Cacidi Extreme CS5

Cacidi Extreme CS5, the market leading design driven automated InDesign document builder, intuitively lets you create advanced catalogues, price lists, stationary, direct mails, and much more based on static or live connected data sources. Updating future productions is even more simple, and happens lightning fast.

Cacidi Extreme CS5 is the most advanced and yet easy to use standard software available for automating graphic design. Whether you produce catalogs, brochures, pricelists, business cards, or other single or multipage documents containing text, image and barcode content, Cacidi Extreme CS5 optimizes your production by bringing down tedious and repetitive tasks like copy pasting and local formatting of text, manually importing and scaling images and barcodes, as well as updating content for future productions, to an absolute minimum.

Cacidi Extreme CS5 offers four different production methods of choice, allowing any type of job the most suitable production flow. The production methods included with Cacidi Extreme CS5 are:

Step'n Repeat method
Create one single either simple or advanced design with Adobe InDesign¨, save it as a Cacidi Extreme Item Design and have Cacidi Extreme CS5 automatically produce as many content variable objects as number of records in your data source. The StepÕn Repeat method is very often used for simple but effective production of business cards, mail merges, price tags, labels, etc.

Pre-defined method
Combine as many Cacidi Extreme Item Designs as you like on a single page or queue of pages, and build your automated documents totally controlled by the designers choice of layout. Very often used for brochures and catalogs with a page range from 1 to 50 pages, where the designers general overview is in charge of the production flow.

AutoCalc method
Using the AutoCalc method allows a production setup partly driven by the designers full creative freedom combined with a database setup for arranging records in groups, select pre-defined Adobe InDesign paragraph- and character styles, define Cacidi Extreme Designs use, etc., that will let Cacidi Extreme automatically dispatch and arrange the layout in the Adobe InDesign document. The AutoCalc method is very often the better choice for production of extensive catalogs, price lists, manuals, brochures, etc., typically including from 50 pages up to thousands of pages.

Data Assembling
Utilizing some of the more advanced AutoCalc methods, products and designs can be placed on the InDesign document directly on a preset page and even on a preset coordinate (or grid tile). Combine Cacidi Extreme CS5 with Cacidi's data and image front-end, LiveEditor, to allow editors all around the world translate descriptions and allocate the correct position for each product in the final catalogue.

Update method
The Cacidi Extreme Update method applies to all the methods above. No matter what type of production method a first build of your document is based upon, the Cacidi Extreme Update method will at any time let you progressively update text, image and barcode content in your layout, as changes apply to the data source. Practically all Cacidi Extreme customers utilise the Update method, when publishing future editions of their initially automated productions.

Direct integration with LiveMerge CS5
The Cacidi Extreme CS5 works in full integration with the Cacidi LiveMerge CS5 product (see specific product sheet for Cacidi LiveMerge CS5). In an optimal production workflow, use Cacidi Extreme for the fast automatic layout and page allocation and then use Cacidi LiveMerge for fine adjustments and creativity.

Direct database connection or text file
Cacidi Extreme CS5 allows you to connect directly to a MySQL database for a live feed of data. With no stops in between, you draw data directly from the database during your catalogue production. Cacidi CS5 also let's you connect to alsorts of databases using ODBC connections(a ODBC drive for your datase is required, and sold by third party). Optionally you are able to query directly from Cacidi Extreme CS5 by SQL queries or regular text search directly within your database.
Cacidi Extreme CS5 also let's you connect to a xml or flat csv, comma or semicolon separated file.
Each separate project created with Cacidi Extreme is allowed its own settings and definitions for database and querying.

Built-in data grouping
Using an intuitive user interface, you can set up preferences for product group selections, directly within the Cacidi Extreme CS5 project settings. This feature makes it easy to create complex price lists and similar productions, without the necessity for external consultancy services.

Custom data feed
The feature Custom data feed, brings an unique possibility, by the means of scripts, affect import of data in Cacidi Extreme CS5.
It is not complex to create a script, which by the request XMLHttpRequest (part of Web 2.0 and AJAX), extracts data from all kinds of web services.
Custom data feed provides information about product groups and queries from InDesign/Cacidi Extreme CS5 to the script.

Automatic Data validation methods
Cacidi Extreme CS5 includes 15 different data validation features, such as numbers formatting, including a mask of the actual formatting ###.###.,##.
IF statements allows for eg 0 or 1 values in your data (equal to true or false), to easily make sense when included in data text fields. Even automatic removal of empty data lines, deletion of empty image frames, and new visual adjustment options for images.

Automatic pre- and post document processing
The Pre and Post-Script features can trigger a script to perform before or after the actual Cacidi Extreme CS5 catalogue building process, and can as an example, be used to change document setup/margins by instructions from a data source prior to the automatic catalogue build. In another example Post-Script can be applied to achive automatic print of the finished automated document, or create an index or table of contents within InDesign. Or, even be used to instruct InDesign to export the finished catalogue in one or more PDF settings. These are just inspirational examples. Only the imagination of the catalogue producer sets the limit.