Redmark
Electronic document marking application for NEXTSTEP
Redmark software allowed you to
mark up all types of documents right on your screen. Unlike
other applications whose annotation tools work only with
that application's documents, Redmark let you use one
application to mark up all of your documents, from word
processing to database, regardless of the application you
used to create them. Redmark was as simple to use as
marking on paper with a red pencil.
The author viewed the reviewers' comments in Redmark while
simultaneously editing the document in the original
application. Comments were easily incorporated using copy
and paste.
In the review process, the
author distributes a document to reviewers by e-mail or by
placing it into a folder accessible over the network.
Reviewers then use Redmark to place their comments into
transparent overlays on (he document, leaving the original
document unchanged. Reviewers could use sticky notes, voice
recordings, text annotations, standard proofreading
symbols, and drawn or imported graphics for their comments.
The author easily flipped through every reviewer's comments
in Rcdmark while simultaneously editing the document in the
original application, freely using cut and paste to
incorporate the comments.
What made Redmark an excellent choice:
1. Redmark let you implement a paperless review cycle. This
sped up your review process because there were no papers to
distribute or to get lost on someone's desk. All
distribution was done electronically by e-mail or by
placing the document into a folder that was accessible over
the network.
2. Redmark was modeled after the traditional review
methods. Because Redmark was as simple to use as marking on
paper with a red pencil, the learning curve was very fast.
3. Redmark did not require each reviewer to have a copy of
all the applications that you used to create documents.
Redmark let you use one application to mark up all of your
documents regardless of the application used to create
them.
4. Documents are often reviewed by putting comments
directly into them using a distinctive font. However, this
disturbs the pagination of the original document, makes it
difficult for the author or editor to determine who entered
which comment, and can lead to inadvertent changes in the
original. With Redmark, the reviewers cannot change the
original document. Each reviewer maked their comments in a
separate overlay. The original pagination of the document
was preserved and could be commented on. The author could
easily flip between each reviewer's comments, telling
immediately who made each comment.
5. Some applications have built-in markup tools. However,
these tools are not standard across applications and are
often not comprehensive. With Redmark, your markup could be
standardized. Also, since Redmark was designed specifically
for markup, it offered a wider variety of annotations:
sticky (Post-it) notes, voice recordings, text annotations,
standard proofreading symbols, and drawn or imported
graphics.
Important
Features of Redmark
Review any application's documents.
Redmark used PostScriptí that had been "printed to disk"
from the original application using the Save button in the
Print panel. Thus, you could mark up a FrameMakerí brochure
just as easily as a WriteNow letter. Further, you could
mark up any document that conforms to the PostScript
structuring conventions regardless of its source, such as
documents produced on other computers such as the
Macintosh, DOS/Windows, Digital VAX/VMS, and Sun.
Mark up a document overlay. Reviewers
placed comments into a transparent overlay on the document.
They could not change the original document. This was very
similar to marking up a paper documents with a red pencil -
but better. Redmark was simple and easy to learn.
Standard proofreading symbols. This maked
for more consistency in how reviewers annotated the
document. A site could even edit Redmark's standard
proofreading symbols to customize them to their own
conventions. However, the full palette of basic drawing
tools was still available for the reviewer's use.
Post-it notes. Reviewers could place long
text comments into the review as a single icon, similar to
sticking a Post-it note on paper. This icon opened up into
a full text-editing window.
Voice annotation. Sound is a concise,
succinct, and personal way to annotate that carries
additional information through tone and inflections.
Imported annotations. TIFF and EPS
graphics and SND (sound) files could be imported into a
Redmark review by simply dragging their icons into the
document window.
Document history. The author could see at
a glance the important events in the review cycle of the
document. Redmark shows when the document was distributed
for review and when each reviewer's comments were returned.
WYSIWYG. Reviewers saw the exact
pagination, header/footers, and presentation of graphics as
they were to be in the final printed document. Therefore,
they could comment on the document layout as well as its
contents.
Consolidates all reviews. The author had
easy access to "flip through" every reviewer's comments
right on the screen. This made it easier to compare and
contrast comments from different reviewers. The author
could view all the reviews in Redmark while editing the
document in the creating application, freely using copy and
paste to incorporate the comments.
Transmittals. Documents could be
distributed and reviews returned via network file systems,
e-mail, and floppy disks. Redmark was especially
advantageous when reviewers were remotely located, but
networked.
Questions
and Answers about Redmark
Why is Redmark better than the traditional method
of marking up a paper copy of the document with a red
pencil?
Previously, reviewers have not had the same variety of
expression with electronic media as with paper, pencil, and
voice. With Redmark, they do. For example, reviewers can
easily annotate their review with sound and graphics. Now,
with the proper tools, there is no reason that
electronically produced documents shouldn't be reviewed
electronically.
What kinds of documents does Redmark work with?
