In this article, you will learn about
- which functions are available in the operation,
- for which tasks you should use this operation, as well as
- the application of a practical example.
1. Introduction
As described in the article Creating a Production Configuration, one can add various operations to a Production Configuration. This article describes the requirements and options offered in the operation Check-in Artwork and Normalize Print Data.
The operation Check-in Artwork and Normalize Print Data is inserted first in Production Configurations that map an entire process from uploading print data to Workflow to output. Whether or not you need to use this operation can be determined as follows:
- If there's print data present that needs to be checked into the Workflow, the operation must be added to the Production Configuration.This is the case if you want to upload print data to the Workflow via a Hotfolder or via the Quick Print menu item. Not using the process would result in an error for the Automation Job.
- If you want to apply a Production Configuration to print data that is already in the Workflow as Print Items or Articles, the operation is not necessary because the print data has already been checked-in and normalized in an earlier step. If the operation is still in a Production Configuration, this will not cause an error because the operation is skipped in this case.
2. Functionality
The main function of the Check-in Artwork and Normalize operation is to apply a Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates [1] to the print data that is uploaded into the Workflow. This checks the print file for defined requirements and applies the appropriate normalization Fixups.
The goal of this task is to reach a normalized and optimized state of the print data for production. Based on this state the user can add necessary add-ons for production and start the approval process for the artwork.
2.1. Establish Operation
After adding the Operation Check-in Artwork and Normalize, the desired parameters for the Production Configuration must be selected.
Figure 1: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the Check-in Artwork and Normalize operation selected
The following options are available for configuring the operation:
- Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template [1] – use the drop-down menu to select the template that should be applied when the print data is uploaded. The template's comment [2] is displayed below.
-
Name [3] – determine how the Print Item name should be displayed in the Workflow by clicking Insert Placeholder [4]. The File Name placeholder inserted by default ensures that the Print Item name is synchronized with the file name of the print file.
Note: Click Edit [7] if you want to add text in addition to the placeholders. - Check first page only [5] – by activating this option, only the first page of a multipage print file is checked. This only speeds up the check-in operation when dealing with multipage documents. The print file is still normalized.
- Preflight only (no correction) [6] – selecting this option will only preflight the print file, skipping the normalization step.
Notes on the options "Preflight the first page only" and "Check only (no correction)"
Activate the Preflight the first page only option if you want to process large volumes of multipage print data automatically. Make sure that the first page is no different from the following pages concerning the criteria that should be checked. This is particularly the case with variable print data when only the barcode or serial number on the following pages changes.
Activate the Check Only (no correction) option if the print data originates from upstream processes that have already applied the normalization step to the print data in some other way. When activating this option, you must be sure that all normalization conditions have been correctly mapped in the print data and that the corresponding mapping of Spot Colors is correctly set up in the Workflow.
Activate both options if you do not want the Workflow to change variable print data that has already been normalized and optimized in upstream processes in any way. Possible problems when outputting the print data should be investigate in the upstream processes!
2.2. Placeholders for Print Item Names
Clicking on the Insert Placeholder [4] button (Figure 1) opens the Select Placeholder dialog with the available placeholders for the Print Item name.
The following placeholders are available:
Figure 2: The Select Placeholder dialog for dynamic naming of the Print Item name
Useful placeholder configurations
The variety of placeholders does not make it easier for the user. We would like to show you some useful placeholder configurations below:
-
${global.random_guid}– generates a Print Item name with a unique number e.g. a3328987-ac65-4a48-a29d-82c89ee1d471 -
${factory_job.file_ref.plain_name}– generates a Print Item name that is the same as the file name but without the file extension e.g. Inaccurate_TrimBox_End -
${global.random_guid} | ${factory_job.file_ref.name}– generates a Print Item name consisting of a unique number and the current file name with file extension e.g. a3328987-ac65-4a48-a29d-82c89ee1d471 | Banner.pdf -
${factory_job.file_ref.plain_name} #${factory_job.quantity}– generates a Print Item name that is the same as the file name but without the file extension, followed by the number of copies e.g. Inaccurate_TrimBox_End #30
3. Application Example
In the following example, print data should be uploaded via Quick Print in the Workflow and all Print Items with a defined pattern for the Print Item name should be stored together in a Production Job. To reproduce this scenario a Production Configuration with two Operations – Check In and Normalize Print Data, followed by Create Production Job and Imposition – must be created in the defined order. To do this, proceed as follows:
- Select the Automation > Production Configuration menu item.
- Create a new Production Configuration. For information on how to do this, refer to the article Creating a Production Configuration.
- In the General [9] tab, enter a name for the Production Configuration and then switch to the Operations [8] tab.
- First, add the Check-in Artwork and Normalize [10] operation to the Production Configuration.
- Select the Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates [12] Workflow Default Preflight and add the placeholders with free text as shown in the Names field [13]. Selecting the placeholders generates the Print Item name consisting of the file name, the current date and the name of the user e.g. MyFile 09.02.2025 (hps).
- Then add the Operation Create Production Job and Imposition [11] with the desired settings of the Production Configuration.
- Save the Production Configuration.
Figure 3: The Add Production Configuration dialog with the two operations required for the example
- Navigate to Automation > Quick Print.
- In the Quick Print [14] tab, add the desired files from your local computer via + Select Files [15]. Enter the desired number of copies for the individual Print Items in Quantity [18].
- Then select the previously created configuration from the drop-down list for Production Configuration [16] and activate the option Use Print Item Name from Operation "Check-in Artwork and Normalize" [17], so that the selected pattern is used for the Print Item name in the operation.
- Click Start [19] to start the Quick Print process.
Figure 4: The settings area of the Quick Print menu item
- In the now-open Quick Print dialog, check the settings.
- Click on Quick Print [20] to start the operation.
Figure 5: The Quick Print dialog for confirming the execution
- After a while – the processing may take some time depending on the computer system and Workflow workload – navigate to Production Jobs.
- Track the progress of the individual Automation Jobs either in the History Quick Print tab of the Automation > Quick Print menu item or via Automation > Automation Jobs.
- The created Production Job is displayed in the list of Production Jobs.
Figure 6: A detailed view of a Production Job with the three Print Items
Article update: Version 1.19.2 – 03/2025