User Manual – Durst

4.3 Apply a Fixup Chain

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In this article, you will learn

  • where Fixup Chains can be selected and applied in the Workflow,
  • how Fixup Chains can be applied to multiple Print Items, and
  • how to drive Fixup Chains in the Automation Environment.

1. Introduction

Fixup Chains can be selected and applied to Print Items in many areas in Workflow. However, this option is also available to external tools via a REST API call or an XML control file.

In Workflow, there are six areas where you can refer to Fixup Chains. These include

  • the application of a Fixup Chain when creating a Print Item/Article.
  • the application of a Fixup Chain to the selected Print Item in the Print Item detailed view.
  • the application of a Fixup Chain to several Articles/Print Items in the Article or Print Item list.
  • applying a Fixup Chain when executing an Automation Job, whereby this option is thus available in the context of a Hotfolder as well as Quick Print.
  • activating a Fixup Chain via an XML Job Ticket in connection with a Hotfolder.
  • activating a Fixup Chain via the API.

The individual options are described in detail below.

Creating Fixup Chains

To learn how to create Fixup Chains in Workflow, take a look at the Article Create a Fixup Chain.

2. Using Fixup Chains when Creating a Print Item/Article

Print data can be created as an Article or as a Print Item in the Workflow. If you already know which Fixup Chain should be applied to the print file after creating an Article or Print Item, already select the Fixup Chain at the point of uploading.

2.1. Creating an Article

Proceed as follows to create an Article and to select a Fixup Chain that should applied to it:

  1. Switch to Article > Article.
  2. Open the Add Article dialog by clicking Add in the action bar.
  3. Move the files you want to upload as an article to the drop zone [1].
  4. Select the Article [2] to which you want to apply a Fixup Chain. If you want to apply the same Fixup Chain to all uploaded Articles, select the first entry [3] in the Article line.
  5. Fill in the form with the required information and then select the desired entry in the Fixup Chain option [4].
  6. Click Save [5] to start the upload operation – this executes the normalization step, and then applies the Fixup Chain to the Article(s).

Figure 1: The Add Article dialog

2.2. Creating a Print Item

To create a Print Item in an Order or Production Job and select a Fixup Chain that should be applied to it, proceed as follows:

  1. Switch to Orders > Orders or Production Jobs > Production Jobs.
  2. Open the Add Order or Production Job dialog by clicking on Add in the action bar.
  3. Select the Print Items tab.
  4. Move the files you want to upload as a Print Item to the drop zone [6].
  5. Select the Print Item [7] to which you want to apply a Fixup Chain. If you want to apply the same Fixup Chain to all uploaded Print Items, first select the first entry [8] in the Print Item line.
  6. Fill in the entire form with the required information and then select the desired entry in the Fixup Chain option [9].
  7. Click Save [10] to generate the Order or Production Job, start the upload operation, execute the normalization step, and then apply the Fixup Chain to the Print Item(s).

Figure 2: The Add Production Job dialog

3. Apply Fixup Chain to Print Item in Print Item Detail View

The Print Item detail view is available in the Article, Order, and Production Job menus in the Print Data tab of the same name.

To apply a Fixup Chain to the currently selected Print Item, proceed as follows:

  1. Switch to Article, Order, or Production Job.
  2. In the list of Articles, Orders, or Production Jobs, click on the name of the Article, Job, or Production Job.
  3. This opens the Print Data tab [11] for the respective Article, Article, Job or Production Job, which automatically takes you to the Print Item detail view. The Print Item detail view is divided into different subject areas, where information and functions for different topics are offered.
  4. In case you have opened an Order or Production Job, select the desired Print Item to which you want to apply a Fixup Chain.
  5. In the footer bar [12] of the Document Information, Page Information and User-defined Fields topic areas, various Fixups, grouped into Fixup groups, are available for selection. In the last icon, Fixup Chains [13], in the footer bar, there is also the option of applying a Fixup Chain to the actively selected Print Item.
  6. Clicking on the Fixup Chains [13] symbol opens the Fixup Chain dialog.
  7. Select the desired Fixup Chain [14] that should be applied to the Print Item.
  8. Click on the Apply to Selection [15] button to apply the Fixup Chain to the Print Item.

Figure 3: The Print Data tab of an Article with the Apply Fixup Chain dialog

4. Apply Fixup Chain to Multiple Articles/Print Items

If a Fixup Chain is to be applied to several Articles or Print Items at the same time, this can be done in the Article or Print Item list as well as in the Print Item tab of an Order or Production Job.

4.1. In the List of Articles and Print Items

To apply a Fixup Chain to several Print Items, proceed as follows:

  1. Switch to the list of Articles or Print Items in Article > Articles or Orders > Print Items.
  2. If several Articles/Print Items are marked, refer to the Fixup Chain [16] command in the Fixups [17] drop-down menu.
  3. When you select Fixup Chain [17], the Fixup Chain dialog opens.
  4. Select the desired Fixup Chain [18] that you want to apply to the selected Print Items.
  5. Click on the Apply to Selection [19] button to apply the Fixup Chain to the selected Print Items.

