The user interface for starting the Shape Nesting function has been revised. The button has been moved from the Artboard tab [4] to the Imposition Area, where it is now displayed prominently in the upper right corner of the Imposition Area [5].

Figure 3: The Imposition's surface with the Start Shape Nesting button

Up to version 1.18.2, only the same Print Item could be placed on an Imposition with a Shape Nesting optimization. Starting with this version, users can nest different Print Items with the same shape together in an optimized way.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Automation > Impose Editor.
2. Place the desired Print Items that have been prepared for Shape Nesting and have the same irregular shape on an Impose Sheet.
3. Open the Settings area [6] in the Artboard tab [4] (Figure 3).
4. Then select either Shape or Shape + Bleed in the Imposition based on option [7].
5. Click the Start Shape Nesting button [5].
6. The various Print Items are now arranged on the Imposition in a space-saving manner.

Figure 4: An Imposition optimized with Shape Nesting with different Print Item showing the same irregular shape

The Remove Sheet Duplicates function makes it possible to identify Impositions with an identical appearance in a Multipage Nesting. When optimizing a Nesting and afterward achieving lower substrate consumption, the algorithm may rearrange individual Impositions of a Multipage Nesting, even though they contain the same Print Items and the same number of Print Items.

Since the appearance in these cases is not identical, the activated option Remove Sheet Duplicates would remain ineffective. With version 1.18.2, the algorithm for detecting sheet duplicates has been improved, so that impositions with the same content – regardless of the layout in which they are arranged – are now also identified as sheet duplicates.

Starting with this version, Print Items on the Imposition that have been imposed with the Alternate Print Items option in Step & Repeat are automatically arranged and the Impose Sheet is filled in an optimized way.

• Print Items in the column are automatically centered if the Horiz. Auto [12] option is activated.
• The highest possible number of columns is created for the widest print item if the Column Auto [9] option is activated.
• The largest possible number of repetitions of the print item sequence is created for the repeat length if the Row Auto [10] option is activated.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Automation > Impose Editor.
2. Create an imposition in Step & Repeat mode or open the desired imposition.
3. Open the Artboard tab.
4. In the Grid Settings section, select the following options:
   • Blend Mode [8] – select the Rows entry.
   • Columns/Rows [9] [10] – check the Auto options for Columns and Rows.
   • One Print Item per Column/Row – check this option to display the Alternate Print Items option and ensure that only one print item is placed in each column/row.
5. Check the Alternate Print Items [12] option. The Print Items will now be displayed alternately by row and aligned to the placed number of the largest Print Item in the Imposition. Note that the Print Items are not yet displayed in a centered manner.
6. Activate the Horiz. Auto [14] option and the Print Items will now be horizontally centered. In case you want to distribute the Print Items vertically according to the fixed repeat height, activate Vert. Auto [13].

Figure 5: An Imposition in Step & Repeat Mode with alternated and centered Print Items

From this version onwards, users can refer to the following new features:

• Type "Automation Job" for a Production Job – Classification of the created Production Job of the type "Automation Job" to easier filter in the Production Job list.
• Additional placeholders – generate the Job Name, the External ID and add a Comment.

To add the placeholders, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Automation > Production Configuration.
2. Create the desired configuration or open an existing configuration.
3. In the Operations [48] tab, click on the Production Job [49] operation or add the operation by clicking on Add Operation [48].
4. Click on Add Placeholder [50] for the desired field Job Name, External ID, or Comment.

Figure 14: A Production Configuration with the Operation Create Production Job

5. In the Select Caption Placeholder dialog, select from the following placeholders:
   • Color Policy – The ID and Name of the Color Policy can be used.
   • Global – Global settings such as Random GUID, Current Time, and Current Date can be used.
   • Substrate – Select the Name of the substrate, External ID, and ID as placeholders.
   • Substrate Definition – The ID, Name, and External ID can be used as placeholders for the Substrate Definition.
   • Substrate Category – The Name of the Substrate Category can be used as a placeholder.
   • Impose Job – The Printed Area (Square Millimeters), Utilization Rate (Percent), Processing Time (ms), and Number of Copies can be used as placeholders for the Impose Job.
   • Production Job – Specify the Production Date, Production Time, Name, Internal Name, Ext. ID, Creation Time, Shipping Date, Number of Copies, and Consecutive Number per Day as placeholders.
   • Cutter Device – The Cutter Device Name and the Cut File Name can be specified.

