The newest version of the Adobe Illustrator Plug-In was developed for Adobe Illustrator CC 2020. When installing the current Plug-In, you can select whether the Plug-In should be installed for CC 2019 and/or CC 2020.

When using Adobe Illustrator CC 2020, make sure you are familiar with the official system requirements from Adobe: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements.html

With version 1.7.7 the possibility to create Data-Matrix Barcodes in predefined quadratic and rectangular sizes has been implemented. For this purpose, various permissible sizes can be selected under the Symbol Size drop-down menu. Proceed as follows to create a Data Matrix Barcode:

1. Open Adobe Illustrator using Plug-In version 1.7.7.31.
2. Check out your desired file from the Workflow or create a new file in Adobe Illustrator.
3. Create a placeholder for the Data Matrix code with the Rectangle tool in Adobe Illustrator.
4. Open the Static Barcode or Variable Data panel.
5. Select the barcode Type [1] for the Data Matrix code.
6. Enter content for the Data Matrix code and select your desired settings.
7. Open the Data Matrix Settings [2] drop-down panel.
8. Select the size under the Symbol Size [3] drop-down menu. Common sizes for the Data-Matrix Code are available in this drop-down menu. At the end of the list you will find dimensions listed for rectangular barcodes.
9. After creating the Data Matrix code, you can check the file back into the Workflow and continue processing as necessary.

Figure 1: Creating rectangular Data Matrix codes in the Adobe Illustrator Plug-In.

The File Manager was first introduced in version 1.7.5 and was consequently redesigned in version 1.7.6 adding small functional enhancements. With version 1.7.7 the File Manager has been extended by offering access to Print Items contained in both Orders [4] and Production Jobs [5]. An additional tab, called Activities [6] has been added, which shows the current status for individual print files when uploading new print data.

Figure 2: The header of the File Manager showing additional tabs.

In the Articles tab, the user can access Articles from the Articles menu item, and the user can also upload Print Items  and organize them in Collections. This range of functions has not changed since version 1.7.6.

While users can upload print files and organize them into Collections in the Articles tab, in contrast users can only access print data (Print Items) stored in both the Order and Production Job tabs. Adding print files to an Order or Production Job must be completed directly using the respective menu items.

By activating the Order tab [7] all existing Orders contained in the Workflow are listed. Unlike the Articles tab, new Orders or Print Items cannot be added or edited in this view. All other functions, such as filtering and sorting Orders are available in the Order List. You can read more about these functions in the 1.7.6 Release Notes.

Figure 3: The Order tab in the File Manager.

To access Print Items in an Order, proceed as follows:

1. Select the Order [7] tab. When you open the tab for the first time, all Orders are displayed in the list. In addition to the Order Name and the Internal Order ID, information on the number of Order Items and the total number of Print Items in the Order is also displayed.
2. Find the desired Order by entering the Order Name or the Order Number.
3. Open the Order by simply clicking on an entry in the list. If you click on several Orders, they will remain open at the same time. If an Order is opened, the Order Items [9] and the Print Items [10] are displayed.
4. Print Items can also be selected across several Orders by holding the [CTRL]-/[CMD]- or [SHIFT]-key and moving them to the sheet. As soon as a Print Item from an Order has been selected, the Order is highlighted in the list by a vertical colored bar [8].

In addition to the Article and Order tabs, the File Manager also contains the Production Jobs tab [11]. By activating this tab all existing Production Jobs are listed. In contrast to the Articles tab, new Production Jobs or Print Items cannot be added or edited in this view. All other functions such as filtering and sorting of Jobs are also available in the Production Job list. You can read more about these functions in the 1.7.6 Release Notes.

Figure 4: The Production Job tab in the File Manager.

To access Print Items in a Production Job, proceed as follows:

1. Select the Production Job tab [11]. When you open the tab for the first time, all Production Jobs are displayed in the list. In addition to the Name of the Production Job, the Internal Production Job ID, information on the number of Print Items in the Production Job is also displayed.
2. Find the desired Production Job by entering its name.
3. Open the Production Job by clicking on an entry in the list. If you select several Production Jobs, they will remain open at the same time. If a Production Job is opened, the Print Items [13] from the Production Job are displayed.
4. Print Items can be selected and moved to the sheet by holding down the [CTRL]-/[CMD]- or [SHIFT]-key, even across several Production Jobs. As soon you select a Print Item from a Production Job, the Production Job is highlighted with a colored bar in the list [12].

Next to the Article, Orders and Production Jobs tab is the Activities tab. Activating this tab lists the processes that are started/in progress when uploading print data. The following processes are displayed in this tab:

• Check-in processes when uploading Articles.
• Processes for calculating thumbnails after saving a Production Job.

If processes are currently running, this is highlighted in the tab. If no processes are currently running, the tab is highlighted in green. The number displayed, defines the number of running processes.

Figure 5: The Activities tab in the File Manager.

In the File Manager, Print Items that have been previously imposed are marked. As soon as a Print Item is used in an imposition and the imposition or Production Job has been saved, the Print Item is marked with a green symbol [15]. This ensures that Print Items are not imposed more than once. Print Items that still need to be imposed can therefore be quickly located and processed.

Figure 6: Print Items displayed with a green symbol in the upper right hand corner have been previously imposed and are clearly marked in the File Manager.

With version 1.7.7 we have also implemented the ability to scale Print Items in height and/or width for the rule-based Impose Modes such as Step & Repeat and Nesting. The scaling factor can be defined per Print Item or for all Print Items at once using the Edit Selected Print Items dialog. The Impose Editor then scales the respective Print Items for the imposition only. If Print Items need to be scaled in advance, this can be accomplished using a Fixup in the Workflow.

To scale individual Print Items, proceed as follows:

1. Open the Impose Editor.
2. Select a rule-based Impose Mode, i.e., Step & Repeat or Nesting.
3. Place your Print Items using the File Manager and open the Print Items tab on the right-hand side of the Impose Editor.
4. Select the Print Items you want to scale from the Print Items list under the Print Items tab by pressing the [CTRL] / [CMD] or [SHIFT] key. Alternatively, you can also use the Select All function in the header of the tab.
5. Then press the Edit button (pencil icon), which is also located in the tab header. This will open the Edit Selected Print Items dialog.

Figure 7: The Edit selected Print Items dialog where you can scale either individual or multiple Print Items.

6. Enter the scaling factor per Print Item [17]. Optionally, you can enter the scaling factor for width and height independently from each other by clicking on the lock symbol [18].
7. To change the scaling factor for all Print Items, enter the values for width and height in the header input fields [16].
8. Confirm your settings by clicking on Apply. The imposition is recalculated on the basis of the scale applied. The scaling factor is not saved with the Print Item and is only used for calculating the imposition.

Starting with version 1.7.7 we now validate the imposition in real time, where specific errors, etc. can be recognized early in the impose process. The impose warnings are displayed in the Sheet Configuration panel of the header.

The impose validation includes three different types of checks. These are described in more detail below.

When imposing, certain conditions may arise which are displayed as information - in the case of information, a reaction from the user is not absolutely necessary. The following states are currently displayed as information when creating an imposition:

• Placed Print Items: [19] – This parameter is continuously checked and compares the amount of Print Items that are in the Production Job with the amount of Print Items placed on the sheet. 3/3 means that all three Print Items from the Production Job are placed on the sheet.
• Copies to be printed: [20] – Each Print Item is imposed based on the defined number of copies. When imposing Print Items, the Impose Editor calculates the amount of times the current sheet must be printed to achieve the specified number of copies for each individual Print Item. The number displayed tells the user how often the sheet has to be printed so that the number of copies is reached for each Print Item.
• Overlapping Print Items detected: – If Print Items overlap in manual mode, this is also displayed as information. If overlapping Print Items is desired, this information can be ignored. Otherwise, the conflict needs to be resolved manually.
• Overproduced Print Items: [21] – If, due to certain circumstances according to the number of Print Items to be printed, some Print items may be overproduced when printing multiple sheets of the same imposition, this information is also displayed and shows the specific Print item that is overproduced as well.

Figure 8: Information is shown in the Sheet Configuration.

As long as information alone is displayed in this window, the number of errors or warnings [22] will be displayed in green, as the sheet can be produced without issues. As soon as a warning or error occurs, the number and also the color of the number will change to match the situation, so that the operator is aware possible difficulties.

