Title pages from master data
Title, subtitle, publisher and footer live in one place and appear wherever they belong.
Product · Catalogue on Demand
Editing stays in Word. Typesetting is automatic.
From Word files and your own data, one click produces a complete print PDF: title pages, a table of contents with page numbers that are calculated rather than maintained, running heads, chapters that start on a right-hand page and the symbol legend at the back. No layout software, no design skills, no correction round because a page number slipped.
- Real book typesetting
- Servers in Germany
- Your fonts and colours
- Print-ready PDF
How the book is assembled
- rightTitle pagesTitle, subtitle, publisher, footer
- leftContentsPage numbers calculated at build time
- rightChaptersRight-hand starts, blank pages inserted where needed
- leftData sectionTables and profiles live from your source
- rightLegendBuilt from the symbols you maintain
Why a printed publication takes six weeks, and where they go
Almost none of that time goes into writing. It goes into typesetting, into correction rounds and into the fear of touching anything once the pages are laid out.
| Layout software | Catalogue on Demand | |
|---|---|---|
| Who typesets | One person who knows InDesign, usually external | Your editors, straight out of Word |
| A change before print | A new typesetting run and another correction round | Rebuild the file, a couple of minutes |
| Page numbers in the contents | Checked by hand, and happily overlooked | Calculated during the build |
| Tables, prices, profiles | Pasted in from a spreadsheet, frozen the moment it is pasted | Read from your data source when the book is built |
| Next edition | Open last year's file and hope | Carry the previous state over and edit what changed |
| Cost per edition | Typesetting is paid for again every time | The build costs a click |
From a Word file to a print file in five steps
Two things have to be agreed with your editors. Everything after that is the system's problem, not theirs.
- 1
Set up the structure
once
The publication is laid out the way it is read: title pages, part one, part two, appendix. Order, chapter names and which chapters belong in the contents.
- 2
Import the Word file
seconds
Chapters carry the Heading 1 style, an info box starts as its own paragraph with Box 1, Box 2 and so on. That is the whole agreement with the editorial team.
- 3
Check first
before saving
The import is two-stage. The first pass reads the file and reports what it found: number of chapters, number of boxes, chapters without text, text before the first heading. Nothing is written yet.
- 4
Connect the data section
once
Tables, prices, profiles and directories come from your database or your partner portal, not from a copy that went stale weeks ago.
- 5
Build
minutes
One click produces the PDF. If mandatory entries are missing the build stops before the print service is even called, instead of delivering half a book. Every run is logged.
For the next edition the state carries over. What stays the same stays where it is.
What the system sets for you
These are the details that eat correction rounds. Each of them is a rule here, not a task on somebody's list.
Contents with real page numbers
Calculated during the build, never maintained by hand.
Running heads
Each page carries the title of the chapter it belongs to.
Right-hand starts and blank pages
Chapters that should open on a right-hand page do. If a page is missing for that, one is inserted.
Symbols and legend
Icons are maintained centrally and the legend is built from them. Supplied SVG files are cleaned on save so nothing foreign travels into the document.
Word import with a report
Anything the reader did not recognise is not lost. It lands as body text, and the report says so.
Page preview
Look at a single page the way it will print, without building the whole book.
A log per run
Time, outcome and the file that came out of it.
Why the check comes before the save
You cannot tell by looking at a Word document whether its headings carry a real style or were simply made bold. That difference decides whether 40 chapters become 40 chapters or one very long one. So the first pass reads the file and shows the result before anything is stored. Anyone who has ever had to roll back an import knows why the order matters.
The same idea guards the build itself. Missing publisher, no active chapters, a symbol without a drawing: the run stops there, with a reason, instead of producing a PDF that looks finished and is not.
Check first
- Chapters
- 42
- Symbols and legend
- 18
- Contents
- 42
before saving
One price, three sizes
The packages differ in how many publications you build per year. Everything else is in all of them.
Setup
from €3,900 once
Operation
from €190 a month
One title
Publications per year1 publication
FitsOne annual handbook, catalogue or yearbook.
Request a sample pageThree titles
Most chosenPublications per yearup to 3 publications
FitsA main catalogue plus supplements or regional editions.
Request a sample pageUnlimited
Publications per yearunlimited
FitsPublishers who ship several titles a year from the same stock.
Request a sample pageIn every package
- Your fonts, colours and type area
- Word import with a check report
- Data section from your own source
- Symbol and legend management
- As many test builds as you like
- Hosting, updates and support
Setting up your layout is the bulk of the first invoice. A 400-page directory with three page types costs more than a 90-page annual report.
Questions from people who have made a book before
What comes out at the end?+
A print-ready PDF. On request a second screen version with working links and a smaller file size.
Can we keep our layout?+
Yes. Type area, fonts, colours and running heads are set up from your existing edition. That work is the setup.
What about images?+
Images from the Word file are taken over, as are images from your data source. What matters for print is the resolution, not the file format.
How large can a publication be?+
We have built volumes of several hundred pages. Build time grows with the page count and stays in minutes.
Do we still need InDesign?+
For the cover, often yes. For the inside pages, no. A cover is design work and the inside is a set of rules.
What if one chapter has to look different?+
Then it gets its own template. Exceptions are planned for, they are simply not set by hand every time.
And the printing itself?+
That goes to your printer exactly as before. We deliver the file, not the paper.
What happens if we stop?+
You keep the chapters, the templates and every PDF that was built. The typesetting runs on open technology, so the system can move with you.
Send us one chapter.
A Word file from your last edition and a photo of a printed double page. You get the same double page back as a typeset PDF, built from your own text.
Request a sample page
No obligation. If the page does not convince you, you have saved an afternoon.
Partner Portal on Demand Your partners enter their own data, checked and locked