HELIOS with Canto advantages

 

Key advantages from HELIOS and Canto include:

	HELIOS UB	Xinet FullPress
Continuing Innovation	√	–
True Cross-Platform Support	√	–
Full PDF Support	√	–
Advanced ICC Color Management	√	–
Hot Folder Workflow Automation	√	–

	Canto Cumulus	Xinet WebNative Venture
Leading Edge Technologies	√	–
Dynamic Rules-Based Permissions	√	–
Native Client for Mac, Windows, and Web	√	–
All File Formats Supported	√	–
Smart and Super Fast Find	√	–

Continuing Innovation

HELIOS leads in the introduction of advanced technologies years before Xinet follows suit, including server-based ICC color management, PDF PostScript OPI support, PDF-native OPI support, soft-proofing support, full AFP 3 Mac OS X support, Windows client support, Fast find file support, etc.

True cross-platform support

Only HELIOS offers complete integrated Mac and Windows support, including shared user names, passwords, volumes, printers, “hot-folders”, Administration, and more. HELIOS PCShare UB encodes Mac resource and Finder info as Windows SFM compatible file streams, which means Windows users can copy / use Mac files without losing information. HELIOS Admin works on Mac, Windows, and UNIX systems and provides a complete, modern, and very easy to use server administration.

Full PDF support

HELIOS includes much more sophisticated PDF support. PDF HandShake Create PDF Server utilizes the Acrobat Distiller libraries (Mac and Win) for automated PDF generation via printer queues. PDF HandShake includes callas pdfInspektor for PDF Preflight via queues, hot-folders, and Web. Additional advantages include: PDF color matched separation printing (composite, inRIP or separated); PDF to high-res EPS conversion, JPEG 2000 and JBIG2 support; PDF placement support and OPI printing; and PDF-native OPI support, preserving transparency and meta data without distilling. Powerful PDF tools are included: pdfcat, pdfinfo, pdfprint, pdftoeps. Smart color management detects black, white, and grays for proper output, and the entire PDF file can be color matched per object during print or proof (vector and images).

Advanced ICC color management

The Heidelberger CMM, co-developed and cross-licensed by HELIOS, is recognized as an industry standard. HELIOS makes this highest quality ICC color management easy to set up and use. Image color conversion can be fully automated or hot-folder based. OPI queue based color management supports ICC color conversion and proofing (image+printer+proof profile support) for all bitmap formats. PDF HandShake color matches entire PDF files (vector & image). ICC-Tagging tools are included, and the spot color editor allows defining precise Lab or CMYK spot color values.

Script Server hot folder workflow automation

Any folders or entire volume trees can be watched (event driven, no polling) for specified file changes, and scripts are then called to process them. Included sample scripts include image file format conversion, ICC color transformation, Import / Export clipping path / XMP / ICC information, web previews (JPEG or PNG with masks / alpha), PDF Preflight, PDF printing, PDF page concatenation / splitting / re-ordering, and more. Scripting of external tools / applications can be easily integrated. All HELIOS included scripts are compatible between UNIX and Windows platforms and allow easy deployment without programming. HELIOS Admin allows remote management of Script Server queues similar to printer queues. It has never been easier to automate tasks on a server.

Leading edge technologies

Cumulus is a cross-platform digital asset management system available with feature-rich client software for Windows, Mac OS X and Web access. Cumulus is scalable, powerful and easy to configure for non-programmers and programmers alike. Most configuration options are defined through a single preferences window, but complete, published C++ and Java APIs enable developers to turn standard Cumulus systems into tailor-made solutions. Adherence to standards, such as LDAP and Web Services, ensures Cumulus can be integrated into existing IT infrastructures with minimal fuss. Load balancing for Web Client access enables sites to serve massive numbers of Web visitors without the fear of performance problems.

Cumulus stores metadata separately from assets, making it easy to keep valuable assets on local, secure servers, while catalogs are available on Internet-accessible servers available to remote workgroups. Cumulus gets assets to those who are authorized to have them; don't rely on insecure FTP or Web server delivery options.

Built-in version control and check-in / out features that work with all file formats make it easy to maintain archives and roll back to earlier versions if the need arises, even through the Web client.

And, of course, you can add any number of metadata fields to your Cumulus catalogs and edit the metadata at any time.

Dynamic rules-based permissions

Less capable DAM systems offer access permissions which are static “yes” or “no” choices made by administrators. But Cumulus access permissions can be determined by Cumulus in real time, based on workflow status, not administrator assumptions. Should the Sales group have access to the new brochure? Not until its workflow status has been set to “Approved” by a manager. And then, permit Sales to access only the final PDF, not any of the source files.

To users, dynamic permissions act like a personal assistant who maintains a clutter-free work area, ensuring that only relevant files are visible. To administrators, it's a gatekeeper who dutifully checks user credentials before granting access. Enhancing security (and privacy) even more, users can't even see assets they aren't permitted to access. So, the assets of one client aren't made visible to another, even if they're stored on the very same media.