When imposing, certain conditions may arise which are displayed as warnings, in this case a reaction from the user is required. The following states are displayed as warnings:

• Unplaced Print Items: [23] – If Print Items contained in the Production Job are not placed for whatever reason, a warning is displayed. One reason could be that the current sheet is too small to place all Print Items at least once. The number displayed after the warning indicates the number of unplaced Print Items.
• Underproduced Print Items: [24] – If Print Items in the Production Job cannot be produced for whatever reason, a warning is also displayed. One reason could be that the respective Print Items were not placed at all or the number of copies based on the number of sheets to be printed cannot be reached. The number after the warning indicates the number of underproduced Print Items.

In addition to this, there are three other warnings that can occur in connection with a Fotoba Cutter. These are described in the section 2.11 Fotoba cutting device.

Figure 9: In the Sheet Configuration we can see multiple Warnings displayed.

As soon as one of these states is encountered, a warning is displayed in this window. The number of warnings [25] is then shown in yellow, indicating that the sheet might be incomplete. Not placing Print Items completely or only partially may be intentional, and can be ignored as needed. As soon as additional warnings or errors are encountered, the number and also the color of the number is adapted to the situation.

When imposing, certain conditions can arise which are displayed as errors, in this case a reaction from the user is absolutely necessary. Currently, the following states are displayed as errors:

• No Print Item on Sheet [26] – If Print Items are not placed on the sheet, this error is displayed. This typically occurs when opening the Impose Editor, when all Print Items are removed from the sheet or when Print Items of different dimensions are used for Step & Repeat for example.

Figure 10: Warnings are displayed in the Sheet Configuration list.

As soon as an error occurs during the imposition process it is displayed in this window. The number of warnings and errors [27] is shown in red because the sheet cannot be produced.

Further improvements in the Impose Editor regarding Lines and Captions have been implemented. Lines are now available in all Impose Modes and offer additional functions. Captions, on the other hand, can be added to multiple edges from this version on. Adding several individual Captions is therefore no longer necessary.

Starting with version 1.7.7, Lines can be used in all Impose Modes. Up until this point, this function was only available using Tiling Mode. A new function called Continuous Line [29] is now available. This function either aligns the edges of the Line added to create a rectangle or with allow four individual Lines to be created around the Print Item.

Figure 11: The Lines sub-panel of the Marks tab.

By activating this option, the length of the Line is adjusted so that a continuous rectangle [28] surrounds the Print Item. If this option is deactivated, the Line uses the length of the edge for that specific Print Item [30] and will overlap.

Captions could be used in any Impose Mode in previous versions, but they could only be added to one edge of the Print Item. If you wanted to have a Caption on all edges, four separate Captions had to be added. With version 1.7.7 a Caption can now be added to all four edges. To accomplish this, you simply need to activate the desired edges in the Reference Point [31] settings.

Figure 12: Adding a Caption to all edges of the Print Item.

Before version 1.7.7, Marks, Lines, Grommets and Captions were created on a defined edge: top, right, bottom and left. If a Print Item was subsequently manually rotated by the user or automatically when using rule-based modes, the added element remained on the original edge defined before rotating. From this version on, you can define whether elements should be rotated with the Print Item or not. The new option Rotate with Print Item [32] works for all elements mentioned above.

Figure 13: The option Rotate with Print Item is available for Marks, Lines, Grommets and Captions.

We've significantly improved performance when placing Print Items on the sheet, in the course of this version. Not only multiple-but also larger Print Items can now be placed much faster and therefore the impose process has fewer delays.

Some symbols in the footer of the Impose Editor have been adapted. The number of symbols or information has been reduced to the bare essentials. In addition, all calculations for the current imposition such as: Printed Area, Degree of Utilisation (area), etc., have been improved.

The Pattern sub-panel and function was available in previous versions,  however, the expected behavior of this function was not working correctly. With version 1.7.7 the functionality has been changed. You can now create a nested arrangement of round stickers for example as shown in the figure below.:

1. Open the Impose Editor and choose Step & Repeat Mode.
2. Add your desired Print Item to the sheet. Note that the Print Item was previously edited using a Fixup that clipped the Print Item so the background is transparent.
3. Set the desired number of Columns and Rows [33] in the Grid Settings sub-panel and activate Allow Overproduction [34].
4. Under the Pattern sub-panel, set the desired value for the Offset [36] using a percentage. For circles, a value of 50% usually works well.
5. Now you have to reduce the horizontal spacing [35] until the desired nesting effect has been achieved.

Figure 14: A Step & Repeat imposition showing the Pattern Offset.

If a Production Job has different numbers of copies for each Print Item, Print Items were previously lined up one after the other in the column. This created columns in the imposition that were filled with different Print Items.

In the course of revising this mode, the behavior was changed depending on whether Allow Overproduction has been activated or not under the Grid Settings sub-panel. This option ensures that each column only contains repeats of a single Print Item.

• Allow Overproduction is active – Depending on the ratio of copies entered for the Print Items, available columns are filled.
• Allow overproduction is deactivated – Depending on the number of copies entered for each Print Item, the Print Items to be placed are filled up per column according to type. This can lead to the fact that some space in the column could remain empty if an unfavorable number of copies is specified for individual Print Items.

Figure 15: A Step & Repeat imposition with unfilled columns for each Print Item.

The Head Turn sub-panel and function which is only available in Step & Repeat Mode has been revised and extended. From version 1.7.7 on, four options are available.

Figure 16: The Head Turn function now has four options available to the user.

The first option No Head Turn [38] adds Print Items to all columns and rows uniformly honoring the selected Rotation [37].

Figure 17: An example of a Step & Repeat imposition with No Head Turn selected in combination with no rotation.

The second option Head Turn on Row [39] rotates alternating Print Items in a Head to Head orientation.

Figure 18: An example of a Step & Repeat imposition with Head Turn on Row selected.

The third option Head Turn on Column [40] rotates every second column 180°.

Figure 19: An example of a Step & Repeat imposition with Head Turn on Column selected.

The fourth option, Head Turn on Row and Column [41], aligns the Print Items Head to Head and alternates this pattern every second Row.

Figure 20: An example of a Step & Repeat imposition with Head Turn on Row and Column selected.

Various Nesting Options, which were previously available as checkboxes in the Nesting Options sub-panel, have been expanded and reorganized in 1.7.7. In the course of the expansion the functions have been grouped thematically and the checkboxes were replaced with drop-down menus [46]. Certain functions can now be combined with each other and certain combinations can be excluded. If functions are not available for specific scenarios, the drop-down menus are deactivated.

Figure 21: the sub-panel Nesting Options now has deeper context driven drop-down menus.

The following options are available in Nesting Mode starting with version 1.7.7. These can be combined as desired.

By default, Print Items are placed horizontally one after the other on the sheet. As of version 1.7.7 the following options are available under the Orientation drop-down menu [42]:

• Horizontal – Print Items are placed horizontally one after the other on the sheet.
• Vertical – Print Items are placed vertically one after the other on the sheet.

Figure 22: Left: Horizontal Orientation; Right: Vertical Orientation available in Nesting Mode.

By default, Print Items are held together in Nesting Mode to prevent the same Print Item from being distributed on the sheet. As of version 1.7.7 the following options are available in the Arrange drop-down menu [43]:

• Keep Print Items Together – The number of copies per Print Item in the imposition are grouped together.
• Consider Print Item Sequence – Places Print Items one after the other based on the sequence of the Print Items in the Print Items tab.
• Use only one Print Item per Column/Row – Places the same Print Item per Column when Vertical Orientation is selected or per Row when Horizontal Orientation is selected.

By default, an attempt is made to maintain the ratio of copies in order to reduce the amount of repetitive prints on a sheet. As of version 1.7.7 the following options are available in the Filling drop-down menu [44]:

• Keep exact ratio of copies – The number of copies per Print Item in the imposition is kept together.
• Allow Overproduction – The imposition is filled with Print Items according to the ratio of the number of copies. Overproduction may occur for individual Print Items.
• Force number of copies – Only those Print Items are used, where the total number of copies can be placed. Individual Print Items may be missing in the imposition.

By default, Print Items can be rotated as desired, in order to increase the utilization ratio per sheet. The Rotation drop-down menu [45] is now available in version 1.7.7. The following options can be selected:

• Non-Uniform Rotation – Print Items can be rotated by 0° or 90° to achieve better utilization ratios. This allows the same Print Items to be imposed using various degrees of rotation.
• Uniform Rotation – All Print Items are rotated uniformly, using either 0° or 90°.
• 0° Rotation – All Print Items are rotated uniformly, using 0°.
• 90 ° Rotation – All Print Items are rotated using 90°.

Figure 23: The Nesting Options sub-panel with the Rotation drop-down menu open.

