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Medusa · Page layout in the browser · Beta

Page layout in the browser.

For studios, agencies and prepress.

You set up catalogues, brochures and books with your team. Clients proof through a link, the printer gets a checked PDF/X-4.

Create profileView examples

I approve new profiles by hand.

Screenshot from Medusa: Type area, master pages and panels. Top right you see who else is in the document.
33 mskeystroke to image, in a document with 500 pages
25 languageshyphenation, spelling in five
3 ECI profilesFOGRA39, FOGRA47 and IFRA26 are included
179 featureseach explained with an image and menu path
  • For
  • catalogues
  • price lists
  • brochures
  • books
  • magazines
  • flyers
  • posters
  • ads
  • PDF forms

Collaboration

Lay out together.

Your team works in the same document. At the same time.

Example document in the program showing the effect of “Everyone in the same document”

Simultaneous

In the same paragraph.

Changes appear for everyone at once. Each person has their own colour for cursor, selection and text caret.

In the guide: In the same paragraph.
Dialog box “Named versions” in the program, filled in with example values

History

Version history.

Medusa saves continuously. You compare an old version with today page by page and restore it.

In the guide: Version history.
Screenshot from Medusa: The texts are open for copy editing; on the right, what the client has changed since sending.

Proofing

Proofing in the layout.

Clients edit the text themselves. No account, no PDF.

  • One link is enough. Clients open it in the browser and edit text directly on the page.
  • The layout stays. Frames, position and size are locked for them.
  • Import PDF annotations. If someone sends an annotated PDF anyway, you bring the annotations in as comments.
  • Approval with one click. You get an email as soon as the client approves.
In the guide: Proofing in the layout.
Example document in the program showing the effect of “Drop caps”

Typography

Professional typesetting.

Its own composition engine. Screen, PNG and PDF are set identically.

  • Full OpenType. Small caps, oldstyle and tabular figures, stylistic sets, variable fonts with optical size.
  • Paragraph composer and margin alignment. Plus hyphenation in 25 languages, baseline grid and rules against widows and orphans.
  • Styles with a system. Paragraph, character, object and table styles with base style and next style, GREP styles.
  • Long documents. Footnotes, table of contents, index, cross-references, running headers, book files.
In the guide: Professional typesetting.
Screenshot from Medusa: The new price list is matched: changed, new, dropped, and a hand edit flagged as a conflict.

Data

Catalogues from Excel.

Medusa fills the pages from your list and updates new prices.

  • Excel, CSV, Google Sheets. You link the source, Medusa fills in text, image, price and barcode.
  • Update by article number. New prices then appear in the layout. Medusa reports manual corrections instead of overwriting them.
  • Check only what changed. For sign-off you send a PDF with the changed pages.
In the guide: Catalogues from Excel.
Dialog box “Prepress with a jump to the” in the program, filled in with example values

Colour and print

Output ready for print.

Medusa checks while you work and writes PDF/X-4 only if the file passes.

  • Colour management with ICC. CMYK stays CMYK. Spot colours keep their plate, even in gradients.
  • Continuous preflight. Images, fonts, ink coverage and bleed. A click on a finding takes you to the object.
  • Separations preview. Plate by plate, with overprint, as in the PDF.
  • Output log. Every output is recorded in the document with date, person and checksum.
In the guide: Output ready for print.

Exchange

Works with your files.

IDML both ways. You place Word, PDF, images and fonts directly.

Open menu with an arrow and frame on the entry for “IDML in and out”

Exchange

IDML.

Pages, parent pages, threaded frames, styles, spot and process colours, tables.

In the guide: IDML.
Dialog box “Around 1800 Google Fonts” in the program, filled in with example values

Type

Fonts.

Upload your own TTF and OTF or choose from around 1,800 Google Fonts.

In the guide: Fonts.

Workflows

Three jobs, step by step.

Catalogue from Excel

  1. Load the list into the data panel.
  2. Design one product tile.
  3. Medusa fills all pages.
  4. Next year, load the new list and check only the changed pages.

