MediaPlanner
Overview
MediaPlanner is today's solution to maximise a publication's production efficiency.
Whether it's for high volume Classified ad planning, high value Display ad planning or Editorial content page planning, or a combination of these in a single plan, MediaPlanner is the best one-stop page planning workflow solution for print products in today's publishing market place.
The MediaPlanner Page Planning Tool is now installed in most national newspapers and many leading regional newspapers and magazines. MediaPlanner allows publication based planners to perform their classified page planning, display page planning and Editorial content planning within one system, quickly, accurately and with considerable flexibility.
MediaPlanner offers a high return on investment over a short pay-back period due to newsprint savings and fewer mistakes because MediaPlanner reduces the need for refunds and free re-runs ensuring that all booked adverts appear in the publication correctly and do not get missed off the plan in error, thus saving on costly credits.
With today's production departments running to tighter deadlines with less staff, MediaPlanner helps production planners maintain the quality of their work allowing them to construct and deliver their plan with all page elements correctly placed, on time.
MediaPlanner can integrate to existing Ad booking front-ends and will output directly to most editorial systems or via InDesign, Quark or MSPaginator (MSL's automated pagination engine) placing it at the cutting edge of page planning solutions to the publishing industry.
Features
- Non proprietary so integrates to existing Ad booking front-end and will output directly or via InDesign, Quark Xpress or MSPaginator.
- Handles both ROP and Classified pages shows complete publication dummies.
- Integral database which can handle multi edition/insertion bookings from existing front ends.
- Absolute and Section page bookings. This allows ads to be booked for sections before the final pagination size details are known.
- Full Ad Stacking routines available for each individual section i.e. pyramid left/right largest width ad to bottom etc.
- Pagination templates give colour imposition information ensuring all colour ads are placed on colour capable pages, including single and multi spot colour pages.
- Fully automatic sectional running order with merge or non-merge rulings.
- Ability to lock pages then release templates (page description) to Editorial as individual files
- Each ad planned as individual. Full alpha numeric style sorts.
- Page square off feature allows classified sections to be squared off.
- Re-flow feature allows full display ads to be moved and all existing lineage etc. will re-flow automatically around them.
- Auto/manual fillers ensure productive use of non sold space.
- Auto header places correct width and style of classification header on each new column.
- Auto Justification for speed for classified columns.
- Auto folio ensures that fully automated electronic page composition is achieved.
FAQ
Find the answers to the most frequently asked questions about MediaPlanner.
Yes, the Security and Supervisor allows you to centralise all your MediaPlanner installs within one easy to use module. Here you can create/amend and delete user logons and passwords, enable or disable functions with the application for users. For example do they have full planning rights or just a read only user to the saved plans>
Yes. All the elements of advertising (Classified and Display ROP style ads) and also Editorial stories can be planned and output with one plan. For customers that want to separate these planning parts to different departments this can be done also using planning templates, planners can configure these to there needs.
Yes, it can accept data from multiple front-ends in a variety of formats that feed into the Import Translation Module which then stores the data in MediaPlanner format into the database as indexed records.
Yes, there are fully configurable set of parameters that deal with graphics presentation. It can be configured to a full production workflow using EPSF or PDF files. If required a JPG can be shown on screen and on production Output substituted with either EPSF or PDF files.
Yes, MediaPlanner uses templates (building blocks of a publication) along with planned position file backups which ensures swift and efficient downsizing or up-paging of an edition within a publication.
Yes, there is an extensive output module that can save a plan in a variety of formats to be called into the appropriate production environment, for example Quark, InDesign, GoodNews and Terra to name a few.
Yes, you identify shapes by category, for example HOLIDAYS, MOTORS, RECRUITMENT etc, by type of shape for example AD, EDITORIAL, HEADER, LABEL etc, by colour for example MONO. FULL COLOUR, SPOT etc, by description, and by size. These are just some of the ways to identify quickly. MediaPlanner can also use Shapes Library AutoFlow rules which allow the planner to set custom parameters.
Once a completes page, part of a page or an individual advert is in place and cannot be moved/amended or re-planned use the lock facility which locks the objects. This is shown by a padlock symbol on the page, this identifies to planners that this page cannot be changed unless it is unlocked with the appropriate user authority or override.
Yes, with the use of group codes, regional templates and the edition file structure for opening plans full regionalisation can be planned. There are also customisable parameters that can be entered by the planner which can be used as a set of rules as to what extent regionalised plans can be changed.
Yes, a user can setup and save multiple settings that can be called in using a dropdown list within the flat plan printing module, this defines what is printed and where the plan is printed to, e.g. departmental printer names.
Site specific parameters can be set within the DR module of MediaPlanner. This enables the transfer of data between sites in batch or real-time mode. In addition manual or automated backups can be made of all or specific data by an administrator or planner with the relevant privileges.