Links softcare’s K4 Publishing System with DALiM TWiST and DALiM MiSTRAL in powerful publishing production workflow


Kehl / Hamburg, Germany: Dalim Software and softcare today announce that they have entered into a strategic agreement to integrate their complementary and award-winning publishing workflow technologies.

The ability to integrate SoftCare’s K4 Publishing System, a leading editorial system based on Adobe InDesign and InCopy, with DALiM TWiST prepress workflow and DALiM MiSTRAL web-based production management system will give the publishing industry a powerful production automation tool. As a result publishers will be able to handle the demands of multiple edition editorial production while managing planning, soft proofing, and multi-site print production automatically and to high quality standards within a single and seamless workflow.

“This alliance with SoftCare reinforces our commitment to the continued development of our open standard technologies to give users across a wide range of production specialisations even higher levels of functionality and flexibility within a highly streamlined workflow,” explains Stephane Georges, Product Manager, Dalim Software.

"K4 is an editorial system with open interfaces, and our goal is to make sure it integrates seamlessly with other standard software for fast and secure publishing workflows. We are very happy to collaborate with Dalim Software, so that our joint customers can benefit from Dalim Software’s leading softproofing technology even in the early stages of layout design," says Andreas Schrader, Managing Director at SoftCare.

Leading technologies maximising production
K4 Publishing System is a highly customisable and scalable editorial system based on Adobe InDesign and InCopy. With its multilevel security controls and robust customisation options, K4 supports a transparent and fast production workflow for individual workgroups or entire publishing enterprises. K4 offers support for remote locations and multi-language publications. Today over 100 magazine, newspaper and book publishing sites worldwide, ranging in size from 10 to 250 users per site, use K4 to streamline their production process. K4 supports Mac OSX and Windows clients in mixed platform environments. The server software is available for Mac OSX Server, Windows, SUN Solaris and Linux.


The DALiM TWiST automated production workflow has a high-level of functionality including: database-driven workflow, web-based job tracking and administration, advanced ink control, etc. Including more than 150 standard workflow tools, DALiM TWiST permits precise configurations for publishing workflow requirements quickly and easily. For example: automating page pairing, file conversions (e.g. PostScript to PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3), applying ICC colour profiles to very complex specific workflows, and automatic delivery of 1-bit TIFF or PDF plate files to multiple sites.

The DALiM MiSTRAL web-based production management system is both the common electronic submission interface for production assembly and the interface for subsequent production tracking, administration, correction, approval and printing. The system allows all parties involved in the development of “publishable material” to have a single, common electronic interface to obtain information on the development of the project in real time and from any remote location. JDF compliance is a central component to DALiM MiSTRAL, allowing tasks such as advanced job ticketing, imposition, and preflighting.