Simo Karttunen

Printing and digital printing used to be rather isolated print media services for the publishers and advertizers. Today, all printing operations, and especially digital printing, are integrated in the networks - both public and private, e.g. Internet and extranet. This may happen in many ways. A printing plant may advertize, offer services and make targeted marketing on its website. A digital printer can offer on-demand printing, remote printing applications, or distribute-and-then-print, at the customers, their customers´ websites or through their printers.

Dynamic database printing services with or without the respective web distribution alternatives are popular web applications. In fact, in daily media production, most workflows could become web applications independently of how the final service is distributed and output.

This Day, with its two Sessions, sponsored by TAGA and GCA, is focusing on the emerging XML technologies which are so promising and numerous, and which will penetrate the large mass of prepublishing, prepress, web-builder and linking software already available during the first six years of our HTML web.

XML applications may have relevance as a special mark-up applications for content or metadata. XML syntax may also help building large, flexible, extensible and structured banks or repositories of information and developing their workflow and integration with the media production. XML web applications help to build web-aware systems and automate many processes related to the industrial media production.

Early signs of this evolution could be seen by the XML pioneers long ago. Extensive project work in many task forces for new metadata standards goes on, and will result in a more automated, secure and flexible web. Many companies - some of them featuring their developments and new products here today - have started to market XML and related software for the media companies. It is time to take a look on these developments.