The Nesting algorithm used when placing Print Items has been improved again in this version. In the new algorithm, calculations are now focused on reducing Substrate waste. The second step of the algorithm aims to improve the rate of utilization. The algorithm weights the calculation equally when Nesting Print Items that have the same dimensions as well as when Nesting Print Items of different dimensions.

In order to achieve low Substrate consumption, the selection menus Orientation and Alignment under the Nesting Options sub-panel are not available when Nesting Print Items with different dimensions.

If a large number of Print Items have been placed when using Manual Mode, users normally want to arrange them as quickly as possible in a typical grid with specific spacing. In practice, the Distribute Selection function available under the Alignment sub-panel can be used to achieve this. Until now, this function was limited to distributing selections from either a single row or column. If the selection consisted of several columns and rows, this function led to unexpected results, distributing Print Items in unhelpful ways.

With our new feature Use Column and Row Alignment, this task can now be completed with a single click. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Impose Editor with Manual Mode selected.
2. If possible, place the Print Items in a grid on the sheet.
3. Select all Print Items and choose the option Use Column and Row Alignment [53].

Figure 25: Manual Mode now offers the option Use Column and Row Alignment.

4. Then align the Print Items using: Horizontal Align > Align Left and Vertical Align > Align Top. This means that the Print Items in the left column and the Print Items in the first row are now aligned.
5. Then select the option Distribute Selection [54] and enter the desired spacing. Then press the symbols Distribute Horizontal and Distribute Vertical.
6. The Print Items are now correctly aligned in a grid.

Version 1.7.6 of the Workflow introduced the Grid Tool. We've added an additional tool which allows the user to define the Ordering of the Grid placeholders. These options can be defined either in the Create Grid or Edit Grid dialog:

1. Open the Impose Editor, Manual Mode will be selected by default.
2. Activate the Grid Tool in the toolbar.
3. Open the Create Grid dialog in the header of the Impose Editor
4. Select your desired placeholder Ordering under the Ordering [55] drop-down menu.

Figure 26: The Ordering options are displayed below in the Create Grid dialog.

This selection determines the order in which the placeholders are filled. To use the Grid Ordering when placing Print Items, always drag the Print Items to the lowest unoccupied placeholder number.

As soon as a document is uploaded in the Workflow, a PDF is created. This PDF may contain the following page geometry boxes:

• TrimBox – Describes the final format of a file excluding Bleed. This box may or may not exist. If the PDF is a PDF/X file, either the TrimBox or the ArtBox must be defined.
• BleedBox – Describes the final format of the file including the Bleed. This box may or may not exist.
• CropBox – Describes the format to be output on screen or in print (normal use case scenario). This box may or may not exist. In PDF viewer applications, however, the CropBox is automatically placed on the MediaBox if a CropBox is not defined.
• MediaBox – Describes the total size of the page. This box is set for each page in a PDF.
• ObjectBox (ArtBox) – Describes in theory the enclosing rectangle of all printable objects contained in the PDF. The ObjectBox is often used by external programs (e.g. Adobe Illustrator) to derive the size of the Artboard. This box can exist, but does not have to. If the PDF is a PDF/X file, either the TrimBox or the ObjectBox must be defined.

As already mentioned, leading up to version 1.7.7, the TrimBox was always used as a reference for further processing steps and the Bleed was then added to it. Starting with version 1.7.7 this behavior can be customized. In order to define these new fictitious boxes we defined new descriptive terms for them:

• ImageBox (visual format) – Defines the desired visual format. The ImageBox can be set per Print Item or Article to any page geometry box defined in the PDF.
• Expected Bleed – This is the Bleed that will be used by default for Print Items or Articles. It does not necessarily have to match the existing Bleed defined in the PDF. The automatic creation of a Bleed is not forced as only the area around the ImageBox is enlarged by the entered value.
• ImageBox + Bleed (production format) – Defines the format to be produced and consists of an ImageBox (the desired page geometry box in the PDF) including the Expected Bleed (does not matter if it is available or not).

From this point on with version 1.7.7, processing steps in the Workflow are no longer calculated in relation to the TrimBox but rather with the page geometry box that was set by the user as the ImageBox (visual format). For example, if the ImageBox is set to the BleedBox, the BleedBox including the Expected Bleed is sent to the printer and/or used in the imposition.

By default, the ImageBox (visual format) is set to the TrimBox, so that all existing Production Jobs can be processed as they already exist. ImageBox settings can also be applied globally as well.

In the system-wide Workflow settings the page geometry box defined in a PDF for the ImageBox (visual format) can be defined by default in the Workflow. You can also define the amount of Bleed that should be added to the ImageBox automatically when uploading print files.

Follow these steps to change the system-wide ImageBox settings in the Workflow:

1. Navigate to Administration > Settings > General
2. Locate the Box Options panel and enter your desired values for:
   • Expected Bleed [57] – The default Bleed can be defined per edge. Alternatively, by activating the checkbox Use Bleed from PDF [56], the existing Bleed from the PDF can be automatically used as the Expected Bleed.
   • Default ImageBox [58] – Select the PDF page geometry box that should be used for production and additional processing steps (e.g. imposing) in the Workflow.

Figure 27: The Box Options panel under the General tab.

These settings are transferred to and saved in the Print Item when a print file is uploaded. These settings can be overwritten or changed again on the Print Item or Article level.

Prior to version 1.7.7, PDF page geometry boxes were automatically corrected in the Workflow according to a list of Preflight checks when uploading print data in the background. This ensured that the necessary information for further processing in the Workflow was provided.

As of version 1.7.7 these corrections are no longer made. The print file is uploaded and remains unchanged in the Workflow. If one or more page geometry boxes are not available, they are inherited based on a rule, so that all boxes can be used. It is important to understand that the print file itself is not changed (regarding the page geometry). However, a correction of the print data can still be applied based on system settings in the Color Management area.

Due to the introduction of new terms and functions in the Workflow we had to expand and revise the detailed view for both Articles and Print Items.

Prior to version 1.7.7, a preview was generated after uploading a print file, in which the BleedBox and the TrimBox were displayed in the Article or Print Item detail view. As of version 1.7.7 the MediaBox of the print file is used as the preview [59] instead of the BleedBox, so that the print file is always displayed in its entirety. All other boxes in the PDF [61] as well as the workflow-specific Boxes [60] are displayed visually in the preview:

• MediaBox – By hovering over this name the MediaBox (labeled Purple) will be highlighted on the preview image.
• BleedBox – By hovering over this name the BleedBox (labeled Black) will be highlighted on the preview image.
• BleedBox – By hovering over this name the BleedBox (labeled Blue), will be highlighted on the preview image.
• TrimBox – By hovering over this name the TrimBox (labeled Green), will be highlighted on the preview image.
• ArtBox – By hovering over this name the ArtBox (labeled Red), will be highlighted on the preview image.
• ImageBox - By hovering over this name the ImageBox (labeled Yellow), will be highlighted on the preview image.
• Exp. Bleed – By hovering over this name the Exp.Bleed (labeled Turquoise), will be highlighted on the preview image.

Figure 28: The Article or Print Item preview new to version 1.7.7.

If none of the listed page geometry boxes are hovered over, both the ImageBox and ImageBox + Bleed are displayed. The visual format (ImageBox) displays normally, and the area between ImageBox and the Expected Bleed is displayed with a slightly shaded surface. Areas where the Print Item is covered, are displayed as a very dark surface that won't be printed.

The redesigned Document Information and User-defined Fields area displays all content and details of the selected Print Item. This also includes all page geometry boxes [63], included in the print data.

Figure 29: The revised Document Information and User-defined Fields information area.

In this example, all page geometry boxes, with the exception of the ArtBox, are included in the print file. In this case, the size of the ArtBox is automatically inherited from the TrimBox [65] without changing the file itself. The information area also indicates which page geometry box is used as the ImageBox [64]. After changing the ImageBox the Marks also change their position.

A new information area called Production Information displays all production-relevant details for the selected Print Item. Starting with version 1.7.7, this includes the ImageBox [66] and the Expected Bleed [67].

Figure 30: The new information area Production Information.

In this example, the ImageBox [66] was set to the TrimBox. For this reason, the ImageBox contains the same height and width as the TrimBox.

Below the ImageBox are the Expected Bleed values [67]. In this example the Expected Bleed was set to the values of the original Bleed contained in the PDF. Using the gear icon [68] the Expected Bleed can be changed at any time. Proceed as follows:

1. Click on the gear icon [68]. The Bleed Settings dialog opens.
2. Define the Expected Bleed [69] in the dialog or click on Use Bleed from Print Item [70] to adopt the bleed from the PDF.
3. Save the dialog by clicking on Save. Subsequently, the values for the Expected Bleed will be updated and the preview will also be updated with regard to the areas that are dimmed.

