edited image.
Upload 50 images at a time: the upload limit has been expanded to 50 files at a time. Of course, you’ll still want to encourage photographers to screen out any images that aren’t usable, or are duplicates. Otherwise, the staff will have to comb through many more images to find what they are looking for.
Distribute Feature: Thanks to the efforts of the development team, the distribute function is ready for a re-launch! This feature had positioning issues previously, and has since been corrected. Simply select multiple page objects, and distribute buttons will appear in the control panel. (Note for the InDesign users: this feature does even distribution.)
Friday, July 2, 2010
TECH – eDesign Move Spreads Feature Release
Move Spreads: We’re happy to announce that the eDesign Move Spreads feature is available now! From the ladder view, click the Edit Menu > Move Spreads to enter a new view that allows the adviser to drag and drop spreads to re-arrange the ladder. Check out the new eDesign Move Spreads help video for additional information about this new feature. Logon to eDesign and click Help, then click the “More eDesign Videos” link.
Portrait Flow Character Styles: there has been an update to the Portrait Flow wizard. Now, the Character Style dropdown will default to the smallest style, instead of the larger Body Copy default. Note: this is no substitute for carefully reviewing the font settings before flowing, and proofing the page afterward.
Pop-ins: hundreds of GO! Design Pop-ins have been released. There are still a handful in the “Coming Soon” status, but those will be available shortly.
Portrait Flow Character Styles: there has been an update to the Portrait Flow wizard. Now, the Character Style dropdown will default to the smallest style, instead of the larger Body Copy default. Note: this is no substitute for carefully reviewing the font settings before flowing, and proofing the page afterward.
Pop-ins: hundreds of GO! Design Pop-ins have been released. There are still a handful in the “Coming Soon” status, but those will be available shortly.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
MARKETING – Send Books Now for Consideration In Ideas That Fly, Volume 16
It’s time to submit books for consideration for inclusion in the next volume of Ideas that Fly. This edition will include summer/fall 2009 books and spring 2010 yearbooks. We showcase covers, photography, design and coverage as well as theme and overall concept. If you have a cool gimmick, or something new/interesting with your cover or in the way of tip-ins, please submit; we LOVE that miscellaneous section, but it can only be as cool as the books we get. Hearing about an incredible cover AFTER Ideas that Fly is done only makes us sad.
We appreciate if you flag your favorite spreads or photos, and it’s interesting to know the backstory behind the theme/concept, so if you want to have the editors mark a couple of pages for us or provide some details, that would be great.
Books must be received by July 1 to be considered. Please send them to:
Ann Akers, Ideas that Fly
Herff Jones Yearbook Marketing
9601 Monroe Road
Charlotte , NC 28270
We cannot return books submitted to Ideas that Fly as we also use them for examples in other publications through the year.
We appreciate if you flag your favorite spreads or photos, and it’s interesting to know the backstory behind the theme/concept, so if you want to have the editors mark a couple of pages for us or provide some details, that would be great.
Books must be received by July 1 to be considered. Please send them to:
Ann Akers, Ideas that Fly
Herff Jones Yearbook Marketing
9601 Monroe Road
Charlotte , NC 28270
We cannot return books submitted to Ideas that Fly as we also use them for examples in other publications through the year.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Annual yearbook contests, critiques and recognition opportunities
A couple things as you await your books and things begin to wind down:
If you want to get a critique from either of the national associations, send your books before you leave for the summer if possible. Both NSPA and CSPA have more people who can judge during the summer months and that increases the chance that the staffs can use the feedback from their critique to help improve next year’s book. If you submit in May or June, it is MUCH MORE LIKELY that you will have critiques in hand when school starts back up. Those who wait until September or October to submit may not have their results back until after the first of the year.