Figure 4: The Article list of the Articles menu with the Apply Fixup Chain dialog

4.2. In the "Print Items" tab of an Order or Production Job

To apply a Fixup Chain to several Print Items in an Order or Production Job, proceed as follows:

  1. Switch to Orders > Orders or Production Jobs.
  2. Click on the Name of the Order or Production Job in the list of Orders or Production Jobs.
  3. This opens the Print Item tab [20] for the respective Order or Production Job, where the list of Print Items is displayed in the Print Item line.
  4. Then select the Print Items that should be edited in the Print Item line by activating the symbol [23]. If you want to select all Print Items in the Print Item line, click on the button [22].
  5. If several Print Items are marked, refer to the Fixups [21] menu for the Apply Fixup Chain [24] command.
  6. When you select Apply Fixup Chain [24], the Apply Fixup Chain dialog opens.
  7. Select the desired Fixup Chain [25] that should be applied to the selected Print Items.
  8. Clicking the Apply to Selection button [26] applies the Fixup Chain to the selected Print Items.

Figure 5: The Print Item tab of a Production Job showing the Print Items contained in the Production Job.

5. Use Fixup Chain in Operation "Apply Fixup Chain"

By using Production Configurations – create them in the Automation > Production Configuration menu – it is possible to represent the processing descriptions of a Print Item's necessary process in the Workflow. Production Configurations are used in the context of Quick Print and Hotfolder or for creating Automation Jobs. Thereby, the user can automate production in the broadest sense and avoid recurring operations.

To describe the Print Item's process in a Production Configuration, we use the Operations that perform the individual sub-steps of the process. The Apply Fixup Chain operation represents the process step that is used to e.g. prepare normalized print data for production with the necessary add-ons.

To create a Production Configuration with the Apply Fixup Chain operation, proceed as follows:

  1. Switch to Automation > Production Configuration.
  2. Click Add to create a new production configuration.
  3. Enter the Name and a Description of the Production Configuration in the General tab [28].
  4. Switch to the Operations tab [27] and add the desired operations in the desired order by clicking the symbol [29].
  5. Add the Apply Fixup Chain operation [30] and select the desired Fixup Chain in the Fixup Chain option [31].
  6. Complete the Production Configuration creation operation by pressing Save [32]. This Production Configuration is now available for Quick Print, in the Hotfolder and when creating Automation Jobs.

Figure 6: Left: The Production Configuration tab in the Automation menu; Right: The Add Production Configuration dialog

Creating Production Configurations

Please note that you can also create Production Configurations directly when creating a Quick Print or a Hotfolder. The configuration of the Apply Fixup Chain operation can also be carried out as described.

6. Accessing the Fixup Chain via the XML Job Ticket

In addition to the processing methods of Individual Files, Auto Nesting, ZIP Files and ZIP for Multiple Print Runs, the XML processing method is also available to the user when setting up a Hotfolder. By describing a Production Job in the form of an XML file, a Fixup Chain can also be provided with the help of the correct automationKeys and thus be applied to individual Print Items of the Production Job.

Example of a Job Ticket: Creating a Production Job with two Print Items, to which a specific Fixup Chain is applied individually.

<HotfolderJob>

<ProductionJob name="Production Job with 2 Items" externalId="EXT123" comment="A comment" leadIn="2" leadOut="3" shippingDate="2023-07-07" productionDate="2025-02-27">

<PrintItem name="Print Item 1" unit="inch" width="35.0" height="202.0" numberOfCopies="10" pages="1" url="smb://127.0.0.34/files/file1.pdf">

<FixupChain automationKey="THIS_IS_A_FIXUP_CHAIN"/>

</PrintItem>
<PrintItem name="Print Item 2" unit="mm" width="350.0" height="2020.0" numberOfCopies="20" pages="2" url="smb://127.0.0.34/files/file2.pdf">

<FixupChain automationKey="THIS_IS_ANOTHER_FIXUP_CHAIN"/>

</PrintItem>

</ProductionJob>

</HotfolderJob>

A detailed description of how to use Fixup Chains with the help of an XML job ticket can be found in the following article: Hotfolder – XML-Jobticket

Fixup Chains Not Fully Configurable

Note that although a Fixup Chain can be applied to the individual Print Items in an XML job ticket, the parameters with which the Fixup should be executed can only be configured to a limited extent. A Fixup Chain is always executed with the parameters that are stored in the Fixup Chain.

7. Access Fixup Chains via API

Another way to apply Fixup Chains to Print Items is to send a defined call to the {REST:API}. To do this, the REST call, which must be sent from a leading ERP/MIS system or middleware, must include the Print Item and the corresponding automationKey for the Fixup Chain. For a detailed description and an example of how to use Fixup Chains via the API, see the REST API documentation, in the Fixup subsection.

Artikel update: Workflow 1.19.2 – 03/2025

Previous Article 4.2 Create a Fixup Chain
Next Article 4.4 Export and Import Fixup Chains

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