OneVision
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The digitization of its production system meant The Cincinnati Enquirer could not allow electronic errors to hamper its production schedule.

To that end, the Gannett Co. Inc.-owned newspaper purchased Asura preflight software from OneVision to thwart any problems before they might occur.

The daily purchased three Asura servers; four add-on modules, PlugFittin, PlugWebin, PlugCropin and PlugTextin; and three Solvero workstations.

The Enquirer (Monday-Thursday, 189,084; Friday, 215,222; Saturday, 203,386; Sunday, 308,797) initially purchased Asura to serve as a preflight system for its advertising department.

Asura is a server-based application that is used to check, modify, correct and convert PostScript, EPS, TIFF and PDF files. Asura interprets incoming data and automatically repairs common file structure inconsistencies based on user-defined parameters. Asura provides control of fonts, color space, image, graphics, with ICC or custom color management.

“Within a year of our first purchase, [the information technology department] asked for triple the capacity because there was so much that OneVision was capable of,” said Maureen Kelley, digital workflow manager at The Enquirer. “With our second installation, we were in the midst of planning for a complete pagination system for two papers.”

The Enquirer and afternoon publication The Cincinnati Post (Monday-Friday, 46,061; Saturday, 63,557) are under a joint operating agreement.

The Enquirer selected Asura because it automatically flagged and corrected errors. The newspaper was interested in the latter feature.

“During [our] evaluation, it was the find-and-fix feature that sold us,” Kelley said. “It took getting it in house to realize and understand how we could take advantage of other features.”

The add-on modules are designed to automate such manual tasks as cropping files or adjusting page sizes.

“The additional modules are a treasure chest for automation,” Kelley said. “We use them for many things like converting file formats for the Web, sizing and cropping ads, converting color graphics to black and white, changing process color to spot, full page PDF production and the list goes on and on.”

Solvero is an editing tool used to modify PostScript, EPS and PDF files. It will let Enquirer users perform a variety of editing and image-processing functions without having to return to the native application.

Kelley said the three Asura servers are being used by the paper’s editorial, advertising, production and online departments. The purchase of additional Asura services is now being evaluated, Kelley said.