CSPA provides critiques for its full members; schools who pay by June 15 pay $199 and those who submit afterwards pay $259. If a staff wants to be a member and enter the contests but not receive a critique, the fee is $149 per publication per year. CSPA contests include the Crown competition (submit two books now; or the actual deadline is October 15, 2010) and the Gold Circles. The Crown competition results in a list of finalists (usually in December); the Gold (Top 2%) and Silver (next 3%) Crowns are named at the spring CSPA and CMA conventions in March. If a school is a Crown finalist, they will be either a Silver or a Gold Crown winner. The Crown judging is holistic in approach and there is no feedback provided to the schools (that’s what the critiques are for). The Circle awards are also presented in conjunction with the March conventions. There are 66 different yearbook categories and each member publication gets 50 entries at no charge. The Circle awards provide an opportunity for individual recognition. The judges place the top three entries in each category and often honor additional students with certificates of merit. Circle entries must be prepared according to specific instructions and submitted by November 1, 2010; the forms are attached and are also available with instructions online at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa. Prices and deadlines are the same for middle school, high school, college and university yearbooks.
NSPA has separate pricing for middle school and high school publications. Level One memberships are $59 for middle school and $109 for high school publications and DO NOT include critiques. Level Two memberships (the ones with a critique) are $99 for middle schools and $189 for high schools. College yearbook staffs would join Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) instead; their tiered membership structure is based on undergraduate enrollment and they do critiques on request at the university level. Information is available at http://www.studentpress.org. The Pacemaker competition is similar to the Crowns in many ways. It is a whole-publication competition that does not provide feedback; the deadline will be in January 2011 for 2010 books. A list of Pacemaker finalists will be released (usually in February) prior to the spring convention and winners will be announced at the 2011 Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim in April. College Pacemakers are presented in the fall at the National College Media Convention (in Louisville in November this year for the 2009 yearbooks announced as finalists last month). Forms to enter the Pacemaker competition are sent to all member schools and available at the website beginning in November. If you submit a critique book, they will retain it in their offices and use that book for the competition if possible. They are pretty good about letting you know if they need a book to complete your entry. NSPA’s individual competitions are judged over the summer and awards are presented at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention (in Kansas City in November). The forms for the Design of the Year, Picture of the Year and Story of the Year contests are not posted yet; I will attach them when I resend this memo in May. The deadline is June 15 (not a postmarked deadline) and the contests are free to all NSPA member publications; each publication can submit one entry per category. The college contests are very similar. Individual awards will be presented in Louisville in November, entries are due June 7, 2010 (also not a postmarked deadline) and the contests are free to all ACP member publications; each publication can submit one entry per category.
Another venue for staff recognition is the Quill and Scroll Society. This honorary for high school journalists offers a number of opportunities for recognition. A charter for membership at a school costs $50 and is good for all publications forever. The form is available at http://www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc/. If your schools are not sure whether they have a charter or not, the folks at Quill and Scroll will be glad to check for them. Membership requirements specify that individual student nominees be junior or senior class journalists who are in the top third of their class academically and working on official school publications. The adviser must recommend each potential member. If they do things traditionally, there’s a spring induction ceremony with candles and speeches… Some people sponsor chapters for the benefit of listing involvement on scholarship and admission applications, for access to the annual Yearbook Excellence contests or because they love that their students qualify for honor cords for graduation. The contest deadline is November 1 and the form online has not been updated yet.
If you want to get a critique from either of the national associations, send your books before you leave for the summer if possible. Both NSPA and CSPA have more people who can judge during the summer months and that increases the chance that the staffs can use the feedback from their critique to help improve next year’s book. If you submit in May or June, it is MUCH MORE LIKELY that you will have critiques in hand when school starts back up. Those who wait until September or October to submit may not have their results back until after the first of the year.
