Auto Lay-up 4

Takes the hassle out of proofing loose images or pages.

Features
Download Demo
Version Info
Purchase/Upgrade Info

Auto Lay-up automates QuarkXPress and InDesign in assembling images or single pages for the purpose of color proofing.

Typically, when you have image files which need to be output for color proofing it's a time consuming and tedious process. You have to make a QuarkXpress or InDesign document, draw a picture box, get the picture then resize the box to fit the picture. If you're doing the job right, you also need to make a text box for the file name and type in the correct file name. And if you are making film, you often need register marks around each picture. Auto Lay-up does all of this for you. This application makes it as simple as drag-n-drop.

At the desktop, select the image files you want to output and drop them into the Auto Lay-up window. After you confirm that you want to lay-up the selected files, Auto Lay-up does the rest.

Auto Lay-up creates a new QuarkXPress or InDesign document. It imports the selected files and assembles them with register marks, CMYK color plate ID, time and date, and file name. When Auto Lay-up is finished, all you need to do is print the document.

Over 100 printing and prepress companies use Auto Lay-up to save time and streamline their image proofing workflow.

Feature illustrations:

Auto Lay-up 4 features:

QuarkXPress compatibility with version 6 & 7 and InDesign 2.0, CS, CS2 & CS3
Native Mac OS X application on both PPC and Intel
User definable control strip for proof quality control or company branding
Assembles TIFF, EPS, DCS, Scitex CT, JPEG*, GIF*, PDF*, and Native Photoshop* files (*Quark Xtensions required)
Save settings for specific devices or clients
Grouping of image items, makes it easier to manually rearrange them
Adjustable scaling for all or individual images with scale to dimension option
Contact Sheet mode makes all images same size for making thumbnail proofs
User definable font
User definable font size
User definable register marks
Post processing script for any AppleScript processing of assembled documents
Optimized assembly of images creates best fit for maximum material usage
A page comments fields allows you to enter job or file path info which appears at the top of every page
Choice between placing marks on the page only or every image
For OPI users, the option to strip the OPI file suffix from the image name text
The FilmSaver trims documents to a minimum size to help save on materials
Three options for oversized images include reduce to fit, crop and report as error
Adjustable page margin and gap
Adjustable page size (up to 48"x48")
Manual crop settings for large images to allow cropping or tiling to smaller proofers
TCP/IP connection to Harold Shields Consulting to check for latest version
Crop to clipping path option crops Photoshop compatible TIFF and EPS files to their clipping paths to reduce proofing dead white space

Minimum System requirements for Auto Lay-up 4:
Macintosh G3 processor.
Mac OS X 10.3.9
QuarkXPress 6.0 or InDesign 2.0.2

The downloadable demo version will create an unlimited number of 14"x14" QuarkXPress or InDesign documents with images scaled to random percentages. Auto Lay-up 4.2 and greater requires an upgraded 'B' signature dongle. See pricing table below.
Download Auto Lay-up from my iDisk.

Purchase Information:

Each Auto Lay-up license includes an Auto Lay-up USB hardware key.

New Single User License w/USB key	$230 - When ordering via the printable order form or $218.50 - When purchasing securely via PayPal.com (Visa, MC, Discover and AMEX accepted for non-PayPal members). Contact me for volume discounts on quantities of 10 or more.
Upgrade Single User License from v3 or v4 to v4.3 ('B'signature dongle)	$115 - for upgrades, use the printable order form.

Shipping and handling per order	$15

* Version 4 upgrade includes dongle trade-in for red USB dongle. If you already have a red or purple USB dongle, the upgrade is a dongle upgrade file shipped via email. Send me the serial number of your red or purple USB dongle as it appears when read with the Auto Lay-up Key Reader (included with the Auto Lay-up Demo).

Version Information:

4.37 • Fixed bug with parsing PDFs that caused bad format error.

4.36 • Added feature to allow cropping to user selected path in TIFF and EPS files.

4.35 • Fixed bug with parsing PDFs with resources at end of file. Caused 'Unsupported format' error.

4.33 • Fixed bug with parsing PDFs when Auto Lay-up would hang during parsing.
Fixed bug with parsing PDFs when dimensions would be switched.

4.32 • Fixed bug with InDesign CS2 & CS3 which caused scaled and rotated images to only scale in the horizontal direction.

4.31 • InDesign CS3 support.

4.3 • QuarkXpress 7 support. Intel Mac Drivers. Various bug fixes.

4.126 • Bug fix - EPS files would not be parsed for 'HiResBoundingBox' comment which resulted in images getting cropped on the right and bottom sides by up to .999 pts.

4.125 • Updated code for new UltraPro dongles. Remains backward compatible with Rainbow eve3 dongles.

4.124 • Bug fix - When using InDesign with the default stroke set greater than 1pt, the first image on every page would be deleted and if FilmSaver was on, the created objects would not repositioned to the top left margin.
Behavior change - When using Contact Sheet, picture boxes are the same size as the image. This reduces wasted space especially when proofing many images with the same aspect ratio.

4.123 • Bug fix for contact sheet - Scales images to fit contact sheet size both reducing and enlarging. Resolves other issues with calculating contact sheet scaling.

4.121 • Bug fix for problem when copying and pasting images within the Selected Images List. Image properties are now duplicated correctly. Bug fix with image properties editing window. Crop is updated correctly when scaling and cropping an image.

4.12 • Interface improvements. Bug fix when using QuarkXpress 6, image would be placed as PICT. Now placed as real image link.

4.11 • Interface improvements and bug fixes to the Image Properties editing window. Bug fixes to crop and crop to clipping path features.

4.1 • Add InDesign CS(v3) support. Add Control Strip feature. Fix cropping problem with InDesign 2.0. Fix multiple document problem with InDesign 2.0 when using FilmSaver. Tighten optimized fit routine for better fit of images.

4.06 • Fix parsing problem with JPEG, EPS and PSD file with no file type. Fix unexpected quit when closing about box.

4.04 • Mac OS X only. Support for QuarkXPress 6 and InDesign 2.

Auto Lay-up©2008 Harold Shields.
AppleScript is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
QuarkXPress is a registered trademark of Quark, Inc.
Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe, Inc.
REALbasic is a registered trademark of REAL Software, Inc.

If you have any comments or questions, Email me. Harold Shields, at haroldshields@mac.com

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