The Workflow offers the possibility to import Substrates from Substrate lists on the printer software and to use them directly in production. Find out more in this Article about
- Which criteria are used to create Substrates during different steps of the process
- Which print systems contain predefined Substrate lists
- How to access Substrate lists linked with the print system and import them into the Workflow
- Which options are available in the Workflow for printing systems that do not contain predefined Substrate lists.
1. Introduction
Substrates are usually created in ERP systems and are managed, inventoried, and administered in-house. In ERP systems, Substrates are usually categorized as commodities and contain details such as price, weight, packaging size, supplier, width, height/length, roll or sheet material, etc., and are used for cost projections and automated procurement of said Substrates.
In printing systems, Substrates must be created from a production point of view. Production parameters include e.g. the print head distance, the UV power consumption, infeed/outfeed speed, and drying power. The settings for specific Substrates are tested by the press operator and saved as a set of parameters. Specific settings for particular Substrates might profoundly impact profiling which might affect the reproduction quality.
With Workflow systems, Substrates have three distinct functions. First, the dimensions of a Substrate serve as a template for calculating all Impositions. Furthermore, certain properties of Substrates, such as the distortion resulting from UV output, must also be taken into account during rendering. Thirdly, the Substrate ID from the job ticket should be transferred for the Production Job on the printer. Thus, the press operator can place and prioritize the print job in the queue.
We can establish that in the Workflow, Substrates need to be created and applied to a printer first and can then be used as necessary. The order in which we undertake these steps is important, the list below outlines the process in detail.
- Create a Substrate in the printer software – Create the Substrate first on the printer's software and store the production parameters that should be used. Note the internal Substrate ID, which the print system automatically assigns.
- Label the Substrate – Choose the name of the Substrate in the printer software as you use it in your process. This can be the Substrate number or physical description created by the ERP system, a dimensional specification, or an internal description that fits the norms for your workplace.
- Create the Substrate in the Workflow – Create the Substrate in the Workflow either manually or by importing it from the Substrate list of the print system. Make sure that the Substrate names are identical. When you import a Substrate, the system automatically copies the description. If you create the Substrate manually, make sure that all the details match exactly.
- Categorize the Substrate – Assign a category to the Substrate manually. If the printer software supports Substrate categories these are also transferred during import. You can categorize Substrates as it suits your workplace structure.
- Connect the Substrate in the Workflow to the printing system – Connect the Substrate to the printer by linking the printing system to the Substrate Definition and entering the Substrate ID from the first step.
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Define fallback values– Fallback mechanisms must be implemented so that the Workflow can complete tasks in automated environments if information is missing. You should define the following fallback mechanisms:
- A standard (default) Substrate must be defined for each Substrate Category.
- A standard (default) Substrate Definition must be defined for each Substrate.
- A standard (default) Color Policy must be defined for each Substrate.
- Optionally, the Substrate ID for the print system should be stored for each Substrate Definition. If no ID is assigned, a standard ID is assigned the number "999" for the Rho, Delta, and P5 printing systems. This ID is visible when sending data to the printer.
Learn how to import Substrates (see list above point 3) below.
2. Import Substrates from Durst Printing Systems
The Analytics Collector is essential to transfer Substrate data to the Workflow. But what exactly does that mean? The Analytics Collector is the collection point for data on the printer side. By registering the Workflow on the Collector, data can be transferred from the Analytics Collector to the Workflow. Below, we will take a closer look at this process for the Durst Tau, Rho, Delta, SPC, and P5 printing systems, which can be connected to the Analytics Collector.
2.1. Prerequisites - Analytics Connection
Tau, Rho, Delta, SPC and P5 printing systems offer you the possibility of importing already created Substrates in the printer software into the Workflow. For this to be possible, the Durst Analytics service must be installed and activated on the printing system. The connection monitors the database of the respective printing system and reports changes to Substrates to the Workflow so that the current Substrate list is always available for import.
Durst Analytics Connection
As already mentioned, this connection is used to access the printer's Substrates in the Workflow. Substrates can then be imported and mapped for labeling in the output.
To import and map the Substrates of a printer into the Workflow, generally proceed as follows:
- Check whether a Durst Analytics Collector is installed for the printing system - if this is not the case, please contact your sales partner!
- When a Collector is installed note down the IP address of the Analytics Collectors.
- Register the Workflow on the Analytics Collector (this can be done in the Workflow via Administration > Printer in the Edit Printer dialog - see section 2.2.)
- Select the printer in Administration > Substrate > Import Printer Substrates and import the selected Substrate into the Workflow. If a similar or the same Substrate already exists in the Workflow, you can also link the Substrate name with the existing Substrate name in the Workflow. There are three ways to import Substrates into the Workflow. These are explained in more detail in section 2.3.
- When a print job is transferred to the printer, the Substrate ID to be used is written to the job ticket so that the print operator already has a completely predefined print job.
Register Analytics Collector on the Printer
By registering the printer with the Analytics Collector, the option of accessing the Substrate list on the printer is enabled. Thus, the selected Substrates are imported in the Workflow or can be linked to existing Substrates. Proceed as follows if you want to register the Workflow on the Analytics Collector of the selected printer:
- Switch to the menu Administration > Printer.
- Select +New or Edit from the action bar to create a new printer or edit a selected printer.
- In the field Analytics Collector IP/Port [1] enter the IP address of the Analytics Collector as well as Port 8083 [4].
