Product Experience Management

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APSIVA, the leading provider of catalog publishing software, today announced that its on demand catalog production sub system, an integral part of the APSIVA PRINTsource Enterprise Version 4.4 has gone live at multiple client sites.

The on demand subsystem within Catsy is providing the following additional benefits:

 

•  Create On-Demand catalogs with up-to-the-minute content

•  Re-price existing catalogs on-demand from retail stores or dealerships

•  Create sales fliers, signs and price cards for retail

•  Empower sales reps with custom priced catalogs

•  Reinforce corporate branding from the same Adobe InDesign output

•  Print ready output with high-resolution graphics, crisp fonts and stylesheets

•  Based on Adobe InDesign CS2 Server

APSIVA is designed from the ground up to the new realities of post dot-com era of multi-channel catalog publishing which means robust and comprehensive support for print, web and on-demand catalog publishing.

Catsy ONEsource is a catalog content management software that helps organizations in aggregating, synchronizing, syndicating and harmonizing product content across enterprise systems, departments, suppliers, employees and customers helping you to personalize, deepen, grow, and leverage each relationship.

Catsy PRINTsource is built on top of ONEsource and is designed to work seamlessly with desktop publishing environments and enhance productivity within creative teams. Catsy PRINTsource print catalog publishing software creates the right workflow and provides the right tools for merchandisers, content authors, art departments, photography, catalog managers and creative artists.

Catsy On Demand publishing capability is part of APSIVA PRINTsource Enterprise edition and leverages on the work done by APSIVA ONEsource and APSIVA PRINTsource and brings their benefits to retail locations, dealerships and field sales reps.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APSIVA, the leading provider of print catalog publishing solutions, today announced the general availability of APSIVA On Demand subsystem based on Adobe InDesign CS2 Server 1.0. With APSIVA, customers will be able to take advantage of powerful Adobe publishing backend to automate catalog output.

APSIVA participated in the beta cycle for InDesign Server and Catsy will present the solution at the Adobe InDesign Usergroup meeting and discuss how Catsy’s flexible suite of software products can create and maintain print, web and on-demand catalogs.

Date, Time and Location:

Tuesday March 28th, 2006

6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Digital Boot Camp

1400 W. Hubbard 2nd floor left

Chicago, IL

Grand and Ogden – block so of Grand and 1 block west of Ogden)

AGENDA

6:00 – Meet & Greet with Pizza ($5 contribution)

6:30 – Introductions and General Q&A

7:00 – Tom Petrillo InDesign Server Overview

7:30 – Break

7:45 – Sanjeev Teku – Catsy

8:15 – Q & A and Prizes!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APSIVA, the leading provider of print and electronic catalog software, today announced the release of Catsy IMAGEsource version 2.3. Starting with APSIVA IMAGEsource Version 2.3, customers will be able to take advantage of many new file formats and fitting options.

Catsy IMAGEsource is an Adobe InDesign plugin built to connect directly into a creative departments Digital Asset Library. IMAGEsource is a standalone plug-in that gives you much of the versatility you expect from the Image-placement capabilities of Catsy Print Catalog Software – PRINTsource.

The benefits of IMAGEsource for the Designer / Production Artists include:

A. Convert every image folder on your system into an InDesign library

As a designer, you probably use digital asset management software to search and browse for images. For example in Adobe Photoshop, you might use the “Gallery” feature. These images are either displayed as names or thumbnails. To transfer these images into layout, you can copy an image, toggle to InDesign and paste the image in InDesign. In certain cases, you might also be able display both the image management application side-by-side to Adobe InDesign and drag-drop images at full size into the InDesign page. This limits the amount of desktop space devoted to each application making it difficult to work. Catsy IMAGEsource simplifies this process.

With IMAGEsource operating as a plugin, directly from the InDesign Window menu, you can:

1. Use the Browse Folder option on the palette menu to navigate to your desired image folder.

2. Select either a Thumbnail view or a List view option.

3. Use the Search palette option to display a “subset” of the folder. Choose “Show All” to restore visibility to all images.

4. Use the “arrow” keys to scroll up or down the list and view image size and type information as well. Now you have easy access to your graphics without having to toggle between apps or reduce your layout area to facilitate drag-and-drop.

B. Placements options that will virtually eliminate the cumbersome application of additional fitting commands

Conventional drag-and-drop methods or the native InDesign File / Place commands bring images onto the page at 100% size (requiring manual scaling or application of InDesign fitting options).

1. Place the Image at 100% size. Drag-and-drop the Image Name or any Thumbnail anywhere on the InDesign page, or Replicate the Place command via drag-drop over an existing frame.

