I would like to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. A few months ago, I tried to make the numbers speak , before realizing that it was easier with words! But that’s damn right 1! Here is the first version of a dictionary of themes directly related to our activity.
N.B. Words in bold have an entry in this dictionary.
A
Adobe
Adobe was created in 1982 . This editor has produced some little-known software such as Photoshop , Illustrator , or InDesign . Perhaps we should take an interest in them.
Automation (of the layout)
The dream: that the catalog makes itself! The promise is that this is possible today, depending on the catalog’s charter in question or accept compromises. Next step: that the rules that govern automation can themselves be made… automatically…
Find out more:
Big and small stories around layout automation.
B
Branding
Tagging sounds scary, but it is simply identifying and naming an element. This can be a field in a data file (JSON, XML, Excel, etc.) or a reserve in an InDesign file. It is therefore an issue of layout automation since you have to name the objects you are manipulating.
Learn more :
- Automation tutorial: making a deck of cards with J2S Module Editor 1/3.
C
Catalog
J2S is a company from the north of France, not the great north, but almost. So I think about the – big – catalogs of La Redoute and Les Trois Suisses. How many catalogs are produced and printed in France each year? If you know the number, please share it! In any case, Simple Workspace is here to simplify the production, from design to manufacturing! (Catalogs of course, but also product sheets, flyers, and leaflets, books, magazines, magalogues, parcel asylums, etc.)
Example of a 100% automatically generated product sheet
Find out more:
Graphic charter – graphic style guide
This is where it all begins. Before implementing the automation of a medium, the charter must be formalized. This is essential in an automation project because the devil is in the details… Formalizing the charter makes it possible to define with the client the scenarios to be taken into account and also to validate that we have all the necessary data.
Flatplan in pictures
A picture is worth a thousand words. Instead of sticking sheets on the wall, the Flatplan of Simple Workspace allows you to have a permanent vision of the progress of the design or the manufacturing of printed support. Which, in the context of hybrid work and telecommuting, is more convenient than the wall/paper/scissors solution. At least I think so.
Learn more:
•
The challenges of dematerializing InDesign documents
.
Customer
The project is an opportunity to create a link between the customer and the supplier: J2S. The project can only be successful if a relationship of trust is established between the two teams. And I think that the basis of the trust relationship is a working method shared by both parties! Especially since the implementation of our tools often involves major changes, which must be supported.
Create
It is by integrating the design phase into the “Print” project that we optimize the most (and the best). For example, designing the charter by taking into account the optimization constraints. Or, in terms of tools, by enabling the production of certain parts very early on, such as photos.
Connector
Simple Workspace is designed to connect to third-party systems. And, rather than developing a specific link each time you need to link to a new solution, we implement connectors. A connector allows Simple Workspace to link to third-party solutions in a standard way. And it’s through parameterization that the specificities are implemented.
D
Deadlines
It’s something you have to hold on to, but you can never catch it. (See Savings.)
To go further:
Data
The counterpart of automation. For it to go well, you need data and good data. And that’s not always a given, uh…
E
Economic and time savings
Simple Workspace has been designed as a factory. So it naturally includes a number of tools designed to save time and make a team’s workflow more smoothly (to help meet deadlines).
- The automation of the layout of course ;
- The flatplan image path ;
- The Dashboard ;
- Workflows ;
- And so on.
Excel
Excel files can be used as databases, as input to Simple Workspace. But Simple Workspace is also able to produce Excel files. For example, by attaching to a quotation a personalized catalog of the products presented, but also an Excel file filled in on the basis of a template provided by the
G
Generate
To be honest, I couldn’t think of a word for the letter G. And then I thought of this one. Which makes sense, since as part of layout automation, we automatically generate documents. Okay, so I’m probably repeating myself with topics that have already been mentioned. But, as I said, I couldn’t find any other words.
H
Hosting (SaaS)
J2S offers a turnkey solution, Simple Workspace as an all-inclusive service. (It’s the French version of SaaS.) In other words, you don’t take care of anything!
Horizontal
Horizontal because Simple Workspace can do a lot of things! Of course, with Simple Workspace, you can simply make printed materials, but you can also…
Enter product sheet texts in bulk.
Provide a product sheet portal.
Give your stores a tool to manage their communication.
Enhance the solution you publish by adding the missing print component.
Allow your team to better follow the manual production of a support in InDesign format.
And so on.
For further information:
Have a look at our solutions on our website .
I
InDesign
InDesign and J2S were born the same year, in 1999. Coincidence? Maybe not. And if I remember correctly, we have been developing InDesign plug-ins since 2001. I think we can say that we are specialists.
J
J2S
Our company is over 20 years old. Almost as many years of providing InDesign-related solutions. Why J2S? Some say it stands for Just Simple Solutions. Others put forward an alternative theory. Either way, J2S is indeed a company, a human company.
Read more: J2S, a 20-year history
M
Manufacturing
After design, manufacturing. The manufacturing phase is characterized by iterations (sometimes numerous) within one or more teams (internal or external to the company). As soon as we talk about iterations, we are tempted to reduce their number as much as possible in order to save time and therefore money. But this is one of the challenges of implementing Simple Workspace: you have to find a balance between the very advanced use of tools and the appeal to the collective intelligence of teams. (I’m thinking of workflows, for example: if they are too complex and restrictive, it doesn’t work).
U
Unforeseen, uncertainty
These days, the unexpected is not the order of the day. When we leave by car, we want to know exactly what time we will arrive. We can know exactly where our loved ones are (if they want to). With our phones, we can always be reached. And so on. One wonders how we did it before! In short, the unexpected is not on the agenda. However, if there is one thing that is certain in a project, it is that there will be surprises. Not that we should not organize anything. But the method (agile) and especially, the state of mind (agile) allow accepting these novelties by trying to make something positive out of it.
To be continued…
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As you can see, we are experts. Contact us : we will be pleased to help you.
Jean-Yves Jourdain
Cofounder of J2S
Try to imagine me hitting my forehead with the palm of my right hand 🤦🏻. ↩︎