Figure 15: The available caption placeholders for the Create Production Job operation.

In version 1.18.2, the same innovations were implemented for the Create Production Job and Impose operation as for the Create Production Job operation:

• Additional placeholders – The same placeholders are available as previously described for the Create Production Job operation.
• Type Automation Job for a Production Job – Classification of the created Production Job of the type Automation Job to easily filter the list of Production Jobs.

In version 1.18.2, the following new features are provided for the Impose operation:

• Calculating input fields – Basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) can be applied to selected input fields and it is possible to convert between different units of measurement (points, millimeters, centimeters, and inches). The following fields are included:
  • Height
  • Width
  • Roll Length
  • Horizontal Spacing
  • Vertical Spacing
• Postponing Print Items that have not been placed – Print Items that cannot be placed on an Impose Sheet when creating an Imposition will not be included in the Production Job when the Production Job is created. In this case, it does not matter whether it is the number of Print Items that can't be placed or the Print Item. Both the number of unplaced copies for the Print Item as well as the generally unplaced Print Items are then taken into account for the next Imposition and another Production Job is created.

A warning is displayed for Automation Jobs with more than 100 Print Items when Articles and Print Items as well as Production Schedulers are used, to alert users to possible errors. Users must confirm the dialog twice as soon as more than 100 should be processed.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to the desired Articles in the Article list.
2. Select ≥ 100 entries in the list.
3. Via Additional Functions > Create Automation Job, access the Create Automation Job dialog.
4. The message "Do you really want to process Number of Print Items Print Items" is displayed in the footer of the dialog. To start the operation, activate the Do you really want to process ≥ 100 Print Items? checkbox. The Execute command is only active after checking the box.
5. Click the Execute button to confirm the dialog and create the Automation Job.

Figure 16: The Create Automation Job dialog box with the new checkbox for processing more than 100 Print Items

As of version 1.18.2, the status of the Automation Job is displayed in the list of Automation Jobs. The following new features have been implemented in the list of Automation Jobs to immediately identify the status and its possible cause:

• Quick Filter [52] – The quick filters Processing, Success, and Error have been added to the action bar, providing information about the status of the respective Automation Job. By clicking on the respective area, filter for the affected jobs.
• Print Item Status [53] – The current status of the Print Item is displayed. The following status messages can appear:
  • Created – The Automation Job for the Print Item has been created.
  • Idle – The Automation Job for the Print Item is ready for processing. This is only possible if the Automation Job has been created and the respective Operation has been set to inactive in the system.
  • Processing – The Automation Job for the Print Item is currently being processed in an Operation.
  • User Interaction required – The Print Item has been stopped in an Operation due to a defined condition.
  • Success – The Print Item was able to pass through all defined steps of the Production Configuration.
  • Error – The Print Item cannot be processed.
  • Deleted – The Automation Job has been deleted.
• Status Information [54] – In the list view, the error source of the Automation Job and the error message that has occurred are displayed in the event of an error message.

Figure 17: The list of Automation Jobs with the revised user interface

From version 1.18.2, the process overview can be displayed for each Automation Job, showing the corresponding Workflow information and the corresponding links to the Print Item/Article and the Production Job.

Proceed as follows to identify the status of an Automation Job and to view the process overview:

1. Navigate to Automation > Automation Jobs.
2. Open the list of Automation Jobs.
3. As described above, a current status [55] is available for each Automation Job. The possible status entries are also described above.
4. To view the process overview for a specific Operation, click on the respective process step [56] in the footer of an Automation Job. This opens the Process Overview dialog with the selected process step.

Figure 18: The list of Automation Jobs with the status of each job

5. In the Process Overview dialog, in the left-hand column – Input [57] – the incoming entity of the Automation Job is visible. The following information is available here:
   • Entity – The source of the incoming file in the selected Operation is still a Print Item.
   • Name  – The name of the source with the associated link [58] to the source as in our example to the Print Item. By clicking on the link open the detail view of the current Print Item. Thereby e.g. apply Fixups to the Print Item or change the status.
   • Quantity – The number of copies used when the Automation Job was received.
6. In the right column – Output [59] – the following information is available:
   • Entity – The result after the Operation has been executed. In the case from Figure 19, a Production Job. Clicking on the link opens the Production Job. There, for example, change or optimize the Imposition.
   • Name – The name of the target of the selected Operation with the associated link [60] – in the example below to the Production Job.
   • Quantity – The number of copies for the generated Production Job.