2. Place and REDUCE Image to Fit proportionally from the IMAGEsource palette. With an empty frame selected, double-click the image name or thumbnail in the IMAGEsource palette to place the image and (via option) automatically reduce the image to fit proportionally in the selected frame. Double-click once again to fit the frame to the newly-resized image.

3. Place and (optionally) ENLARGE Image to Fit proportionally from the IMAGEsource palette. With an empty frame selected, double-click name or thumbnail to place the image and (via option) the image will first display at 100%. Double-click once again and automatically enlarge the image to fit proportionally in the selected frame. Double-click a third time to again fit the frame to the newly-resized image. IMAGEsource also has the ability to re-size the frame only and leave the image at 100%.

An additional benefit to placing images using IMAGEsource is that they retain their ability to “snap” into shape if the image needs to be re-sized later. After placing and applying the fitting options from the IMAGEsource palette, alter the size of the image frame once again. Double-click on the image and it re-sizes proportionally and adjusts the frame to the new dimensions simultaneously!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APSIVA, the leading provider of print and electronic catalog software, today announced support for Adobe InDesign CS2. Customers will now be able to take advantage of many new benefits offered by Adobe InDesign CS2.

Unlike other solutions that are simply an outgrowth of legacy print applications, APSIVA is designed from the ground up to the new realities of post dot-com era of multi-channel catalog publishing. This means robust support for print and web channels for simultaneous deployment, instead of uploading products approved for the print to the website.

APSIVA empowers organizations by creating a master product information repository that includes product content, product images, literature and most importantly product knowledge. Additionally with APSIVA’s catalog software organizations can publish product content to Print, Web, CD, and electronic media. APSIVA gives a 360-degree content management, and deployment options across media and channels.

Catsy PRINTsource is designed to work seamlessly with desktop publishing environment, enhances productivity within creative teams. APSIVA PRINTsource uses a combination of database principals, multi-channel concepts, workflow notifications to streamline and improve the efficiency of desktop publishing. Catsy PRINTsource print catalog publishing software creates the right workflow and provides the right tools for merchandisers, content authors, art departments, photography, catalog managers and creative artists. Catsy PRINTsource offers a variety of benefits:

 

      Multi-Channel Benefits

•  Improve content accuracy by managing content once and reusing across multiple print catalog publications and media

•  Empower editorial staff by eliminating double-entry of content

•  You can centralize digital assets and artwork linked with product text, descriptions, and items making it easy to locate content to design pages

•  Automatically translate special-characters from print to web

      Designer Benefits

•  Simplify page assembly

•  Create catalog pages faster than ever before due to advanced auto-styling features

•  Save time by auto-styling tables and charts with auto-styling features

•  Save time by automatically refreshing catalog pages

•  Automate pricing and price/content updates to catalogs

•  Auto paginate catalog pages for certain types of catalogs

•  B2B catalogers can create most catalog pages in less than 90 seconds per page

•  Get notifications for products that need to be updated and refreshes

      Catalog Workflow Benefits

•  Replace sequential, point-to-point communications with many-to-many and paralleled routing of tasks in the catalog process

•  Save time with system based task notifications to stakeholders

•  Improve efficiencies with workflow that can be configured to your production

•  Eliminate errors with end-to-end catalog planning and publishing workflow

•  Generate status reports to identify pending tasks

      Merchandising Benefits

•  Empower merchandising with easier product selection process

•  Migrate merchandising to a fully digital process for catalog page planning with catalog planning whiteboard

•  Gain access to sales insight directly from whiteboard

•  Make turnover an electronic, easy and error free process

      Photography Benefits

•  Fully integrate your internal or external photography into a notification based workflow

•  Simplify art direction and photography approval workflow

 

Catsy Print Catalog Software is not merely a glorified product database. It is also a workflow engine that routes tasks and messages to the right users, in the right sequence at the right time. This proactive approach of notifying users reduces dependencies, eliminates bottlenecks and improves the throughput for the production staff. With better workflow support, you can manage bigger teams of advertising and merchandisers.

Once print and web catalogs are published using our print publishing software, refreshing content from a desktop publishing environment such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress is just as easy.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APSIVA, the leading provider of product catalog software, today announced the general availability of APSIVA Product Suite Version 4.3. With APSIVA Version 4.3 system, customers will be able to take advantage of workflow features for print catalog publishing.

Unlike other solutions that are simply an outgrowth of legacy print applications, APSIVA is designed from the ground up to the new realities of post dot-com era of multi-channel catalog publishing. This means robust support for print and web channels for simultaneous deployment, instead of uploading products approved for the print to the website.