CSPA provides critiques for its full members; schools who pay by June 15 pay $199 and those who submit afterwards pay $259. If a staff wants to be a member and enter the contests but not receive a critique, the fee is $149 per publication per year. CSPA contests include the Crown competition (submit two books now; or the actual deadline is October 15, 2010) and the Gold Circles. The Crown competition results in a list of finalists (usually in December); the Gold (Top 2%) and Silver (next 3%) Crowns are named at the spring CSPA and CMA conventions in March. If a school is a Crown finalist, they will be either a Silver or a Gold Crown winner. The Crown judging is holistic in approach and there is no feedback provided to the schools (that’s what the critiques are for). The Circle awards are also presented in conjunction with the March conventions. There are 66 different yearbook categories and each member publication gets 50 entries at no charge. The Circle awards provide an opportunity for individual recognition. The judges place the top three entries in each category and often honor additional students with certificates of merit. Circle entries must be prepared according to specific instructions and submitted by November 1, 2010; the forms are attached and are also available with instructions online at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa. Prices and deadlines are the same for middle school, high school, college and university yearbooks.
NSPA has separate pricing for middle school and high school publications. Level One memberships are $59 for middle school and $109 for high school publications and DO NOT include critiques. Level Two memberships (the ones with a critique) are $99 for middle schools and $189 for high schools. College yearbook staffs would join Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) instead; their tiered membership structure is based on undergraduate enrollment and they do critiques on request at the university level. Information is available at http://www.studentpress.org. The Pacemaker competition is similar to the Crowns in many ways. It is a whole-publication competition that does not provide feedback; the deadline will be in January 2011 for 2010 books. A list of Pacemaker finalists will be released (usually in February) prior to the spring convention and winners will be announced at the 2011 Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim in April. College Pacemakers are presented in the fall at the National College Media Convention (in Louisville in November this year for the 2009 yearbooks announced as finalists last month). Forms to enter the Pacemaker competition are sent to all member schools and available at the website beginning in November. If you submit a critique book, they will retain it in their offices and use that book for the competition if possible. They are pretty good about letting you know if they need a book to complete your entry. NSPA’s individual competitions are judged over the summer and awards are presented at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention (in Kansas City in November). The forms for the Design of the Year, Picture of the Year and Story of the Year contests are not posted yet; I will attach them when I resend this memo in May. The deadline is June 15 (not a postmarked deadline) and the contests are free to all NSPA member publications; each publication can submit one entry per category. The college contests are very similar. Individual awards will be presented in Louisville in November, entries are due June 7, 2010 (also not a postmarked deadline) and the contests are free to all ACP member publications; each publication can submit one entry per category.
Another venue for staff recognition is the Quill and Scroll Society. This honorary for high school journalists offers a number of opportunities for recognition. A charter for membership at a school costs $50 and is good for all publications forever. The form is available at http://www.uiowa.edu/~quill-sc/. If your schools are not sure whether they have a charter or not, the folks at Quill and Scroll will be glad to check for them. Membership requirements specify that individual student nominees be junior or senior class journalists who are in the top third of their class academically and working on official school publications. The adviser must recommend each potential member. If they do things traditionally, there’s a spring induction ceremony with candles and speeches… Some people sponsor chapters for the benefit of listing involvement on scholarship and admission applications, for access to the annual Yearbook Excellence contests or because they love that their students qualify for honor cords for graduation. The contest deadline is November 1 and the form online has not been updated yet.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Print is NOT dead!
Two great things online recently to motivate you to read, teach and do yearbook!
The Future of Publishing - created by DK (UK)
Home Libraries Provide Huge Educational Advantage
Will your child finish college? The answer may be as close as your bookshelves, or lack thereof.
By Tom Jacobs
The Future of Publishing - created by DK (UK)
Home Libraries Provide Huge Educational Advantage
Will your child finish college? The answer may be as close as your bookshelves, or lack thereof.
By Tom Jacobs
Saturday, April 3, 2010
TECH – eDesign New Features and Tips
The school year is wrapping up, but the eDesign team is just getting started. Today’s eDesign release includes the following new features and updates:
Save It Forward: There have been some big changes in the process to move templates between books. In the template Library, the “save it forward” link is gone, replaced by an Export Items button. You now have the option of exporting selected templates forward to a future order (next year’s mainbook), or saving them into a different active order (the quick turn supplement, for example).