Redmark works with documents produced by
virtually any NEXTSTEP application. The documents to be
reviewed are simply printed to disk from the original
application so that they are in a common PostScriptí
format. For example, Redmark works well with WriteNow or
WordPerfect letters, FrameMaker brochures, TopDraw, Create,
or Adobe Illustratorí drawings, Mesa or Improv spreadsheets
and graphs, and Edit source code. In addition, Redmark will
handle virtually any document that can be output as a file
that generally conforms to the PostScript structuring
conventions, regardless of the platform or application that
generated it. For example, Redmark has been tested with
documents from several applications on the Macintoshí, IBM
PC and compatibles (MS-DOS and Windows 3.1î), Digital VAX,
and Sun. Since many PostScript files from other platforms
are not quite "conforming", Redmark gives the author (but
not the reviewers) the ability to further manipulate the
document image by repositioning, rotating in 90 degree
increments, and flipping horizontally and vertically. The
only PostScript files that Redmark cannot properly handle
are those in which the pagination is done solely with
showpage commands and not delimited with %%Page comments.
How long will it take us to learn to use Redmark?
Redmark mimics the traditional method of
marking up a document with a red pencil. Each reviewer uses
an electronic transparent overlay over the original
document. Notations selected from a tool palette are typed,
drawn, or spoken onto this overlay. Since this interface is
simple, intuitive, and follows NEXTSTEP style guidelines,
you can become proficient with Redmark in less than an
hour.
Couldn't I just distribute the document in the
original electronic form, say as a FrameMaker or WriteNow
document, and have comments entered directly into it by the
reviewers?
Yes you could. However, with Redmark, the
reviewers don't have to have or know how to use the
original application, e.g., FrameMaker. Multiple copies of
Redmark are generally less expensive than copies of the
original application. Plus, it is often difficult for the
author to sort out the comments from the original text when
they are directly entered into the document. Plus, an even
less expensive, view-only version of Redmark is available,
named Redview. In educational applications, students can
prepare assignments in a word processor and send the
print-image to the instructor. The instructor uses Redmark
to grade the assignment and returns the Redmark document
(the original assignment with the overlay comments) to the
student. The student uses the view-only Redview to see the
instructor's comments and the word processor to correct the
assignment.
How do the reviewers get access to my document?
If you are on a network with a shared file
system, reviewers can access the document directly through
the mounted remote file system. Otherwise, the document and
reviews can easily be transmitted via e-mail. When
reviewers are not on a network, floppy disks can be used.
Can the reviewers change my original document?
No. Reviewers only get access to a read-only
print image of the original document.
Can someone else change my review?
Reviews are protected with your username and
password. You can, of course, edit your own reviews.
However, another user (reviewer or author) can only edit
your review if they have your password. You can also
prevent other reviewers from viewing your review, too.
Everyone seems to use different proofreading
notations. What can I do?
Redmark provides the standard New York Times
Manual of Style and Usage proofreading marks for the
reviewers to use. If your site uses other proofreading
marks, you can edit the supplied proofreading marks to
conform to your conventions. In all cases, the reviewer is
free to annotate with the full set of drawing tools
available through the Redmark tool palette and with
imported graphics.
It seems like my document always get buried under a
stack of papers on someone's desk. Can Redmark help?
First, Redmark formalizes and tracks the
review and approval cycle for you, the author. You can tell
at a glance when and to whom the document was distributed
and whose review hasn't been received yet. With no papers
to get lost in the jumble of someone's desk and with no
delivery delay in electronic distribution, you also
typically get quicker feedback.
I have a network with a mix of Motorola- and
Intel-based computers running NEXTSTEP. Are there any
compatibility problems?
No. The Redmark application is a "fat"
binary, so it runs on both the original Motorola-based NeXT
“black” computers and the Intel-based (486 or Pentium)
"white" computers. On a network, the application server can
be either black or white and the clients can be a mix of
black and white; it doesn't matter. The Redmark document
format is processor type independent, too. So, an author
using a black NEXTSTEP computer can produce and distribute
a document to reviewers using a mix of black and white
NEXTSTEP computers. The only compatibility requirement is
that Redmark must be run on computers using NEXTSTEP 3.0 or
later.
I have another type of Unix computer on the same
network. Can I still use Redmark?
Maybe. Redmark only runs on NEXTSTEP.
However, documents from another networked computer (Unix or
not) can be handled by Redmark running on NEXTSTEP, if the
documents are in the format of conforming PostScript files.
All reviewing would have to take place on NEXTSTEP. The
reviewed documents could then be viewed on a non-NEXTSTEP
computer by generating a print-image PostScript file of the
annotated document and sending it to a PostScript-displayer
application on the other computer.
RedmarkUserManual
Alembic Systems International
Epitome Incorporated
Educational discounts and multi-user site
licenses were available.
$285
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