Media & Publishing · Magazines & Trade Media
Ninety-six pages, one close date, and everyone reading the same plan.
We build the live flatplan, the close, and the archive that turn an issue into one file: allocated once, reflowed when a booking lands late, and closed into print, digital, and a searchable back catalog at the same moment.
Spread 32–39 of 96
Kelvin artwork landed at 17:40. Page 34 locked, the plan reflowed, nothing behind it moved
How many versions of your flatplan are open right now?
What a close costs
Five reasons the issue shuts at two in the morning
The flatplan lives in a spreadsheet three people have edited
Editorial, ad sales, and production each hold a version, and none of them agree on what page 37 is.
A late ad reflows the whole issue by hand
One booking lands after the deadline and somebody spends an evening moving every page after it.
The digital edition is built twice
The issue closes, then the whole thing is rebuilt for web and app from the same copy, by hand, again.
The archive sits on a shelf when it could be a product
Twenty years of issues exist as PDFs nobody can search, license, or resell to the audience that would pay for them.
Trade subscribers are treated like consumers
A company-wide license, a seat count, and a personal subscription all get the same login and the same meter.
The publishing calendar
A year is a sequence of close dates
Jul
Materials & supply
closes 10 Jun
shipped
Aug
Annual salary survey
closes 12 Jul
shipped
Sep
Automation report
closes 12 Aug
open now
Oct
Buyer's guide
closes 11 Sep
planned
Nov
Awards issue
closes 10 Oct
planned
Dec
Year in review
closes 12 Nov
planned
An illustrative year. Themes, close dates, and lead times are set to how your list actually runs.
What we build
The software an issue-based publisher actually runs on
Live flatplan & issue planning
One plan everybody reads: pages allocated to editorial or advertising, each with a state and an owner, reflowing when a booking moves.
96 pages · 88 filled · 3 days
Solid ochre is advertising, tint is editorial, dashed is still open.
Print, digital & archive from one file
The issue closes once, and the print file, the digital edition, and the archive record are all generated from the same content.
Trade subscriptions & seat licenses
Company-wide licenses, seat counts, and IP ranges handled properly, because a trade audience doesn't buy the way a consumer does.
Built on top of the layout, fulfillment, and print workflow you already run. The plan sits above them and replaces none of it.
Searchable archive & licensing
Back issues indexed with full text, images, and rights terms, so the archive becomes something you can search, license, and sell.
Built on top of the layout, fulfillment, and print workflow you already run. The plan sits above them and replaces none of it.
Plan frozen for content
Every editorial page has an owner and a state. Eight pages still open to advertising.
Sector report locked
Pages 35–36 signed off by the section editor. The plan updates for everyone at once.
Late booking lands
A full page sells on the deadline. The plan reflows, and nothing after it is moved by hand.
Artwork arrives at 17:40
Page 34 fills and locks. The ad/edit ratio updates on the same screen sales is watching.
Issue closes once
Print file, digital edition, and the archive record are generated from the same content.
Flagship · the close
A page sells six hours before deadline and nobody stays late
The last forty-eight hours are where an issue is won or lost. A late booking used to mean an evening of moving pages by hand and a digital edition rebuilt the following week. Here the plan reflows around it, and the close produces the print file, the digital edition, and the archive record in one action.
- Keeps one plan that editorial, sales, and production all read from
- Reflows the issue when a booking lands late, saving a night of manual moves
- Generates print, digital, and the archive record from the same closed file
- Leaves every page traceable: who owned it, when it locked, and what changed
From the production desk
Bring the issue that closed at two in the morning
The plan above is illustrative. Put a real issue through it (the late booking, the reflow, the digital edition that had to be rebuilt afterward) and see which of those nights stops happening.
Connects to your stack
It closes into your outputs and your systems
One close produces
Systems we connect
Layout & print
InDesign and your print workflow stay where they are. The plan sits above them.
Ad sales & bookings
A booking appears on the plan the moment it's sold, with its own deadline.
Subscriptions
Seat licenses, IP ranges, and renewals run against the fulfillment system you already use.
Archive & DAM
Closed issues and their assets are indexed and licensable, where they used to be filed and forgotten.
How it runs
From a close we sat through to a close that runs itself
Sit through a close
We watch one issue close start to finish: every spreadsheet, every reflow, and every rebuild afterward.
Put the plan in one place
Editorial, advertising, and production read one live flatplan with real states and real owners.
Close once, output many
Print, digital, and the archive record all generate from the closed file, so nothing gets rebuilt.
Open the archive and the licenses
Back issues become searchable and licensable, and trade subscriptions start behaving like trade subscriptions.
Your layout, print spec, and production calendar all stay as they are.
What changes
An issue that closes at six instead of two
One plan to replace three spreadsheets
Editorial, sales, and production all read the same page allocation, so page 37 means one thing.
A late booking stops costing an evening
The plan reflows around it and the pages after it stay where they were.
The digital edition stops being a rebuild
It comes out of the same close as the print file, with no second pass afterward.
The archive earns its shelf space
Twenty years of issues become searchable, licensable, and worth selling access to.
Bars are illustrative. They show relative emphasis, not measured results.
// one plan, one closeQuestions
What publishers ask first
01Do we have to change how we lay pages out?
No. The plan sits above your layout and print workflow. InDesign, your printer's spec, and your production calendar all stay exactly as they are. What changes is that everyone reads the same allocation.
02What happens when an ad sells after the deadline?
The page fills and the plan reflows around it. Pages that were already locked stay where they are, and the ad/edit ratio updates live on the same screen the sales team is watching.
03Does the digital edition come out of the same close?
Yes. That's the point of closing once. The print file, the digital edition, and the archive record are all generated from the same closed content, with nothing rebuilt afterward.
04Can it handle company-wide and seat-based subscriptions?
It's built for them. Seat counts, IP ranges, and company licenses are first-class, with usage reporting, because a trade audience doesn't subscribe the way a consumer does.
05What can you do with twenty years of back issues?
Index them. Full text, images, and rights terms become searchable and licensable, which turns a shelf of PDFs into something the audience can subscribe to and buy from.
Related services
The systems underneath the plan
Elsewhere in media
More of Media & Publishing
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