Native client for Mac, Win and Web access application

Cumulus software client options go far beyond a single choice. Rich, operating-system native clients for Mac OS X and Windows come standard with all Cumulus systems. For users who need browser-based Web access, Canto offers the Cumulus Web Access clients, which are based on AJAX / Web 2.0 technologies for serious Internet-based productivity.

The Cumulus native clients take advantage of all the interface benefits Mac OS X and Windows have to offer, including drag and drop between applications – and even to and from the desktop. Full feature parity exists between the native clients, ensuring no sacrifices are ever made by users. The Web clients take advantage of the best that modern Web technologies have to offer, making it possible to support even the more advanced features of Cumulus, such as asset relationship tracking and check-in / out.

All clients, native and Web, are user configurable without programming, and they even share the same metadata field layouts, to ensure a familiar user experience across the board. In addition, you can even print high-quality PDF contact sheets that include embedded links to your assets, even if you don't have Acrobat installed – even while using a Web client.

All asset file formats supported

Cataloging any type of digital file is something Cumulus has been able to do since the beginning. But to this day, no other DAM system offers enhanced metadata support for all leading file formats, like Cumulus does. So, for example, you can catalog your MS Office or PDF documents and even capture the actual contents of those files to searchable metadata fields. Optionally, you can catalog PDF and PowerPoint files into individual asset records that you can then use to reassemble new documents, right from within Cumulus. Want to see the individual layers of a Photoshop file? The Cumulus multi-page preview option makes it easy. In addition, Cumulus supports well over 100 RAW digital camera formats directly, including both 35mm and Medium formats. (See Canto's website for detailed documents on supported file formats.)

Metadata can be stored in your Cumulus catalogs for maximum flexibility – like finding files that are offline – or written back to assets for maximum portability. Or, take advantage of both benefits by determining which fields should be written back.

Thanks to Canto's exclusive Asset Cross Referencing (AXR) technology, Cumulus can track relationships that exist between your assets and the files they contain and reference. Find a logo by clicking on a layout that includes it, or find all layouts that include your logo. Users can set up relationships of their own, too.

Catalog flexibility and smart, super-fast searching

Using Cumulus, you no longer need to think about where a file might be, you just need to think about what you need. All assets are found right from within the very same user friendly, workflow-focused interface – OS native or Web.

Cumulus administrators can define as many different metadata fields as their workflow requires. A wealth of metadata is captured from files during cataloging, but users can always edit that data and add more as needed. Additional metadata fields can be added at any time, even while a catalog is live. Custom field layouts ensure users see only the field they need to see.

Search options available in all clients include quick category double-clicks, easy keyword searching, complex query construction (and sharing), and the powerful AXR relationships tracking.

Canto's award-winning database engine was designed for metadata processing and ensures users can find what they need in moments – not the minutes or hours other database systems can require when querying massive metadata collections. The database can be mirrored to other enterprise systems in real time, and catalogs can be as large as 1 terabyte in size.

For additional details, see:

www.canto.com/helios
Canto Cumulus HELIOS Companion (PDF)

Next step

Contact your HELIOS and Canto reseller.

Current Xinet users can trade-in FullPress for ImageServer and receive a 50% discount on HELIOS ImageServer. Click here to learn more about the trade-in »

Typical benefits HELIOS UB provides to the Canto Cumulus customer, by product:

• ImageServer UB imaging engine and event notification server
  • Generates image previews, and InDesign and QuarkXPress document previews
  • Converts image file format, resolution, compression, and / or color space
  • Performs ICC color space transforms using the Heidelberger CMM
  • Enables live synchronization of the DAM with the file system

• PDF HandShake UB
  • Generates multi-page previews of PDF documents
  • Converts PDF pages to image file formats (e.g. vector EPS, PNG, JPEG, etc.)
  • Splits, rearranges, and concatenates PDF documents

• PrintPreview UB
  • Rasterizes (RIPs) PostScript files and vector EPS images to create image previews and multi-page PostScript document previews
  • Enable file format conversion to any ImageServer UB supported format

• EtherShare UB and PCShare UB
  • Provide advanced cross-platform file and print services for Mac and Windows clients

• WebShare UB
  • Highly secure file transfer and remote file management via any web browser
  • Remote viewing of images and documents, PDF preflight reports, and proofs

Typical benefits HELIOS UB provides to the Canto Cumulus customer, by function:

• Additional image and document formats supported

• Content re-purposing
  • Highest quality ICC color space transforms
  • Fastest image conversion
  • Photoshop path and clipping path extraction / insertion

• Preview images
  • Faster preview generation
  • Multi-page InDesign and QuarkXPress document previews
  • Multi-page PostScript document previews

• Increased speed with LIVE Updates
  • When an asset is placed on the file system the DAM can immediately recognize the new file and make it available with previews and available metadata.
  • Reduction of Network Load by cataloging at the server 

Canto, the Canto logo and Cumulus are registered trademarks of Canto, Inc. Xinet, FullPress, and WebNative Venture are registered trademarks of Xinet, Inc.