- Register the Workflow on the Analytics Controller by clicking on the icon [3] "Connect and setup registration. Data will be synchronized.". When it is possible to establish the connection, the Analytics Controller starts to transfer data to the Workflow. After the connection has been established correctly, the printer type [2] is displayed and a symbol for disconnecting [5] appears. In addition, the Serial Number, Software Version, and Printer Firmware fields are filled in automatically. If an invalid IP address or port is entered, registration cannot be established.
- Stop the data flow from the Analytics Controller to the Workflow by clicking on the icon [5] "Disconnect and cancel registration. Data will no longer be synchronized". Please be sure to carry out this step first if you want to change the IP address of your Analytics Collector or the Durst Workflow computer!
- Click on Save.
Figure 1: The Edit Printer dialog for a Durst printer with Analytics
2.2. Import Substrate
After the Workflow has been registered with the Analytics Collector, the complete Substrate list of the printer is passed on to the Workflow. Below, we will take a closer look at the Substrate management settings area, which is divided into three tabs. By following the structure of the tabs, you can easily import the desired Substrates from the printer's list of one of your Durst printing systems into the Workflow. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Switch to the menu Administration > Substrate.
- The Substrate Overview for the Workflow is opened.
- Navigate to the Import Printer Substrates tab which is divided into three setting areas:
- Workflow Substrates [7] - in this area, all Substrates are listed that are already connected with the selected printer.
- Import Substrates [8] - in this area select a printer Substrate that should be imported as well as the preferred Import Mode.
- Substrate Description and Classification [9] - in this area determine how the Substrate that you would like to import should be created in Workflow Substrates.
Figure 2: The setting areas of the Substrate Overview
- Select the desired Printer in the selection list in the selection list in the Workflow Substrates list.
- Check which Substrates are already available in the Workflow for the selected Printer. Substrates that are available for the Printer can either be established manually in the Workflow and subsequently linked (read more about that in this article) or were imported with the Substrate list of a printer. Whether or not it is an imported Printer Substrate is displayed by the "*" [11] in the list.
Figure 3: The settings area Workflow Substrates with a selected Printer and imported as well as manually linked Substrates
- Navigate to the Import Substrates [7] tab to list all Substrates that are transferred via the Analytics Collector to the Workflow.
- Select the printer Substrate from the Substrate selection list [12].
- In the selection list, Import Mode [13] choose between three import modes:
- Create Substrate and Substrate Definition: Create a new Substrate and Substrate Definition.
- Map to existing Substrate and Substrate Definition: Map the Substrate that should be imported to an already existing Substrate and Substrate Definition. With this option, a text-based similarity search is carried out that refers to the name of the selected Substrate.
- Map to existing Substrate and create a new Substrate Definition: Map the Substrate that should be imported to an already existing Substrate and create a new Substrate Definition. With this option, all already existing Substrate Categories are proposed to the user.
- Determine whether the Substrate should be established as a new Workflow Substrate or should be mapped to a "related" Substrate. In the latter case limit the list of Related Substrates via the search field [14] and select the desired Substrate via the radio button [15].
Figure 3: The settings area Import Substrate with the opened menu for the three available Import Modes and selected Mode "Map to existing Substrate and create a new Substrate Definition"
- In the settings area Substrate Description and Classification determine further information or definitions for the Substrate or Substrate Definition that should be imported.
- Depending on whether you have selected the Import Mode "Create Substrate and Substrate Definition" or "Map to existing Substrate and Substrate Definition" it is possible to fill out different fields in this settings area. The information which is marked with a red star [16] are always mandatory.
- Depending on the option you have selected, complete the process by clicking on the Import button [17] or, for the Import Mode "Map to existing Substrate and Substrate Definition", by clicking on the Use selected Substrate button.
Import Mode "Map to existing Substrate and Substrate Definition"
With this Import Mode the settings area Substrate Description and Classification is not selectable as all necessary data has already been defined in the Import Substrate settings area.
Figure 4: The settings area Substrate Description and Classification for a Substrate that should be imported
- After you have imported the desired Substrate it is available in the Workflow Substrates [18] tab. Find more information about Substrate Category, Substrate and Substrate Definition in the article Overview.
- The Substrate can be used for a Color Setup now.
Figure 5: The Substrate Overview with selected Workflow Substrates tab and selected Substrate as well as Substrate Definition
- Before leaving the Substrate management you should additionally
- determine a default Substrate for each Substrate Category by clicking on Set as Default [20] in the Substrate settings area.
- create a Substrate Definition for each Substrate in the settings area with the same name [19].
- determine a default Substrate Definition for each Substrate by clicking on Set as Default [22] in the Substrate Definitions settings area.
- connect the Substrate Definition with the printer system by clicking on Link to Printer [21].
A Substrate cannot be used for production after import
Please note that the Substrate can only be used for a print job once a Color Setup has been performed and a Color Policy has been assigned to the Substrate. Information on performing a Color Setup can be found in the article Add Color Setup.
Completing the Substrate Definition
After importing and setting the fallback standards, the Substrate can be used for Color Setup. After carrying out the Color Setup, several Color Policies are available for the Substrate. The Color Policy that should be used as standard for the Substrate must be selected after carrying out the Color Setup in Administration > Substrate.
Don't import all Substrates
Print operators have to carry out various tests for Substrates before they are sure which settings are optimal. Testing can result in some unused Substrates on the printing system. This is also the reason why we have decided not to automatically transfer every Substrate in the Workflow.
We recommend that you only import the Substrates that should be used for production.
2.3. Printing Systems from Third-Party Providers
Substrate import is not yet possible for third-party printing systems. However, we will be able to provide you with this option in future versions of the Workflow.
Artikel update: Version 1.17.0 - 02/2024