Adobe InDesign CS Development (2)

This project uses "K2" as the R&D code, and K2 is the second largest peak in the world, but it is the most difficult one to climb in technology. Throughout the R&D process, there was an idea that inspired the Adobe R&D team, which was to jump out of the competition and establish new standards. "We know we will make better software than Quark," said Al Gais, senior director of cross-media publishing products. "We can transcend our opponents a full level and succeed with technologies like transparency, XML, and OpenType." We know that we can change the basic mode and functionality of a page layout software."

The key to K2's real threat to Quark is its framework. This software is actually a collection of about 70 software plug-ins that work together by the plug-in manager. This structure makes it easy to replace any component in the software without having to rewrite the entire program. If a particular user needs to control a special hyphen or vertical alignment in the layout, then the original part can be replaced with a plug-in provided by a third-party company or an upgrade provided by Adobe. This software architecture allows Adobe's technicians or third-party developers to freely develop new features at a much faster rate than traditional software development models, which means that developers can enter the market faster, which accelerates for consumers. Updated the software cycle. After being broken down into different pieces, the entire software is easier to control and update.

During the fall of Quark's attempt to acquire Adobe in the fall of 1998, Adobe Corporation publicly demonstrated a new typesetting software code-named K2. In March 1999, InDesign's R&D began. Because of rumors that it is the only product that can break the QuarkXPress market, InDesign has been the most passionate and anticipated software in the publishing industry for several years. In September 1999, InDesign officially launched. Six months later, its 1.5 version came out. InDesign 1.5 has aroused consumer interest by providing advanced typesetting controls (including support for the OpenType font standard), interface components shared with Photoshop and Illustrator, and built-in image processing tools. When InDesign was first introduced, it was warmly welcomed. Users of QuarkXPress and PageMaker were curious to know exactly what it was special about, but their enthusiasm quickly cooled. InDesign did not meet the expectations of the public at Adobe - becoming the "Quark Terminator."

Adobe continued to develop InDesign after it released the new version of PageMaker at the end of 2001. As the product's characteristics have changed, so has its design philosophy. InDesign is not only a typesetting software, it is actually the axis of cross-media publishing strategy. This strategy involves printing, Web, and even wireless communication. InDesign needs to work with other Adobe image processing software (such as Photoshop and Illustrator) and other dynamic media software (such as GoLive and LiveMotion). Of course, InDesign will also be able to make PDF files, and the resulting PDF files can be published on the Web, viewed on handheld devices, or read as e-books.

Therefore, InDesign must support every file format that Adobe's other applications may produce, not just PDF, but a series of file formats and software technologies such as XML, XMP, SVG, and WebDAV, all of which require it to have It is possible to share and disseminate information across platforms and devices. Warlock said: "InDesign will become a machine, a highly automated document publishing machine."

InDesign also needs to be sold worldwide. InDesign supports OpenType (an extensible font format), which allows the use of large character sets, more powerful layout control; InDesign also supports Unicode (a unified character encoding standard), this encoding can be cross-platform, Application server and device applications. Since InDesign supports both OpenType and Unicode, it is suitable for Japanese and other non-Latin languages, especially after designing text right-to-left and vertical typesetting functions to meet the needs of some Asian languages. This is exactly the software module. The advantages embodied in the structure. InDesign does not need to modify the default stereotyped left-to-right reading program code for Japanese customers (PageMaker has made such a modification), and only needs to replace the InDesign Latin alphabet engine with the corresponding Japanese engine. Thus, almost 15 years after Adobe entered the Japanese market via Postscript fonts and printer interpreters, desktop publishing finally gained a foothold in Japan.

InDesign 2001 was widely praised immediately after its release in January 2001 and undoubtedly changed the status quo in the market. Sandro Nairian, executive vice president at Adobe, said: "InDesign is destined to succeed. Now if you buy QuarkXPress, it's like looking at the rearview mirror."

If InDesign is developed using the original model of desktop publishing software, it may become the most compelling typesetting software in 10 years. However, InDesign far exceeds the typesetting requirements in the publishing environment. It includes multiple forms of publishing, including online publishing.

Adobe promotes the first posters in InDesign 1.0 to use words that begin with "in", such as innovation and inspiring. This may be why Adobe named K2 InDesign.

InDesign version upgrade schedule:

September 1999 Adobe InDesign 1.0
March 2000 Adobe InDesign 1.5
January 2001 Adobe InDesign 1.5.2
March 2002 Adobe InDesign 2.0
May 2002 Adobe InDesign 2.0.1
January 2003 Adobe InDesign 2.0.2
October 2003 Adobe InDesign 3.0
March 2004 Adobe InDesign 3.0.1

Source: HC360 HC Printing Industry Channel