Digital to Print

Workflow

Sample End-to-End XML Workflow: InDesign Pagination, Step by Step. Content authored and built in Directus CMS (Headless) then exported as XML to InDesign; workflow also applicable “Print to Digital.”

WORKFLOW BREAKDOWN

Details

From structured content in Directus CMS through XML preparation and automated InDesign production.

WORKFLOW ARCHITECTURE DIGITAL → STRUCTURED CONTENT → PRINT
Workflow diagram showing Directus CMS, XML export, InDesign tag-to-style mapping and print production
DIRECTUS CMS → XML → MAP TAGS TO STYLES → INDESIGN
01
STRUCTURED CONTENT

InDesign XML Template

XML & InDesign Field Mapping

Automate export of data content as XML into InDesign XML Template

Exported XML source code from Directus CMS

Reformatted XML source code

Imported XML source code to InDesign XML Template

02
DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT

InDesign, HTML & CSS

Created XML tagging structure in InDesign and in Directus CMS with Tiny MCE

Built XML metadata, attributes, classes, and ids

InDesign Style Sheets to render digital pages

Content styles aligned across platforms

03
CONTENT MODEL

Directus CMS

Data Model Collaboration: Worked with developers on data model planning, offering design feedback.

Asset Library Autonomy: Independently managed and organized digital assets within Directus CMS.

Conditional Fields: Configured and tested conditional fields within Adobe InDesign workflows.

Relational Fields (M2M & O2M): Learned relational structures from developers to independently configure and test EdTech applications.

Hover over image for details ↓
DEMO PLAYLIST
DIGITAL TO PRINT WORKFLOW

Demo Complete

Explore more workflow prototypes in the AI Workflow Lab.

EXPLORE AI WORKFLOW LAB →
WORKFLOW DEMOS • DIRECTUS → XML → XPATH → INDESIGN

PRINT INTEGRATION

CROSS-MEDIA DESIGN

OUTPUT PROCESS

DESIGN TRANSITION

MULTI-PLATFORM

PRINT READY

PLATFORM CONVERSION

DESIGN FLOW

1

The InDesign Template To start the workflow, construct an InDesign template and align its content with the content types of the digital component.

Break the content down into individual elements that correspond with fields in the content types of the app.

2

The Digital App Create style sheets for the content types of the digital app to map to the XML tagging structure of the CMS.

3

CMS Content Types The goal with the tagging structure is to map the content type structure of the CMS.

5

CMS Data Entry Data entry for a content type in the CMS is information for a structured database that aligns to the print component.

4

Data Model This is the blueprint that defines the fields for a content type, resulting in how the content is displayed and rendered.

6

CMS Asset Library Having full autonomy of the image assets gives you control over versioning, metadata, and naming conventions relevant to workflow.

7

Conditional and Relational Fields These fields are entries in the CMS database. Entries hold values and attributes for the content types. The CMS database UI is styled in css using Tiny MCE.

8

Export as XML To export the content types as XML, select the data collection needed for the print component.

9

The XML Code The content type data in the XML code targets the tagging structure of the InDesign Template. Some reformatting of code needed.

10

Import the XML Bring up the Map to Styles panel to review the mapping before importing and uploading the XML into the InDesign Template.

11

The Tags to Styles Map The text styles of the InDesign Template is mapped to the structure of the content types.

12

The Print Component To end workflow, the XML populates the InDesign template displaying the content types in the intended text style it is mapped to!
Digital Component Prototype The wireframe for the app is built using the Data Model and Entity Relation Diagrams.
EXPLORE THE WORKFLOW