Figure 31: The Bleed Settings dialog.

Before version 1.7.7, all Print items were imposed based on the TrimBox. Alternatively, the Bleed could be added or changed in the editor. Marks, Lines and Captions were also generated based on the TrimBox or BleedBox.

Starting with version 1.7.7, the TrimBox is no longer used for placing Print Items, rather the current settings for the ImageBox (visual format) are used. The Bleed can subsequently be defined in the Impose Editor in addition to the ImageBox. Marks, Lines and Captions are now also created either based on the ImageBox and/or the ImageBox + Bleed.

When a Production Job is imposed, the saved imposition is created based on the ImageBox and the selected Bleed and is sent to the printer. If a Production Job is not imposed, the following settings can be applied, depending on whether the document is single or multi-page.

Before version 1.7.7, the BleedBox was always sent to the printer if the file was not imposed. This could cause problems if the BleedBox was not the same as the desired production format. To avoid this, several data corrections had to be implemented before the Job could be produced.

With version 1.7.7 using the new ImageBox feature, only the current ImageBox including the defined Expected Bleed is sent to the printer. With the help of this option, the ImageBox can be set to any PDF page geometry box and the Expected Bleed can be freely defined. when sending to the printer, the adjustments are then applied and the page geometry box that was assigned to the ImageBox is also sent to the printer including the Expected Bleed.

Multi-page documents cannot be imposed in the Workflow. They must either be sent to the printer as a multi-page file or the file is first split into individual Print Items and processed further. Before version 1.7.7, each page of the file was always sent to the printer based on the BleedBox. This could cause problems if the BleedBox did not match the production format.

With version 1.7.7 using the new ImageBox feature, only the current ImageBox per page is sent to the printer. With the help of this option, the ImageBox can be set to any page geometry box. When sending to the printer, adjustments are then applied and the page geometry boxes that are set as the ImageBox are sent to the printer.

The way Hotfolders work has been completely revised with this release. Existing functions have been extended and improved. New functions were also added. Lets take a closer look.

Before 1.7.7, the Hotfolder list was structured in such a way that each list entry could be expanded. The underlying Hotfolder jobs that had been processed were listed and their resulting Production Jobs could be opened.

Starting with version 1.7.7 these sub-lists were removed. Initially only the defined Hotfolders are listed in the Hotfolder list. By double-clicking on a Hotfolder the details of this Hotfolder are displayed. This new view was implemented in the current version and is described in the following sections.

Another change that had to be made is that previously created Hotfolders could only be edited when stopped or paused. This can be accomplished via the start/pause buttons at the top of the page. The Hotfolder needs to be paused first and then the Hotfolder can be edited as needed.

When configuring a Hotfolder, a new tab called Impose has been added, as this area has been revised in this version. All changes will be explained in more detail in the following sections.

Hotfolders are set up to process files at regular intervals. Files can be uploaded, uploaded and imposed in a Production Job, or uploaded, imposed and immediately sent to the printer. For Production Jobs that are created and also imposed via Hotfolders, two different Processing Modes [73]: Single Files and Automatic are available with version 1.7.7.

Figure 32: The Impose tab of the Hotfolder Setup dialog.

• Single Files – A Production Job is created for each individual file that is uploaded. The selected Impose Mode [71] implies that single Print Items are imposed based on the selected Impose Template [72].
• Automatic – Several files are uploaded and merged into one Production Job and imposed together. The number of files that can be added to the Production Job depends on two factors: the Print Area Coverage [74] and the Maximum Processing Time [75]. Note that the Auto option is only available when using Nesting Mode.

Figure 33: The Hotfolder List with the column Type added.

The Type for a Hotfolder is indicated in the Hotfolder list by a symbol in the column Type [76]. The user can also hover over the symbol and a tooltip describes the Type of Hotfolder as well.

By double-clicking on an entry in the Hotfolder list, a detailed view of the Hotfolder is displayed. The detail view is the same for both types of Hotfolders. The only difference is that the areas: Queue and Print Items of the current assembly are not available for Hotfolders that process Single Files, as these options do not make sense here. For the Hotfolder Type Automatic, all areas are available.

Figure 34: The detail view of a Hotfolder with the Type Automatic chosen.

The following areas are available in the user interface of the Hotfolder detail view:

• Header bar left side: Below the Hotfolder Name [77] is a status overview [78] of the current Hotfolder. The status overview shows how many Print Items are currently being processed, have been successfully completed, or aborted due to an error. This information is available in both types of Hotfolders.
• Header bar on the right side: Further details are displayed for Automatic Hotfolders. This information is not displayed for the Single File Hotfolders.
  • Time Started and Time Remaining [85]: As soon as the first Print Item for automatic Nesting is processed, the time stamp for the start time is set. The remaining time below this indicates how much time will elapse until a Nesting is created, this will occur even if the Printed Area Coverage threshold has not been reached.
  • Threshold Value [86]: The loading bar graphically indicates the degree of utilization achieved by Nesting placed Print Items. The green marker indicates the threshold value set under the Impose tab for the Printed Area Coverage percentage rate.
  • Production Job Name [87]: Shows the name of the Production Job where the imposition can be found.
  • Create Imposition [88]: Pressing this button forces the creation of a Production Job and an imposition using the currently added Print Items.
• Check-in [82]: This information area lists all Print Items which are currently being copied, uploaded and checked into the Workflow. Both types of Hotfolders use this area. The Print Items in this information area can have the following statuses:
  • Copying: The print data is currently being copied into the Hotfolder.
  • Checking in: The print data is being uploaded to the Workflow and Preflighted. Afterwards all necessary preview files are created and saved for the Print Item.
  • Check-in Finished: Shows that the print data was successfully processed. After that the Print Item is moved to the next information area called Queue.
• Queue [83]: This information area lists all Print Items that have been uploaded and checked for Automatic Nesting but are not yet successfully imposed. This area is only available for Automatic Hotfolders. The Print Items in this information area can have two states:
  • Ready to place: This state is assigned to each design after it has been successfully checked in.
  • Item Too big for impose size: If the imposition is already in an advanced state, there may not be enough surface space to place a Print Item. If the Print Item is too large for the current sheet being imposed, the Print item will be repositioned in the Queue and used for the imposition.
  • Re-Queued: If a Print Item has been imposed but has been re-queued by the user by clicking on the symbol [89], the Print Item will have this status.
• Print Item of the current imposition [84]: This information area lists all Print Items that have been successfully imposed. This area is only available for Automatic Hotfolders. The user can perform the following functions concerning Print Items in this list:
  • Delete [90]: Removes the selected Print Item from the current imposition and deletes the Print Item completely from the Workflow.
  • Re-queue [89]: The Print Item will be moved back into the Queue and added to the next imposition.
• Done [80] – This list shows all Print Items that have been processed and imposed successfully. By double-clicking on an entry in the list [81] you will be automatically directed to the corresponding Production Job. This list is available in both Hotfolder types.
• Errors [79] – This list displays all Print Items that could not be processed or uploaded into the Workflow. Files that fall into the Erros tab can still be saved in the Workflow by clicking on the download icon.

The articles Hotfolder & Processing Files using Hotfolders provide more detail on using and handling Hotfolders with version 1.7.7

To create a Fixup Chain carry out the following steps:

1. Select the menu item Administration > Fixup Chains.
2. Here you will find two setting areas:
   • Fixup Chains [82] – This list displays all Fixup Chains that were previously created. You can search for Fixup Chains using the Search bar and/or Search in criteria.
   • Added Fixups [84] – This list displays the Fixups that have been added to the selected Fixup Chain. Also shows the order in which the Fixups will be applied.
3. To create a new Fixup Chain click on + New [83] in the footer of the Fixup Chains panel. To edit an existing Fixup Chain click on Edit [85].

Figure 35: The Fixup Chains menu item with a selected Fixup Chain and added Fixups.

4. The Add Fixup Chain dialog opens, where you can enter a Name and a Comment (optional). The Key [86] is automatically created when the Name is entered, but it can be changed. Please note that the Key must be unique throughout the system and cannot contain lowercase letters.
5. To save the Fixup Chain, click on Save.

Figure 36: The Add Fixup Chain dialog, with an automatically generated Key and an optional Comment as well.