Submitted Spreads: Spreads that have been submitted to the plant can now be made secret, or the secret assignment removed, deadlines changed, or staff assignments changed.
2011 Books have been made available to eDesign customers with signed Printing Agreements.
Enhanced Work Flow: Book Setup, Portrait Flow, and Index Builder no longer lock the whole book, so the staff can keep working while you add colors, flow portraits, or check coverage via the index. Portrait Flow DOES need the actual flow pages to be available (unlocked), and will tell the adviser during Step 4 if they are not. Book Setup will not allow a font or color to be removed while pages are being edited.
Other Changes and Tips:
· The date stamp on the PDF is now the last page or spread save date.
· Is there a way to draw triangles in eDesign? Of course! Just switch to the polygon tool (it's under the rectangle tool). Instead of dragging to draw the shape, single click the page. A dialog box will pop up with options for a custom polygon. Adjust the number of sides down to three, and you will be creating triangles!
Save It Forward: There have been some big changes in the process to move templates between books. In the template Library, the “save it forward” link is gone, replaced by an Export Items button. You now have the option of exporting selected templates forward to a future order (next year’s mainbook), or saving them into a different active order (the quick turn supplement, for example).
Submitted Spreads: Spreads that have been submitted to the plant can now be made secret, or the secret assignment removed, deadlines changed, or staff assignments changed.
2011 Books have been made available to eDesign customers with signed Printing Agreements.
Enhanced Work Flow: Book Setup, Portrait Flow, and Index Builder no longer lock the whole book, so the staff can keep working while you add colors, flow portraits, or check coverage via the index. Portrait Flow DOES need the actual flow pages to be available (unlocked), and will tell the adviser during Step 4 if they are not. Book Setup will not allow a font or color to be removed while pages are being edited.
Other Changes and Tips:
· The date stamp on the PDF is now the last page or spread save date.
· Is there a way to draw triangles in eDesign? Of course! Just switch to the polygon tool (it's under the rectangle tool). Instead of dragging to draw the shape, single click the page. A dialog box will pop up with options for a custom polygon. Adjust the number of sides down to three, and you will be creating triangles!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
eDesign Tips and New Features
Here are a few more features and tips to make the most of your eDesign experience!
New Background Colors function: Today marks the release of the new eDesign background fill option. Select the background button from the toolbar on the left, and then use the color picker to change the background color for each page. This new background layer can’t be accidentally moved, and is perfectly cropped to pass a preflight check. We also expect to add background image capability in the future.
New Bleed Line and Glue Margin warnings: An alert will inform users when they place objects in the bleed margin without reaching the outside edge. This will help alleviate preflight check issues later. Also, a warning will inform users when they place objects in the glue margin on the title page or closing page. Neither of these will force the user to change their design, they are just friendly reminders that the pages may undergo plant changes. If the user doesn’t want to be warned about these, they have a “don’t show during this session” option that dismisses the dialog box until they next log in.
Show Image Info tip: Need to lookup the filename, keywords, or other important info for a picture that is already on the spread? During page design, select the image, then click the Object menu > Show Image Info feature to see the relevant information about the picture.
New Background Colors function: Today marks the release of the new eDesign background fill option. Select the background button from the toolbar on the left, and then use the color picker to change the background color for each page. This new background layer can’t be accidentally moved, and is perfectly cropped to pass a preflight check. We also expect to add background image capability in the future.
New Bleed Line and Glue Margin warnings: An alert will inform users when they place objects in the bleed margin without reaching the outside edge. This will help alleviate preflight check issues later. Also, a warning will inform users when they place objects in the glue margin on the title page or closing page. Neither of these will force the user to change their design, they are just friendly reminders that the pages may undergo plant changes. If the user doesn’t want to be warned about these, they have a “don’t show during this session” option that dismisses the dialog box until they next log in.
Show Image Info tip: Need to lookup the filename, keywords, or other important info for a picture that is already on the spread? During page design, select the image, then click the Object menu > Show Image Info feature to see the relevant information about the picture.
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