Obviously, by applying the appropriate print technologies, inks and paper, backed up with appropriate colour controls, people are getting the essentials in place.

But there are other earlier parts of the production mix which can systematically improve the quality of the end product, including good design, high-quality, appropriate images and graphics, and copy which is accurate, articulate and appropriate. Achieving high-quality production means managing quality right through the creative and production process, which requires collaboration across the business and outside.

Picdar’s Media Mogul technology is widely used both by conventional publishers and by businesses with a large-scale publishing operation to promote their products - for example using catalogues, websites, packaging and online libraries. Media Mogul can help this process by automating routine functions and providing a framework to control the workflow.

Media Mogul is a family of software applications typically described as a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. At the heart of any Media Mogul solution are the business’s digital assets: all kinds of digital files from original images, graphics and copy and also final print-ready pages and PDFs. There may be many different file formats and versions of individual digital assets,managed holistically by Media Mogul.

But Media Mogul is more than just a place to manage and control files. By managing these using a flexible database designed around production, businesses can use it to control and manage the entire production workflow process, from concept to syndication of the final finished article.

Having a central system to manage digital assets and information about them means that users can improve quality by making it easy to find their digital assets, so that people can spend time creating, not filing.

Picdar tends to talk about four types of Media Mogul application that sit around the DAM system and which enable an organisation to manage content through the production cycle.

In practice, however, the company knows that every organisation is different, and this is reflected in the way Media Mogul installations are configured, to include some or all of these four applications.

The first stage is receiving or creating new assets - usually images or copy. In most businesses, says Picdar, far more content is received or created than is ever used. Media Mogul helps deliver quality at this stage by:

• Checking file formats and resolutions on arrival, and alerting users to deficiencies at this point. This gives them the time to do something about poor quality content so deadlines are not at risk
• Ensuring that the right content gets to the right people, at the right time. This is automatic, based on business rules which clients help define. This makes sure that users have the maximum time available to select and create a top quality product
• Maintaining privacy by restricting specific content to those who need to see it. This avoids people accidentally using content which was carefully pre- planned by another part of the business, or the accidental early release of new campaign images
• Allowing users to classify content easily and dynamically into topics so that the best material is available for others to see right away. This makes the selection process efficient, and helps people make good choices.

Specifically, Media Mogul helps deliver quality during the creative and assembly stage by:

• Providing easy access to templates and standard graphics, so that quality can be designed into the final product from the start
• Integrating with creative, publishing and image manipulation software, automating repetitive processes and removing room for error and lost files
• Highlighting information about usage rights and usage costs, to stop users accidentally using content which is restricted, too expensive or not yet released
• Making sure that all the workflow and control steps the client has defined are followed, so that quality problems are trapped and fixed before it’s too late.

Media Mogul helps users keep quality high in the long term by:

• Providing a complete record of what’s been produced before; for consistency, templates and previous content are easily and immediately accessible. If users want to be different, they can easily check that they really are doing something new.
• Adding variety, by using those extra images that weren’t used first time round
• Allowing users to check their facts, by having everything that’s ever been produced available quickly and easily.

• Keeping the brand image consistent across the globe by controlling which content people can use. Media Mogul puts clients in the driving seat, who can decide exactly who has access to each piece of content. Access can even be changed - to publish or to restrict - on dates which can be specified well in advance. At the same time as giving their resellers a wide choice of approved images and logos, clients can make it easy for them to use only approved content
• Responding to customers’ interests and needs, by tailoring the promoted content dynamically, to different types of users. That way, each one sees the things that they’re most likely to be interested in. Clients have the quality edge, because they can deliver the best possible service to those customers who license or buy content from them.
• Supplying digital files in file formats transformed appropriately for the intended use - for print, web, PowerPoint and so on. This ensures that the technical quality others achieve with the content is maximised.