Proofing with the client

  1. Send the “Copy editing and approval” link.
  2. The client edits text and comments.
  3. You compare the versions word by word.
  4. The client approves, you get an email.

Output for the printer

  1. Choose a print profile, for example ISO Coated v2 (FOGRA39).
  2. Preflight shows what is missing.
  3. Output as PDF/X-4 or pack as a ZIP.
  4. Email the printer the link to the PDF.

Examples

Eight examples to open.

They are on the program's start page, in German and English. Rebuild them and output them.

Screenshot from Medusa: Every feature to click on, on its own page, charts in all their variants.
Features in detailA4 · 30 pages

Every feature to click on, charts in all their variants.

Open: Features in detail
Screenshot from Medusa: The new features to try out, each with its menu path.
What's newA4 · 32 pages

The new features to try out, each with its menu path.

Open: What's new
Screenshot from Medusa: Four A4 pages with typesetting, a table, formulas, spot colour, bleed and a form.
BrochureA4 · 4 pages

Typesetting, a table, formulas, a spot colour, bleed and a fillable form.

Open: Brochure
Screenshot from Medusa: A 85 × 55 mm business card from a list of five people, with QR and DataMatrix codes.
Business cards85 × 55 mm

Data merge with five people, plus QR and DataMatrix codes.

Open: Business cards
Screenshot from Medusa: Test cases page by page: spot colours, overprint, transparency, images and fonts.
Prepress test documentA4 · 16 pages

Spot colours, overprint, transparency, images and fonts as test cases for preview and RIP.

Open: Prepress test document
Screenshot from Medusa: 300 × 250 px for Google Ads: animation, clickTag and checklist are set up.
Ad300 × 250 px

Animation, clickTag and the Google Ads checklist are set up.

Open: Ad
Screenshot from Medusa: Your own GLSL shader as a surface, connected to the timeline.
WebGL1080 × 1080 px

A custom GLSL shader as a surface, connected to the timeline.

Open: WebGL
Screenshot from Medusa: Roboto Flex with 13 axes and Source Serif 4 with optical size.
Variable fontsA4 landscape

Roboto Flex with 13 axes and Source Serif 4 with optical size, handles on the text.

Open: Variable fonts

Further reading

Guide

All 179 features.

With image, explanation and menu path.

To the guide

Questions

Questions and answers.

Is Medusa an alternative to Adobe InDesign?

For multi-page print work, catalogues and ads, yes: Medusa works with paragraph and character styles, master pages, spot colours and prepress checks, opens and writes IDML and runs in the browser. Medusa is in beta.

Can I open files from InDesign?

Yes, through IDML (in and out), with styles, tables and footnotes.

Can Medusa export PDF/X-4?

Yes. The print PDF is built to PDF/X-4, with output intent and XMP identification. Medusa reads the finished file back in and checks it; «PDF/X-4» is only written when the file passes. This is not an independent certification.

Do I need to install anything?

No. Medusa runs in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.

How do I get access?

Create a profile with your name and email address. New profiles are approved by hand; after that you open a document and send the link.

Where is my data stored?

Documents, images and accounts are currently stored with Hostinger, the provider of the medusa.id42.xyz server. The site has no trackers and loads nothing from third parties, not even fonts. Background removal runs in the browser; the image never leaves your computer. AI features only run when you switch them on.

Do clients need an account?

No. A link is enough to correct and approve; the layout stays locked.

Does it also work on the phone?

Reading, commenting, changing text, approving: yes. Designing on a bigger screen.

Who is behind it

I am a designer and prepress professional, and I examine candidates in the Swiss professional exams for polygraphs (print media technologists). I have been to many Adobe MAX events and I write in prerelease forums.

There I read every week what annoys people about their tools. Medusa solves what annoys me in my own daily work.

Jens Riedweg · silo42.design

Getting started

Your first PDF in four steps.

  1. Create a profile with your name and email address.
  2. I approve it, you get an email.
  3. Open an example or load an IDML file.
  4. Send the link to the client.

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