Pfeiffer on EidosMedia

Industry pundit Andreas Pfeiffer considers Xsmile, the XML-based pagination component of EidosMedia's Méthode publishing system, and reckons that such systems "could prefigure what standards driven workflow solutions of the future could look like". I did a review of Méthode for GNL IT - colleagues can read this in the "IT Library" or whatever it's called. The main problem with the ideal of a natively XML based solution is that in a medium as mature as print, in many design-driven workflows it is simply unrealistic to draw a line between form and content. The fact that XML and even SVG isn't really rich enough to describe a multi-layered InDesign page using sophisticated transparency isn't a failing -- it's to be expected.
(From Pfeiffer Report)