In this article, you will learn
- where to find the function for adding a new Production Configuration and
- how to proceed when creating a Production Configuration.
1. General
In a Production Configuration, all the Operations required for a process step are added in the order needed to achieve the goal. Creating a Production Configuration is done in just a few steps:
- Go to Automation > Production Configurations.
- Create a new Production Configuration by clicking on Add [1].
Figure 1: The Production Configurations area
- In the open Add Production Configurations dialog, assign a Name for the configuration and add the required Operations in the desired order.
- In the last step, then select the parameters for each Operation.
- Once all configurations of operations are complete, click Save.
1.1. Available "Operations"
Operations are the basis of a Production Configuration. Depending on the license, the following Operations are available to the user:
- Operation "Check-in Artwork and Normalize" – this operation checks and normalizes print data that is uploaded to the Workflow. Depending on the selected Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template, the print file is found as an item in the Workflow with either the Normalized status or the Preflight status.
- Operation "Create Approval Project" – this operation is used to prepare Print Items, bundled as an Approval Project, for offline or online approvals. After the operation has been executed, the individual Print Item is found in the Workflow with the status Waiting for Approval.
- Operation "Apply Fixups" – this operation edits a Print Item based on the Fixups added in the Fixups. After the operation has been executed, the individual Print Item is checked again using the underlying Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates. Therefore, the Print Item can be found in the Workflow either in Normalized status or in Preflight status.
- Operation "Apply Fixup Chain" – this operation edits a Print Item based on the selected Fixup Chain. After the operation has been executed, the Single Print Item is checked again using the underlying Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates, which is why the Print Item can be found in the Workflow either in Normalized status or in Preflight status.
- Operation "Create Impose" – this operation is used to impose single or multiple Print Items together on a predefined Impose size. The resulting imposition is transferred to Production Job, which is why the Create Production Job operation must be selected as the subsequent operation for this operation.
- Operation "Split Print Item" – this operation is used to either convert a multipage Print Item into a single Print Item or to split it into individual pages, based on the selected rule.
- Operation "Prepare Print Item for Shape Nesting" – this operation is used to create a Shape Nesting path for the Print Item, based on the selected Technical Spot Color, which is then used as the basis for Shape Nesting.
- Operation "Update Print Item details" – this operation can be used to update the Print Item with additional metadata based on the selected options and to change the status of the Print Item.
- Operation "Create Production Job" – this operation can be used to migrate an Imposition that was created using the Create Imposition operation and create a Production Job based on the selected output options.
- Operation "Create Production Job and Impose" – this operation can be used to create one or more Production Jobs based on the selected Output Options. Optionally, an Imposition can also be created based on the selected Impose Mode and Impose Template.
- Operation "Check Status" – this operation can be used to check the status of a Print Item. If the status is not found for the Print Item as configured, decide who should be informed and how.
- Operation "Send to Printer" – this operation can be used to transfer a Production Job to the printer. Depending on the output form, it is possible to trigger a render or to only export a PDF.
1.2. Requirements
To successfully create and save functional Production Configurations, it is necessary to take certain precautions in advance in the Workflow. If you can answer the following questions with a clear Yes, you are ready to start creating a Production Configuration:
- Have I created and thoroughly tested all Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates for my planned Production Configurations?
- Have I created all Technical Colors that I want to use in production as system-wide defined Spot Colors with the corresponding Processing Steps?
- Have I saved all combinations of parameters in Fixups as Fixup Templates?
- Have I created and thoroughly tested all Fixup Chains for my planned Production Configurations?
- Have I set the default settings for generating Approval Reports in Administration > Settings > Reports as planned?
- Have I set Administration > Settings > Reports for online approval of Approval Projects?
- Have I created and thoroughly tested all Impose Templates for planned Impositions for the respective Impose Mode?
- Have I created and thoroughly tested all user-defined fields that are to be used for production variables?
- Have I linked all production variables to the corresponding user-defined fields?
- Have I saved all variants of output options as an Output Template in the Workflow?
2. Create Production Configuration
Click on the Add [1] button (Figure 1) in the action bar to create a new Production Configuration. In the Add Production Configuration dialog, individual Operations that need to be processed to produce the desired product must be added.
To create a Production Configuration for producing a poster, proceed as follows:
- Navigate to Automation > Production Configuration.
- Click on Add [1] (Figure 1).
- The Add Production Configuration dialog opens with the selected General [2] tab.
- Enter the Name [3] for the Production Configuration. Make sure that the name is unique so that you always know exactly what you intend to do with this Production Configuration later on.
- Optionally, add a Comment [4].
Figure 2: The General tab of the Production Configuration dialog
- Select the Operations tab [5] to configure the operations for the product that should be created.
- Use the Add Operation button [6] to add the operations that the Print Item should pass through to create the product. If the operations are added in an inappropriate order, they will be highlighted in red.
Figure 3: The Operations tab of the Production Configuration dialog at the beginning
- First add the operation Check-in Artwork and Normalize.
- In Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates [7] select the previously created check template for the desired product.
- Optionally, add those placeholders in Name [8] that you want to use to dynamically generate the Print Item name in the Workflow. The
${factory_job.file_ref.plain_name}template is used by default and uses the print file name as the Print Item name.
Figure 4: The Operations tab of the Production Configuration Add dialog with the Check-in Artwork and Normalize operation
- Next, add the Check Status operation to clarify whether or not the print file has passed the normalization process.
- To do this, select the status that you consider as normalized file in Print Item Status [9]. The status Normalized is a good starting point.
- In the Send Notification [10] option, determine the method that should be used for notification in the event of a failed status check. You have the option of receiving this notification by e-mail or as a notification to the workflow user in the workflow task notification center.
Figure 5: The Operations tab of the Production Configuration Add dialog with the Check Status operation
- Next, add the Apply Fixup Chain operation to add the required production add-ons and the Dieline for the poster.
- In the Fixup Chain [11], select the Fixup Chain that you want to use for poster production.
Figure 6: The Operations tab of the Production Configuration Add dialog with the Apply Fixup Chain operation.
- Next, add the Operation Create Production Job and Impose to achieve the final goal of producing imposed posters on a defined print sheet.
- In Job Name [12] add the placeholders that should be used to dynamically generate the job name for the Production Job in Workflow.
- Then select the desired Impose Mode [14] and the previously created Impose Template [15].
- Complete the configuration by selecting an already created Output Template in the Template [13] drop-down menu. If parts of the output template should be temporarily overwritten, click on Edit [16] and make the changes in the opened dialog.
Figure 7: The Operations tab of the Add Production Configuration dialog with the Create Production Job and Impose operation
- You have now completed the Production Configuration and can save it by clicking on Save [17].
Artikel update: Workflow Version 1.19.2 – 02/2025