6. After you have added the Fixup Chain, you need to add individual Fixups to the Fixup Chain. It is important to add the Fixups in the order that you want them applied! To do this click on Edit [85] in the footer of the Added Fixups panel [84] (both in Figure 35). The Configure Fixup Chain dialog will open.
7. Select the desired Fixup in the Fixups panel [87] and add it to the Added Fixups panel [88] by clicking on + Add Fixup [88].
8. Keep adding additional Fixups in the same way as needed.
9. After that step is complete, select each Fixup in the Added Fixups panel and specify the desired parameters for this Fixup in the settings area [91] next to it.
10. If you want to change the order of the Fixups, simply drag the Fixup to the desired position by clicking on the symbol [90].
11. To save the Fixup Chain, click on Save.  

Figure 37: The Configure Fixup Chain dialog, with multiple Fixups added.

Fixup Chains can be applied to Print Items or Articles at various points in the Workflow as well as when uploading print data into the Workflow.

Fixup Chains can be applied to single Print Items/Articles or to multiple Print Items/Articles.

In the »Print Data« tab

To apply a Fixup Chain in Print Data view, proceed as follows:

1. Switch to Print Data view in an Article, Order or Production Job by selecting the Print Data tab [92].
2. In the footer of the Document Information and User-defined Fields area you will find the symbol Fixup Chains [93]. Click on it to open the Apply a Fixup Chain dialog.

Figure 38: The Print Data tab of an Article.

3. In the Apply a Fixup Chain dialog you can select the desired Fixup Chain using the drop-down menu [94]. All Fixups contained in the Fixup Chain are displayed in an overview.
4. To apply the Fixup Chain, click Apply to Selection [95].  

Figure 39: The Apply a Fixup Chain dialog.

Apply a Fixup Chain to multiple Print Items/Articles

If a Fixup Chain needs to be applied to several Print Items/Articles, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to either the menu item Article > Articles or Articles > Collections. This will display the Article List or the Collection List respectively.
2. Locate the desired Articles in the list or the Collection to be processed.
3. Select the Articles to be processed in the list or in the Collection or the entire Collection can be selected [96] and click on Apply Fixup Chain [97] under the Process drop-down.
4. The Apply a Fixup Chain dialog will appear (Figure 39). Select the desired Fixup Chain and press Apply to Selection [95].

Figure 40: The Collection List view.

If print data from customers are always delivered in the same quality or if print data for certain products are always created in the same stage of development by an upstream Web2Print portal, the print data can be automatically processed when uploaded into the Workflow. Processing print data using Fixup Chains is possible in two different places using either Hotfolders or Force Print.

Applying Fixup Chains using Hotfolders

Fixup Chains [99] can be selected under the Processing Parameters tab [98] in the Hotfolder Setup dialog.

Figure 41: The Hotfolder Setup dialog with Processing Parameters tab selected.

Apply a Fixup Chain In Force Print

Fixup Chains [101] can be selected under the Data Preparation panel [100] in the menu item Automation > Force Print.

Figure 42: The Force Print user interface with a Fixup Chain selected.

The Scale Factor [102] can be set under the Process Parameters tab of the Hotfolder Setup dialog which processes all print data that are uploaded to this Hotfolder. Please note that if you also want to apply a Fixup Chain at the same time, the scaling factor will be calculated first and the Fixups will be applied to the scaled dimensions of the print file.

Figure 43: The Process Parameters tab in the Hotfolder Setup dialog.

The Scale Factor [103] can be set for each print file in the File Upload panel of the Force Print menu item. Please note that if a Fixup Chain is selected in the Data Preparation panel, the Scaling Factor is calculated before the Fixup Chain is applied.

Picture 44: The Force Print mask showing various settings including the Scale Factor for individual Print Items.

If a print file does not have the correct scale when uploaded into the Workflow, the Scaling Factor can also be applied afterwards by applying the Set Scale Factor Fixup [104].

Figure 45: The Print Data tab tab with the Fixup Set Scale Factor icon selected, which is located in the footer of the Document Information and User-defined Fields settings area.

Before a Fotoba Cutter can be used in the Workflow for Production Jobs, the Cutting Device must be created in the Workflow first. To do this, follow these steps.

1. Go to the menu Administration > Cutter Devices.
2. Open the Add Cutter dialog by clicking on + New.

Figure 46: The filled in Add Cutter dialog for creating the Fotoba Cutter.

3. You can select the following parameters in this dialog:
   • Device Type – In this case we will select Fotoba.
   • Name – Enter a unique name for the Cutter. If you have two devices of the same type, you should also create the device twice with unique names which will speed up choosing the correct cutter in the Workflow.
   • Serial number – Enter the serial number of the device, this makes sense when two Cutters from the same manufacturer are used.
4. Finally, create the Fotoba Cutter by clicking Save.

After creating the cutting device, the Workflow will display three standard configurations based on popular Fotoba series. In the Parameter Sets [105] section, select the Parameter Set which should be used by default by clicking on the Set as Default button [106]. The following configurations are available:

• WR Series – This Parameter Set can be used for the Fotoba WR Series. Only double horizontal lines are created by default.
• XL Series – This Parameter Set can be used for the Fotoba WL Series. Double horizontal lines are created by default and single vertical lines are created on the right edge.
• Digitrim Series – This Parameter Set can be used for the Fotoba Digitrim Series. Double horizontal and vertical lines are created per row and column by default.

Further settings concerning the Parameter Sets can be edited and saved in the Impose Editor. If necessary, user-defined Parameter Sets can also be created and used. For more information on this topic, refer to the sections Using a Cutter in a Production Job and Editing  and Saving Configurations for Cutting Devices.

Figure 47: The Administration > Cutter Devices menu item with a valid Parameter Set of the Fotoba Cutter shown.

Read here how Cutting Devices can be used in Production Jobs.

If the settings stored in the Parameter Set do not suit you, you can create and save user-defined Parameter Sets in the Impose Editor. We describe this process in more detail in the section Changing and Saving Configurations for Cutting Devices. The following settings can be changed:

Figure 48: Available parameters for creating Marks for a Fotoba Cutter.

• Position [107] – Marks can be placed based on the ImageBox (visual format) or based on the ImageBox + Bleed (production format).
• X- / Y-Offset – An Offset can be defined by entering values in X- or Y-Offset inputs.
• Apply offset to outer lines only [108] – Select this option if the entered Offset should only be applied to the outer lines around the imposition.
• Reference Point [109] – Use this option to define the edge on which the lines should be created.
• Vertical Line – This option determines whether Vertical Lines should single or double.
• Vertical Intermediate – By activating this option, the Vertical Lines per column are also created between Print Items.
• Horizontal Line – In this drop-down menu, as with Vertical Lines, you can specify whether the Horizontal Lines should be single or double. The gear symbol allows you to customize the Line(s) (see Figure 49).
• Horizontal Intermediate – Activating this option generates Lines based on the imposed Print Items. Using the gear symbols [113] user-defined line shapes can be created for Horizontal and Vertical Lines. The following options are available in the Line Definition dialog:
  • Definition Stripes [114]: Fotoba Marks consist of white or black lines. When defining a Line, a white stripe is used as a starting point. The following stripes will then be created alternating in black and white. The amount of Lines you create is up to you.
  • Total Width [115]: The total width for the line is the sum of all stripes used for the Line.
  • Preview: In the preview you can see how the Line will look.
• Horizontal Line Length – The Horizontal Line Length can be changed in this drop-down menu. The lines can optionally be placed over the entire width of the Artboard.

Figure 49: The Line Definition dialog for creating user-defined Line shapes.

• Sensor Mark [110] – In this area, optional Sensor Marks which are applied to the full height of the sheet, can be added on the left or right edge of the imposition. You can set the following parameters for Sensor Marks:
  • Sheet Offset: This determines the Offset of the Sensor Mark from the sheet. You can configure the appearance of the Sensor Marks using the gear symbol next to it.
  • Number of Knives [111]: By entering the Number of Knives, you can determine how many knives are used in the cutter. Note that, the number of knives entered has an effect on the imposition to be created.
  • Overwrite Impose Settings [112]: In the Settings drop-down area in Step & Repeat Mode you can define the number of columns and rows the imposition should have. The value entered for columns can be overwritten by activating this option, because the number of columns must be one greater than the number of columns in the imposition. If this option is deactivated, the number of blades has no effect on the number of columns selected in the Step & Repeat settings.

As soon as the Manual Mode is opened or switched to, with a Fotoba Cutter selected, a warning will appear in the Impose Editor. This warning is also displayed in the Sheet Configuration Warnings:

Since the Fotoba Cutter needs a grid to cut the job correctly, there are automatically limitations set in the Impose Editor. Specific combinations may flag the warning and will warn the user that the Fotoba Cutter cannot be used in this case. The following restrictions may appear:

In Manual Mode, using a Fotoba Cutter is not advisable as there is no guarantee that a grid with consistent dimensions has been created. There is a possibility if only one Print Item is used, the Fotoba Cutter may work in this mode.

