New Software for Automating Creation of Catalog Indexes

News Highlights

• Using MPS Index Builder, catalog publishers can drastically reduce the production time for creating a catalog index from hours to just minutes;
  
• MPS Index Builder, compatible with QuarkXPress 6.5, is now available from MPS and its distributors;
  
• For more information about MPS Index Builder or any other MPS offering, please visit www.meadowsps.com.

Schaumburg, IL– January 25, 2006 – Meadows Publishing Solutions (MPS) announced today that they have released MPS Index Builder, a software module for QuarkXPress users that creates catalog indexes. Using the new software, catalog publishers can drastically reduce the production time of creating a catalog index from hours to just minutes. MPS Index Builder, compatible with QuarkXPress 6.5, is now available from MPS and its distributors. For more information about MPS Index Builder or any other MPS offering, please visit www.meadowsps.com.

User Quote
“We publish nearly 4,000 pages a year in three catalogs containing more than 50,000 parts,” said Mark Keedy, Catalog Production Manager, J&P Cycles, Inc. of Anamosa, Iowa. “Our success depends on customers being able to find the parts they want in a hurry, so good indexing is just good business. Building an index for our 1,200-page catalog used to take a full 8-hour shift. Using Index Builder, it now takes less than 30 minutes. And it used to take nearly a week to review over 1,000 pages of Quark index tags in our big catalog. Now the index terms can be assigned as the product groups are built (even without knowing what section or page the products will appear on), and we have the confidence of knowing that Index Builder will keep track of it all for us.”

Meadows Publishing Solutions Quote
“With profit margins under steady downward pressure, publishers are in constant search of automated solutions which reduce any aspect of catalog production,” noted Noel Williams, Vice President, MPS. “MPS Index Builder replaces a tedious and often error-prone production element with an automated approach. And it will enable publishers to react quickly to last-minute edits with confidence.”

About MPS Index Builder
MPS Index Builder was designed with catalogers in mind, thus it provides a number of unique features that make the product ideal for catalog-specific workflows. Index entries can be entered by hand at any time, or imported from a tab-separated text file. In addition, AutoPrice™ users can also extract SKU information to include in the final index.

For existing indexes, it is easy to import the old index, make changes, and start tagging for the future. Index entries can also be saved, exported and shared by any other workstation. Included is a built-in batch processing feature that will process any number of individual QuarkXPress documents in a single session. A complete index can be created within minutes and can be updated at any time.

Compatible with GroupPicture Software
MPS Index Builder is also compatible with MPS’ GroupPicture software, which allows users to create, save, and database product blocks with embedded index information. This combination works great with most image database applications. In addition, the saved product blocks can contain AutoPrice database links, which allow users to quickly update specific content directly from an ODBC or flat-file database.

For more information about MPS Index Builder, please visit www.meadowsps.com.

About Meadows Publishing Solutions
Meadows Publishing Solutions is a software development and consulting company specializing in commercial and custom XTensions® for QuarkXPress, plug-in modules for Adobe® InDesign® and Adobe Acrobat®, and other extensible technologies. Meadows has developed a number of popular software packages for the database publishing and variable data printing markets, including their award-winning products AutoPrice(tm) and DesignMerge® Founded in 1991, Meadows is based just outside of Chicago in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Press Contacts

— ### —

© 2006 Meadows Publishing Solutions. The Meadows Publishing Solutions product names mentioned in this document are trademarks or service marks of Meadows Publishing Solutions, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Other company and brand, product and service names are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Data subject to change without notice.