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 TEST CENTER Graphics tools to meet demands of network publishing By Todd Coopee, InfoWorld Test Center December 1, 2000 Adobe Systems is leading the way toward a 'publish once, use anywhere' model
 TO BORROW a popular corporate catchphrase, in the world of marketing and public relations, image is everything. The desire for brand awareness and consistency fueled the initial release of desktop publishing tools in the 1980s; throughout the 1990s, the need to take advantage of emerging marketing and communication vehicles such as the World Wide Web spurred continued application development and enhancements. These developments have been a boon for software vendors and have presented creative teams with a dizzying array of tools from which to choose.Unfortunately, the wealth of product choices has proved to be a double-edged sword. The competition for market share has encouraged innovation and attention to customer input in each new release. But as more and more communication channels have emerged, users have been forced to master multiple applications to take advantage of them -- just ask anyone who is trying to coordinate parallel workflows across Web, print, video, and now wireless mediums. The panacea for this problem may be network publishing. It's not a new concept, but one that has been recently brought to the forefront by Adobe Systems. Network publishing advocates a "publish once, use anywhere" methodology, in which dynamic content can be created and delivered reliably to wherever an end-user asks for it, be it a Web page, cell phone, PC, handheld device, or Internet appliance. To accomplish this feat, future developments in graphics applications will need to adhere to a common set of publishing standards put forth by Adobe. To make network publishing more of a reality than a pipe dream, Adobe has enlisted a number of strategic partners, including Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, RealNetworks, InterWoven, and Art Technology Group, to help its cause. Each company is taking an active role in converging its technologies and infrastructure to streamline publishing and accessing corporate information. Initial announcements and integration plans between group members are compelling. For example, Nokia and Adobe plan on modifying Adobe's Web authoring tool, GoLive 5.0, to allow Web developers to author, preview, and manage content created for wireless devices using WML (Wireless Markup Language). This WML support includes the addition of an on-screen representation of Nokia's WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)-enabled mobile phones. This product enhancement is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2001. Similarly, integration of RealNetworks' audio and video technologies into GoLive promises to allow users to incorporate streaming audio and video into Web publications. As it stands right now, this type of processing is accomplished using two or more different stand-alone applications. Finally, HP is planning to utilize all software and delivery mechanisms as part of its always-on infrastructure plans. In addition to network publishing partnerships, Adobe is also planning to venture out into the ASP (application service provider) space with a service called Adobe Studio. This Web-hosted service will offer content and tools for creative professionals, enabling creative workgroups to manage projects and share and deliver files securely. This service is scheduled for beta testing in January 2001 and will cost roughly $39.95 a month per user. Of course, Adobe and its partners are not the only players on the network publishing field. If and when Microsoft's ballyhooed .NET initiatives see the light of day, they stand to further impact the way all applications, including graphic programs, utilize the Internet for publishing and maintaining content, including text, graphics, audio, and video. But regardless of who takes the lead, during the next five years the Internet will play an ever larger role in publishing -- not only as a medium of richer content aimed at desktop machines and leaner content aimed at handheld devices, but also as a source of publishing tools that end-users will be able to access as services. Related articles Add some bang, get some bucks Photoshop 6.0 artfully enables outstanding design work  RELATED SUBJECTS  App devWeb TechnologiesSPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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