Settings which determine the imposition layout: If Step & Repeat Mode is used in conjunction with a Fotoba Cutter and the option Override Impose Settings [112] (Figure 48) is disabled, a warning appears:

If Step & Repeat Mode is used in conjunction with a Fotoba Cutter and the Override Impose Settings option [112] (Figure 49) is enabled, a warning will appear:

As a general rule, either the Impose Grid Settings or the settings from the Fotoba Cutter should provide the final parameters. In this case, the operator must decide whether the Impose Grid Settings or the Cutter Parameters Set are correct for the imposition.

Column Spacing: If the spacing between Print Items has been defined when using Step & Repeat Mode, after selecting a Fotoba Cutter, the spacing is defined using the Marks that are generated. Changing the column spacing in the Step & Repeat Grid Settings will therefore have no effect as long as the Fotoba Cutter remains selected.

The exact same restrictions apply for Nesting Mode as they do in Step & Repeat. Furthermore, certain Nesting options have additional restrictions. Once a Fotoba Cutter is used in a Nesting, it is important to ensure that all Print Items have the same rotation (0° or 90°). Otherwise consistent grid size cannot be guaranteed. If a different rotation is applied, the following warning is displayed:

In Tiling Mode, Fotoba Marks are created per Tile. Optionally, you can split the Tiling into individual Tiles when you save it, which allows the individual Tiles to be reassembled and where Fotoba Marks can be added in a further step.

Placeholder text

Until now, it was only possible to add a Dieline to quadratic shapes in a PDF. With the Create Bleed on Irregular Shape Fixup, a Bleed can be added to an irregular shape using pixel sampling. Specify the Offset to determine which pixels are used to sample and create the Dieline.

To add a Bleed to a design with an irregular Dieline, follow these steps:

1. Upload the print file as an Article or as a Print Item into the Workflow.
2. If you take a look at the Print Item, you will notice that the required Bleed, see the item on the left in the illustration below, is missing.
3. Check whether a Dieline exists for the Print Item. If it is missing, you can create a Dieline by applying the Add a Dieline to Irregular Shapes Fixup.

Figure 50: Left: An irregular shape with the Bleed missing. Right: An irregular shape with the Bleed added.

4. If there is a Dieline, you can use the Fixup Create Bleed on Irregular Shape from the Add Bleed Fixup group in Print Item view.
5. The following parameters are available for the Create Bleed on Irregular Shape dialog:
   • Do not consider [116]: Select the Spot Color that should not be used to generate the Bleed. For example: If you want to create the Bleed based on the Dieline, select the Technical Color of the Dieline, so that it is not mirrored.
   • Required Bleed [117]: Here you can enter the required Bleed. The size of the Bleed created is based on the entered value and the BleedBox is set to this position based on the TrimBox.
   • Offset [118]: Determines which pixel is sampled.
6. Enter your settings as needed and click on the Apply to Selection button. After a few seconds, you should see the final result. The result should look like the one shown in the illustration in Figure 50.

Figure 51: The Create Bleed on Irregular Shape dialog.

As previously described in section 2.10 User Unit (Scale Factor), this Fixup is used to upscale print data which was created with a specific scaling factor in mind to the TrimBox ( Production Format. For all versions of the Workflow, this Fixup can be applied in the Print Item view in the footer of the information area Document Information and User-defined Fields.

Figure 52: The Set Scale Factor dialog.

With this Fixup an additional unprinted area can be added to the existing Bleed, this is based on the TrimBox.

Figure 53: The Add Edge Reinforcement dialog.

The Remove Spot Color Fixup is available for all licenses under the Spot Color Tools drop-down menu at the bottom of the Spot Colors panel in Print Item view. Use this Fixup to remove all objects that contains the specified Spot Color.

Figure 54: The Remove Spot Color dialog.

If this Fixup is used in a Fixup Chain, it is possible to delete up to five Spot Colors simultaneously.

Figure 55: The Remove Spot Color dialog allows the user to remove up to 5 Spot Colors when used in a Fixup Chain.

The Rename Spot Color Fixup can be located under the Data Preparation tab and when using Fixup Chains. This Fixup can be used to rename a Spot Color.

Figure 56: The Rename Spot Color dialog.

The Fixup Redraw DieLine of the TrimBox can be applied under the Data Preparation tab and when using Fixup Chains. Use this Fixup if you want to add a Corner Radius to the existing Dieline for example or if you want to move the existing Dieline and replace it with a new one.

Figure 57: The Redraw DieLine of the TrimBox dialog.

Figure 58: Top: A new Dieline is created for a Label with square Dieline. Bottom: Label with a Corner Radius added and a stronger contour line.

The Fixup Derive a Dieline from Spot Color can be applied under the Data Preparation tab and when using Fixup Chains. Use this Fixup to either offset an existing Dieline for example, or to create a new Dieline from an object that has been defined using a Spot Color.

Figure 59: The Derive a Dieline from Spot Color dialog.

By applying this Fixup, the area defined using the Spot Color is traced and replaced by a contour. This procedure is illustrated using the following example.

Figure 60: Top: Dieline created as an area. Bottom: The Dieline is derived as a path from the defined area.

The Downsample and/or Compress Images Fixup can be applied under the Data Preparation tab and when using Fixup Chains. Use this Fixup to reduce the resolution of images in a print file or to change the sampling type. The read/write speeds for storing and copying print files to other systems can be improved significantly.

Figure 61: The Downsample and/or Compress Images dialog.

Existing Fixups have been updated and improvements have been made to the user interface.

The option Create Bleed behind existing page content [119] has been added to the Fixup Create bleed by Mirroring. Activating this option places the generated Bleed behind the existing Bleed, therefore keeping it visible. If this option is deactivated, the generated Bleed is placed in the foreground, therefore covering any existing Bleed.

Figure 62: The Create Bleed by Mirroring dialog showing the new Create Bleed behind existing page content option.

In the Rotate and/or Mirror Page Fixup, the options Rotate by 90° increments [120] and Flip Page [121] can now be activated and applied independently from each other.

Figure 63: The Rotate and/or Mirror Page dialog showing additional options.

The Convert Registration Color Fixup was previously only able to convert Registration Colors to CMYK black or 100% gray. Now Registration Colors can be converted to Spot Color Black (Separation Black) [122]. This allows users to defined areas that have been colored this way by the graphic designer, which is now output via a DeviceN color value.

Figure 64: The Convert Registration Color dialog with a new option, Spot Color Black.

To meet the majority of requirements needed by the large format industry, the following functions have been added to the Fixup Add Finishing:

• Scale [123]: The TrimBox size can now be entered as a numeric value (available previously) or as a percentage.
• Add Welding Lines [124]: A Welding Line can be added to the Print Item.
• Add Bleed by Mirroring [125]: A Bleed can be added using previously offered options. An existing Bleed can also be removed by activating the option Remove existing Bleed [126].

Figure 65: The Add Finishing dialog with a host of new options.

The Add a Dieline from the Center Fixup has a new layout now as well as access to system-wide Spot Colors when selecting a Spot Color name [127].

Figure 66: The Add a Dieline from the Center dialog.

regarding Fixups that use either White or Varnish, the name of the Spot Color [128] no longer needs to be entered manually; the user can now select White from the drop-down list of System-wide Spot Colors.

Figure 67: The Fill a Shape with »White« or »Varnish« dialog.

Previously, the Pre-Linearization was applied to all colors. Staring with version 1.7.7, only Process Colors are taken into account during the Pre-Linearization step. Light colors remain unaffected by Pre-Linearization. This change has made it possible to achieve a wider application of light inks in light areas, which significantly reduces graininess in printouts.

In the Linearization profiling step, changes have been made to the Ink Limit calculation and handling of G7 and L* has been standardized.

During Linearization, the Ink Limit for both CMY and gamut-enhancing colors are based on the highest Chroma value detected. For Black, the limit is determined based on the L-value. With the new calculation method, the highest chroma value detected is now used instead of the previous highest last.

With version 1.7.7 a type of calibration chart has been developed which can be used to map both Linearization methods: L* linearization in accordance with the ISO 20654 standard as well as G7. With this chart update, the user does not have to decide beforehand whether he wants to calculate the linearization with G7 or L*.

Figure 68: The updated Linearization chart.