Figure 19: The Process Overview with the option to jump to a Production Job

7. Error messages [61] are also displayed here very prominently.

Figure 20: The Process Overview dialog in the Automation Job for a Print Item that is too large to be imposed

Print Items that have been generated together via a Production Scheduler, a Quick Print, or manually from the Print Item list are grouped in a "bundle". To improve the display, a separate tab has been provided in version 1.18.1 in the menu Automation > Automation Jobs. This tab, named Bundle of Automation Jobs [62], has been revised in version 1.18.2.

Figure 21: The revised Bundle of Automation Jobs tab

The following information and functions are provided in the bundle of Automation Jobs tab:

• Quick Filter [63] – This function allows users to display bundles of Automation Jobs with the following statuses:
  • Completed – Filtering completed bundles of Automation Jobs.
  • In progress – Filtering bundles of Automation Jobs that are still in progress.
  • Error – Filtering bundles of Automation Jobs that have an error.
• Filter by origin [64] – Filtering bundles of Automation Jobs that have entered the Workflow via a specific entry point or have been created directly in the Workflow.
  • Created via API – The bundle of Automation Jobs was created by a leading system in the Workflow.
  • Created via Production Scheduler – The bundle of Automation Jobs was created in the Workflow with a Production Scheduler. It is not possible to determine whether the Production Scheduler was run manually or automatically.
  • Created via Article or Print Item List – The bundle of Automation Jobs was created manually in the Workflow by selecting Articles or Print Items in the respective lists.
  • Created via Quick Print – The bundle of Automation Jobs was created via the Quick Print in the Workflow.
• Update [65] – Use this to update the list of Automation Job bundles.
• Number of Bundles [66] – The number of currently filtered bundles is displayed here.
• List of Bundles [67] – Display of all filtered bundles of Automation Jobs. Clicking on the desired bundle displays the contents of the bundle next to it.
• Contents of the bundle – Display all Automation Jobs contained in the bundle.
  • The header of the area [68] – shows when and from which the bundle of Automation Jobs was generated.
  • For the individual Automation Job [71] – a Print Item Preview, the Name of the Automation Job, the status, and the Number of Copies for the Print Item are displayed.
• Control Options – Use these options to influence individual Automation Jobs:
  • Print Item Cancel Processing [62] – Cancel the processing of Automation Jobs to complete the processing of bundles.
  • Print Item Force Processing [69] – Restart the processing of the Print Item in the Automation Job.

The Crop Print Item to defined Size Fixup can be used to crop the Print Item to the defined size. You can also specify whether a Bleed should be maintained and whether overlapping information should be cropped. Optionally, a preview file for the cropped Print Item can be generated in the desired Color Space and file type, which is then stored in the Additional Files tab for the Print Item.

Use this Fixup to

• Crop Print Item to defined Size
• Create a Preview File for Print Items for defined Size

For a detailed description of this Fixup, see the Article Crop Print Item to defined Size.

Figure 29: The Fixup Crop Print Item to defined Size

This Fixup scales the page content to a specified size. The existing Bleed is adjusted according to the scaling.

In version 1.18.2, the following improvement was introduced:

• The default value for the Scale Method option [99] has been changed from "Stretch to fill" to "Fit from inside (Scale page edges proportionally). This makes the input of values more logical.

Figure 30: The dialog of the Fixup Scale Page Content

This Fixup removes all Print Marks (Crop Marks, Trim Marks, and Color Bars) that lie completely outside the TrimBox. The existence of a TrimBox or a Bleed Box is assumed.

The following improvement has been made in version 1.18.2:

• Print Marks outside a defined Page Box can be removed.

Figure 31: The Remove Print Marks Fixup dialog

With the check Vector is overprinting, various elements can now be excluded from the check by activating the following checkboxes:

• Exclude Spot Colors – All Spot Colors are excluded.
• Exclude Technical Colors – All Technical Colors defined in the Workflow are excluded.
• Exclude Spot Colors that are output as Separations – All Spot Colors that are output as Separations are excluded, e.g. (White, Varnish, Primer, etc.)
• Exclude Spot Color Names – Specific Spot Colors can be excluded.
• Spot Color Name (RegEx) – Use this input field to define a RegEx expression to exclude certain Spot Color Names.

Figure 32: The check Vector is overprinting in the Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates