Focusing on the Future: Coko's AI Design Studio and the Journey Beyond PDF Production

At Coko we're proud to announce an evolution in design technology: the transformation of our prototype AI PDF Designer into the more advanced and versatile AI Design Studio application.

This represents a significant step forward in broadening the horizons of the applications design capabilities well beyond PDF design, to encompass a wider array of applications such as EPUB design, cover design, and content production, among others.

A Focused Vision: Mastering PDF Production First

The introduction of the AI Design Studio signals a new era in design and publishing for Coko. Although the platform is engineered to support a diverse range of design functions, we are currently channeling our efforts towards mastering PDF production. We have already done a lot of PDF design automation through our 6 year journey building out the very popular Pagedjs automated typesetting engine. Pagedjs is built into the heart of the AI Design Studio and we are now layering additional production tools into the studio so both expert and beginner users can tweak the automated output or come up with complete new designs.

PDFs are (still!) indispensable in the world of academic, scientific, and general publishing. With the AI Design Studio, our goal is to refine PDF production processes to their zenith, enabling publishers to effortlessly create, edit, and elevate their content for print and screen. This targeted focus aims to address and solve pivotal challenges within the publishing sector by simplifying workflows, boosting content quality, and optimizing time management.

Building an Extensible Framework

While PDF production is our immediate priority, the AI Design Studio is being developed with flexibility and future growth in mind. The underlying framework of the AI Design Studio is designed to be extensible, ensuring that our innovations in PDF design and production pave the way for further expansions into other areas of design including EPUB design, cover design, site design, and (interestingly) content production.

What This Means for Publishers

For publishers, particularly those in the realms of journals and books, the AI Design Studio's current emphasis on PDF production translates to several key benefits:

• Enhanced Design Flexibility: Utilize the studio to tweak page layouts, adjust image placements, manage widows and orphans, and refine content with ease, or come up with completely new designs using the studio.
• Streamlined Production Workflows: Reduce the need for manual interventions and multiple software solutions by leveraging an advanced single source toolset.
• Future-Ready Publishing: Invest in a solution that not only meets current needs but is poised to adapt and expand, accommodating new design formats and innovations.

Looking Ahead

The AI Design Studio will be released this week in the forthcoming Kotahi 3.2 release so journals can leverage this technology. Our book production platform Ketty already has the AI Design Studio integrated.

As we continue to refine and enhance the AI Design Studio, our vision remains clear: to provide a tool that not only excels in PDF production today but also serves as a gateway to a wider world of design possibilities for publishers. By focusing on creating an extensible framework, we are setting the stage for future developments that will allow our users to seamlessly transition the design experience to other design formats as we build out that support.

The AI Design Studio is more than just a tool for today's publishers; it's an investment in the future of publishing and design. As we forge ahead, we remain committed to innovation, excellence, and the continuous evolution of our platforms to meet the ever-changing needs of our users.

As always, this is 100% open source. If you would like to learn and collaborate with us, use the tool, see a demo, or simply outsource your innovation to us then join us on this journey by emailing me: adam@coko.foundation

© Adam Hyde, 2024, CC-BY-SA
Image public domain, created by MidJourney from prompts by Adam.