With version 1.7.7, G7 Linearization can now also be used for printing systems with additional gamut-enhancing colors. CMYK Process Colors are linearized according to the G7 method, gamut-enhancing colors: Orange, Violet, Red, Blue and Green, are linearized according to L*.

These new calibration charts are available with version 1.7.7 for all measurement devices supported by the Workflow with a maximum size of A4.

Up until version 1.7.7 Spot Colors for output were converted by default under the premise that the colors should be preserved and printed as accurately as possible. As a result, PANTONE Cool Gray 3, for example, was separated mainly using Black with small portions of CMY. With printing systems that only used CMYK and no light colors, this would lead to graininess in the Spot Colors when printed. If light colors were used in the printing system, the printing result was not significantly improved because only a small percentage of under-colors were used in the separation for that Spot Color.

With version 1.7.7, the user can now specify per Substrate Profile with which BlackStart should be used when calculating the separation values for Spot Colors. To set the BlackStart for Spot Color calculation, you only need to set the desired percentage value for the BlackStart [130] in the new Spot Colors tab of the Calculate Substrate Profiles step.

The value that is suggested as a default percentage for the BlackStart corresponds to the value that was set for the BlackStart in the selected Reseparation template [129]. The BlackStart percentage determines the value where only CMY and no black is used for separation. Beyond this value the Workflow will try to separate the hue with as much black as possible.

Figure 69: The new Spot Color tab of the Calculate Substrate Profiles dialog.

Before version 1.7.7, a user could check the accuracy of the printer regarding color reproduction by printing and calibrating a calibration chart. If no errors were displayed in the Analyze dialog in the Measurement Result tab, the printing system could still ensure color reproduction within a defined tolerance. If there is too much deviation from the original values, you could detect these deviations in the measurement results, but you could not change or adjust the current Profiles to amend these problems.

With version 1.7.7, the possibility to Re-profile a printing system has now been implemented. In order to make this possible, all calibration charts for Re-profiling have been revised and Re-profiling charts for all supported measurement devices in the Workflow have been made available.

Re-profiling is relevant for different use-case scenarios such as:

• Checking the printing system regarding color reproduction and consistency.
• Creating Profiles for »similar« Substrates on the same printer.
• Profiling the same Substrate on another printer.

Depending on the use-case scenario that fits your needs follow these steps.

To check the printing system regarding color reproduction based on previously created Profiles, proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu item Color > Color Setup. The Color Setup list is displayed.
2. Find the desired Color Setup and open it by double-clicking on the entry in the list.
3. Select the Re-Profile tab [131].
4. The first step is to print the calibration chart using the Print step button [132]. The chart will be printed without using the Substrate Profile, i.e. only calibrated, because when checking a printing system, the Substrate Profile is checked based on the calibrated printer.
5. Then measure the calibration chart using the Measure step button [133]. When Re-Profiling, also keep the normal time interval until the chart is measured.

Figure 70: The Color Setup dialog with the Re-Profile tab selected.

6. If you click Next after measuring, you will jump to the next step called Analyze [134] and the Measure Results tab of the Analyze Re-Profiling dialog are displayed.
7. If the values fall within the expected Tolerance [136], the statement »Passed, Print in tolerance« is displayed and no further steps need to be taken.

Figure 71: The Analyze dialog with the Measure Results tab selected.

8. If certain values are slightly outside the expected tolerance, Re-Profiling must be carried out. If the values are far outside the expected tolerance, either the printing system, the Substrate or environmental conditions have changed so much (for a myriad of reasons), it is advisable to create a completely new Color Setup from scratch, so that the ∆E00 values make sense and color correction can be carried out as quickly as possible.
9. If the values are slightly out of tolerance, click on Next [137], which jumps to the next step titled, Calculate Re-Profiling Profile.
10. The measurement results are displayed again. To create the corrected Color Setup, press the Calculate button. After the calculation the corrected Color Setup is available. It only describes the correction that is made to the Substrate Profile and does not change the Substrate Profile itself.
11. The next time a Production Job is rendered, the corrected Color Setup is applied to the print data after the conversion of the print data into the Substrate Profile. Color reproduction should then be much better and the tolerance should be within the expected range.

If you want to use a new Substrate for production on the same printing system and you think that the Substrate will only slightly differ from the currently used Substrate Profile, you can profile the new Substrate very quickly. Proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu item Administration > Substrate and create the new Substrate and Substrate Definition for the desired Substrate Category. You can find more information on this in the article Create a new Substrate.
2. Choose the menu item Color > Color Setup and select the Color Setup that should be adjusted to the new Substrate you've just added.
3. Select the Color Setup and select Duplicate in the action bar. The Copy Color Setup dialog is displayed.

Figure 72: The Copy Color Setup dialog.

4. Press OK [138], which duplicates the Color Setup and creates a Color Setup with the same name and values + (Copy 1) at the end of the Color Setup name.
5. Select the duplicated Color Setup in the list and then select Edit in the action bar. This opens the Edit Color Setup dialog.

Figure 73: The Edit Color Setup dialog.

6. In the Edit Color Setup dialog, you should select the new Substrate [139] that you created previously and click Save [140].
7. Open the duplicated Color Setup and select the step Re-Profile.
8. Now repeat the process you followed for Checking the printing system regarding color reproduction and consistency again.

If the Analyze step of the Re-Profiling shows that the Substrate is within expected tolerances and can therefore be used with the same Substrate Profile, your assumption has been confirmed. If the expected tolerances have been slightly exceeded, you can create a correction profile to complete the profiling for the new Substrate in one step.

Re-Profiling helps maintain the same quality in color reproduction across Substrates on the same printing system as quickly as possible.

If you want to Profile a Substrate on two or more printing systems, possibly of the same type and ink configuration, you can perform this very quickly using Re-Profile. If the printing systems are very different and use very different inks, Re-Profiling can at least allow for quicker adjustment of colors. Whether or not everything falls within expected tolerances is, as previously described, very much dependent on the environmental parameters of the printing system and the ink itself.

To use a Substrate for production on another printing system, proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu item Color > Color Setup and in the Color Setup List, select the Color Setup that should be adapted for the Substrate on the new printing system.
2. Select the Color Setup and Duplicate it in the action bar. The Copy Color Setup dialog is displayed. Press OK, which duplicates the Color Setup, which creates a Color Setup with the same name and values + (Copy 1) on the end of the name.
3. Select the duplicated Color Setup and select Edit in the action bar. This opens the Edit Color Setup dialog.

Figure 74: The Edit Color Setup dialog.

4. In the Edit Color Setup dialog you should change the Printer [141] and in some cases also the Print Configuration [142].
5. Press Save [143].
6. As the second printing system may differ from the original one in age and condition, you should complete the Linearization steps for the printer by printing the calibration chart, measuring the chart and recalculating the Linearization profile before you run the Re-Profiling step. When this is complete you have completed the calibration of the printer by completing a type of Linearization. The Substrate Profile was created for the output printer based on a calibrated printer, which means that the Substrate Profile should in theory be correct.
7. In order to evaluate the new Profile, you should run through the process again, which was previously described in Checking the printing system regarding color reproduction and consistency.

If the analysis of the Re-Profiling shows that the Substrate is within the expected tolerance, the same Substrate Profile can be used on the second printing system, combined with a Re-Linearization. If the tolerances are slightly exceeded, you can create a correction profile to ensure or at least significantly improve the profiling for the Substrate on the second printer in an additional step.

Re-profiling helps guarantee the same quality in color reproduction for Substrates across printing systems as quickly as possible.

• Controllers have been renamed
• Mandatory attributes for creating Customer requests were added
  • (Customer Company Controller, Customer Individual Controller)
• Attributes changed in the Fixup »Convert pure black to rich black«
  • Objecttype changed to FilterByObjecttype
  • (Fixup Controller Api)
• GET /api/v1/printOrderItems/{id} is obsolete and has been replaced by: GET /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}
• (Print Order Item Controller Api)

POST /api/v1/printOrders/create

Create Orders (complete Orders including Order Items & Print Items)

PUT /api/v1/printOrders/{id}

Edi Orders (changes the metadata of Orders)

DELETE /api/v1/printOrders/{id}

Delete Orders (deletes the entire Order with all links – recovery is not possible after this action is complete)

POST /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/create

Creates Order Items in an Order

PUT /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}

Edits metadata of an Order Item

DELETE /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}

Deletes Order Items (deletes the entire Order Item including all Print Items – recovery is not possible after this action is complete)

POST /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}/motifs/create

Creates Print Items in an Order Item

PUT /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}/motifs/{motifId}

Edits the metadata of a Print Item. Print Items cannot be replaced using this request. To do this, the Print Item must be deleted and uploaded again.