APSIVA empowers organizations by creating a master product information repository that includes product content, product images, literature and most importantly product knowledge. Additionally with APSIVA’s catalog software organizations can publish product content to Print, Web, CD, and electronic media. APSIVA gives a 360-degree content management, and deployment options across media and channels.

With the new release of Catsy Catalog Software, you will see an even better ROI. The new modules where you will see enhanced ROI are:

Merchandising

Catsy’s merchandising module makes it easy for merchandisers to select and plan presentations for a print catalog project. Catsy Catalog Software streamlines communication between merchandising and advertising (creative) eliminates bottlenecks by spreading the bottleneck.

Print Catalog Production

Catsy’s support for Print Catalogs is the best in the industry with Catsy PRINTsource – Print Catalog Software. With this version, annual catalog, specialty catalog, industrial catalog and retail catalog production workflow can be streamlined for higher efficiency.

Styling

At Catsy we understand that there is no substitute for human creativity. However, once a designer creates a style, the same style is used across the catalog. Automating this style application is a no-value that APSIVA automates. With Catsy, these tasks can be fully automated so you can extract content from the APSIVA Print Catalog Software pre-styled.

Workflow

Catsy Print Catalog Software Version 4.3 is not merely a glorified product database. It is also a workflow engine that routes tasks and messages to the right users, in the right sequence at the right time. This proactive approach of notifying users reduces dependencies, eliminates bottlenecks and improves the throughput for the production staff. With better workflow support, you can manage bigger teams of advertising and merchandisers.

Once print and web catalogs are published using our print publishing software, refreshing content from a desktop publishing environment such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress is just as easy.

Catsy Print Catalog Software is not merely a glorified product database. It is also a workflow engine that routes tasks and messages to the right users, in the right sequence at the right time. This proactive approach of notifying users reduces dependencies, eliminates bottlenecks and improves the throughput for the production staff. With better workflow support, you can manage bigger teams of advertising and merchandisers.

Once print and web catalogs are published using our print publishing software, refreshing content from a desktop publishing environment such as Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress is just as easy.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The growth in technology companies has its roots in the great dot-com boom of 1999-2000. Without recapping the entire history of that cycle, suffice it to say that many of the enterprises it spawned had never had to prove themselves with real customers, real world tested products, or real earnings. (Let us not forget those heady days when any earnings were considered a disadvantage because of the P/E ratios they would create!)

Since that time, we’ve all been reminded that when it comes to business plans, looks are not enough! Companies must deliver on the promise and execute. Like the economy as a whole, the catalog software sector is still absorbing (and recovering from) the “excesses” of the dot-com era.

For organizations that have already invested in a competing catalog management system, Catsy offers a competitive upgrade rebate to make the transition to Catsy as painless as possible. With our competitive upgrade rebate, you can get your Catsy PRINTsource Catalog Software at up to 50% off.

The qualifying requirements for the competitive upgrade is that you have purchased a competing Catalog Management Software suite within the last 60 months and still own it.

The Competitive Upgrade rebate is not available through resellers, and the upgrade is valid until 9/30/2004.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Catsy, a catalog management software vendor in Vernon Hills, Illinois is offering a FREE report titled “Nine Tips for Collapsing Catalog Creation Time.” The report is designed primarily for manufacturing and distribution firms that want to increase the speed and accuracy of catalog production while taking steps to reduce the costs. A copy of the FREE report can be obtained simply by visiting the company’s web-site www.catsy.com.

The new Catsy report explains nine key points that firms can use to improve catalog management efficiency and accuracy. One point focuses on product information management, the single most important factor in catalog accuracy. It points out that internally-produced product information for catalog management is usually compiled from disparate sources. Modifying a product attribute in one department begins a domino effect of replicated updates across the organization. In most cases it makes sense to complement the internal catalog management process with a central database that is shared by users across the firm, and possibly with print vendors. The report also discusses methods by which compiled product information can be exported to multiple catalog formats to suit the requirements of the firm, be it Web, CD or Print.

The report points out the importance of tailoring the message of your catalog closely to the needs of individual prospects. It describes automated tools that make it possible to tune your catalog to the prospect’s individual situation. For example, you might include text and photos that specifically address the maintenance problems faced by a particular type of plant.

Finally, the report helps explain how using this approach makes it easy for internal resources to provide consistent data to clients and prospects. A central source for all product attributes which can be accessed by customer service AND pre-sales resources can help reduce returns and customer dissatisfaction. It explains the value of providing an integrated online product repository that can contain exploded diagrams, MSDS’s and other important data that is associated with the product.

Catsy has 25 years of combined experience in catalog management development and consulting. The firm has mastered the art of helping industrial companies speed cycle time for catalog creation and simplifying product information maintenance.