DELETE /api/v1/printOrders/{id}/printOrderItems/{printOrderItemId}/motifs/{motifId}

Deletes Print Items (restoring Print Items is not possible)

POST /api/v1/substrateCategories/create

Creates Substrate Categories

PUT /api/v1/substrateCategories/{id}

Edits Substrate Categories

POST /api/v1/substrateCategories/{id}/substrates/create

Creates Substrates

PUT /api/v1/SubstratKategorien/{id}/Substrat/Substrat/Substrat/{substrateId}

Edits Substrates

POST /api/v1/substrateCategories/{id}/substrates/{substrateId}/substrateShapes/create

Creates Substrate Definitions

PUT /api/v1/SubstratKategorien/{id}/Substrate/SubstratFormen/{substrateId}/substrateShapes/{substrateShapeId}

Edits Substrate Definitions

This function calculates the optimum batch size (number of pages of a multi-page PDF) for the Production Job to be processed simultaneously per RIP instance. This option is especially important for VDP jobs and multi-page PDF files. By default the Default Batch Size [144] is 50 pages. However, the optimal Batch Size for a Production Job is calculated again at runtime each time the RIP is applied:

• S = Number of pages to be processed (e.g.: a multi-page PDF with 10,000 pages)
• I = Number of available Render Instances (e.g.: 4 RIP instances are available by default; additional RIP instances can be purchased through your Durst representative)
• B = Default Render Batch Size (e.g.: 50 is the default value)

The Render Batch Size used when the RIP is applied is calculated dynamically depending on the current settings available. Render Batch Size for example could be calculated as follows:

Example 1: S (10,000) / I (4) = 2,500 | 2,500 is larger than B, which means the value in B (50) is used as the Batch Size. A 10,000 page document is therefore divided into 200 batches (10,000 / 50), which are calculated in parallel on four RIP instances one after the other.

Example 2: S (10) / I (4) = 2.5 | 2.5 is smaller than B, whereby the value 3 is used as the Batch Size. A 10-page document is therefore divided into 3 batches (10 / 3), which are then calculated in parallel.

Figure 75: The RIP Settings panel under the General tab of the Settings menu item.

With the RIP Performance option [145], you can switch between rendering a single production job faster or rendering multiple production jobs in parallel.

• Render a single Production Job faster – Single Production Jobs can be rendered faster because the separations on the available RIP instances are processed in parallel. If additional RIP instances are available, they will be used for parallel processing of upcoming print jobs.
• Render multiple Jobs in parallel – Multiple Production Jobs can be rendered in parallel, where one RIP instance from the number of available RIP instances is used for each individual Production Job.

If the Workflow has only 4 RIP instances, you must decide whether to use the available RIP power to render Production Jobs in parallel or to render individual Production Jobs faster.

By activating the function Create Render Files Locally [146] job separations are generated locally first before they are copied to the destination folder on the printer. If this option is deactivated, separations are rendered directly to the destination folder on the printer.

The Loupe function in Articles or the Print Item preview has been revised so that a high-resolution preview image is displayed. Zoom in and out by scrolling with the mouse.

Print files that are loaded into the Workflow are checked by a Preflight. This check provides metadata such as: document size, color working space, Spot Colors, etc. and on the other hand, objects contained in the pdf are checked for errors. The Preflight results are displayed as metadata in the Print Item view and as Warnings and Errors in the Preflight results dialog.

You can open the Preflight results dialog by clicking the Show Warnings or Show Errors icons in the header of the Document Information and User-defined Fields panel. Errors and warnings are displayed each on a separate tab.

With version 1.7.7, states that cannot be repaired were classified as errors in the Preflight profile and states that can possibly be repaired by existing Fixups were marked as warnings. The user interface for the Preflight results dialog has been cleaned up a bit and the descriptions of the errors and warnings have been made clearer.

Figure 77: The overhauled Preflight results dialog.

As of version 1.7.7, Push Color [148] can be activated in the Print Configuration for printers that support this option. Please note that Print Configurations with and without the PushColor option enabled must be profiled separately, as this drastically changes the dynamic range.

Figure 78: The new Push Color option, available in the Add Print Configuration dialog.

If a Production Job has Push Color activated and is sent to the printer, the command »PRT BCP = PC« is written into the job ticket. Using this command, the printer software (only when this option is supported by the printer software) will automatically preselect the correct settings when printing the job.

Starting with version 1.7.7, two types of additional information about the Production Job are written into the LFP/CPD Job Ticket. Both the applied DeviceN Color Correction: ID and name and the Name of the Production job are now written into the job ticket.

• DeviceN Color Correction – If a DeviceN Color Correction has been applied when sending to the printer, the Name and also the ID of the correction will be written into the Job Ticket. The corresponding parameters in the Job Ticket are:
  • WF_CMT=<Name> (<ID>)
  • WF DEVICEN_COLOR_CORRECTION.ID=<ID>
  • WF DEVICEN.COLOR_CORRECTION.NAME=<Name>
• Production Job Name – When sending to the printer, all special characters and spaces in the Production Job Name were previously removed for compatibility reasons. This led to confusion in the past. From this version on, the name of the Production Job is written into a separate Job Ticket parameter so that it can be read and displayed by the printer software. The corresponding parameters in the Job Ticket are:
  • DPT JOBNAME=<OriginalJobName>_<ID>_<RenderSequence>_<Page number>
  • Example: Watts Water Pressure Valve TB_228_1_p1

Display of multi-page jobs in the printer software: If a Production Job with multiple pages is sent to the printer, individual pages are displayed on the printer side in the correct order. For this purpose, a suffix has been added to the job name. For example: p001, p002, ... p100, p101, ...

Define the order of User-defined Fields: User-defined Fields can be created and managed in the Workflow for several versions now. The order in which the User-defined Fields are displayed in the Workflow can be defined when creating or editing them. In this version, the user interface for changing the sequence has been revised and restructured.

The ADMIN User Role can no longer be edited: Since version 1.7.7 the »ADMIN« User Role can no longer be edited. This Role is still available when creating a new User. This role always contains full authorization and cannot be edited.

Display of the Substrate for Substrate-specific Spot Colors: The corresponding Substrate is also displayed in the Substrate-specific Spot Colors list.

Display of the internal ID for Impose Templates, Print Configurations, Printers: The corresponding internal ID is now also displayed for Impose Templates, Print Configurations and Printers. This enables unique identification of all elements.

Multi editing items in the Collection List: Several selected items within a Collection can be edited or deleted at the same time in the Collection List.

Editing multiple Article Tags: In the Article List, several Articles can be selected and edited. When editing, the Tags can now also be defined or edited.

Editing Winding Types for multiple Articles: In the Article List, several Articles can be selected and edited. When editing, the Winding Type can also be set.

Printer Color Configurations: The drag & drop function when adding Color Configurations to a printer has been removed with this version. Instead, there is now a drop-down selection menu with all possible color configurations based on the existing Print Color Configuration.

Measurement Results in Workflow: The way that Measurement Results are displayed in all profiling steps has been revised. Particularly the statistical values were revised and the design was adapted.

Save Imposition Dialog: The Save Imposition dialog design has been updated in the course of this version. You can also decide on an individual basis for each Article or Print Item whether the reference to the source file (Article or Print Item) is retained or whether the reference is split and a copy of the file is created in the Production Job.

HTTPs support in the Impose Editor: The Impose Editor can be opened and used in an HTTPs environment.

Improved Printed Overlap visualisation in Tiling: In Tiling, the Printed Overlap can be defined separately for each Tile. This dialog for setting the Printed Overlap per Tile has been revised. The dialog is scrollable depending on the number of Tiles. You can see individual values for each Tile and the default value for the entire Tiling.

Rotation of Bleed in Manual Mode: When rotating a Print Item or Article in Manual Mode, the Bleed is currently rotated with the Print Item. For example: The Bleed »Top« is 10mm. After rotating by 90°, the 10mm Bleed is on the »Right« side of the Print Item. This Bleed is still the Bleed on the »Top«side.

Maintain applied rotation when replacing Print Items: When a Print Item is replaced in Manual Mode, the current rotation of the Print Item being replaced is retained.

Improvement to the »Trim to Height/Width« function: The »Trim to Width« and »Trim to Height« function has been improved in Manual Mode. The sheet is now enlarged or reduced in all directions (top, right, bottom & left) when this function is executed.

Measure Tool now supports all available units: The Measure Tool now supports all available units of measurement, which can be set in the Workflow under Administration > Settings > Display Options.