In this article, you will learn
- how to submit an XML Job Ticket using a predefined Production Configuration, and
- how the configured processes are automatically applied during submission.
1. Introduction
The XML Job Ticket processes files based on Production Configurations.
A Production Configuration defines the sequence of Operations that a print file must complete, from a defined starting point to an optimized output. Production Configurations allow you to map the following tasks in production. The list below presents an excerpt of possible process steps:
- Normalizing artwork and notifying prepress team when problems occur.
- Splitting multipage print data into single pages and preparing them for Shape Nesting.
- Preparing artworks for customer approval, monitoring the approval status, ensuring that rejected approvals are resubmitted to prepress, and that approved artwork is immediately forwarded to production.
- Adding additional metadata to Print Items after they have passed a specific step.
- Collecting Print Items that has already been prepared for the production of a product and imposing them individually or together on a defined size of an Imposition.
- Imposing Print Items based on the job information for a specific die-cutting tool.
- Collecting Print Items of a defined substrate to create an Imposition with maximum utilization, as well as generating the corresponding cut file and the Imposition Report.
- Transferring the created Impositions to the Printer in a defined sequence.
Integrate the Application into your existing IT environment
To do this you can use an XML-based interface. This article describes the available options for the new XML Job Ticket. The XML Job Ticket works with Automators, enabling the definition of production processes that can be executed fully automatically based on individual requirements.
This article covers the processing of Print Items based on pre-defined Production Configurations within the application.
2. XML Job Ticket based on single Production Configuration (Bundle)
The following example describes an XML Job Ticket which processes files based on a Production Configuration created within the application. All files included in the XML Job Ticket are processed as a Bundle. Processing Print Items as a Bundle means that all Print Items will only be moved to the Imposition or Production Job once all previous processing steps have been completed for all Print Items = FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam.
2.1. SingleFile Processing based on a predefined Production Configuration
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam>
<input inputFileUri="https://192.168.74.34/folder/file.pdf" quantity="24" name="Artwork 1"/>
<productDefinition guid="0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76"/>
</FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam>Properties
| Node | Attribute | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
input |
inputFileUri |
https://example.com/fileserver/folder/file.pdf |
File stored on a HTTP/HTTPS-based file storage. |
| smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored on SMB-based network drive. | ||
| file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored locally on the applications’ Workstation on Drive D | ||
| quantity |
23 | Number of Copies | |
| name | Artwork 1 | Name of the Print Item ${motif.name} | |
|
productDefinition |
guid | 0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76 |
The GUID of the Production Configuration with which the file should be processed. See the chapter Production Configuration for more details. |
2.2. Multiple Files Processing based on a predefined Production Configuration
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam>
<input inputFileUri="http://192.168.74.34/folder/file1.pdf" quantity="2" name="Artwork 1"/>
<input inputFileUri="smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf" quantity="5" name="Artwork 2"/>
<input inputFileUri="file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf" quantity="7" name="Artwork 3"/>
<productDefinition guid="0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76"/>
</FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam>Properties
| Node | Attribute | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FactoryJobCollectionApiCreateParam |
Processing Print Items in a Bundle | ||
|
input |
inputFileUri |
https://example.com/fileserver/folder/file.pdf |
File stored on a HTTP/HTTPS-based file storage |
| smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored on SMB-based network drive | ||
| file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored locally on the applications’ Workstation on Drive D | ||
| quantity |
23 | Number of Copies | |
| name | Artwork 1 | Name of the Print Item ${motif.name} | |
|
productDefinition |
guid | 0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76 | The GUID of the Production Configuration with which the file should be processed. See the chapter Production Configuration for more details. |
3. XML Job Ticket based on single Production Configuration (Continuous Production)
The following example describes a XML Job Ticket which processes files based on a Production Configuration created in the application. All files included in the XML Job Ticket are processed continuously. When the XML is processed using FactoryJobAutoFeed, all individual Print Items are immediately moved to the Imposition or the Production Job. The Imposition step is triggered based on two criteria: the minimum Degree of Utilization or the Max. Processing Time, which can be defined in the Operations Auto-Nesting and Create Impose = FactoryJobAutoFeed.
3.1. Single File Processing based on a predefined Production Configuration
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FactoryJobAutoFeed>
<input inputFileUri="https://192.168.74.34/folder/file.pdf" quantity="24" name="Artwork 1"/>
<productDefinition guid="0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76"/>
</FactoryJobAutoFeed>Properties
| Node | Attribute | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FactoryJobAutoFeed |
Processing Print Items continuously | ||
|
input |
inputFileUri |
https://example.com/fileserver/folder/file.pdf |
File stored on a HTTP/HTTPS-based file storage |
| smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored on SMB-based network drive | ||
| file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored locally on the applications’ Workstation on Drive D | ||
| quantity |
23 | Number of Copies | |
| name | Artwork 1 | Name of the Print Item ${motif.name} | |
|
productDefinition |
guid | 0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76 |
The GUID of the Production Configuration with which the file should be processed. See the chapter Production Configuration for more details. |
3.2. Multiple Files Processing based on a predefined Production Configuration
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FactoryJobAutoFeed>
<input inputFileUri="http://192.168.74.34/folder/file1.pdf" quantity="2" name="Artwork 1"/>
<input inputFileUri="smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf" quantity="5" name="Artwork 2"/>
<input inputFileUri="file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf" quantity="7" name="Artwork 3"/>
<productDefinition guid="0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76"/>
</FactoryJobAutoFeed>Properties
| Node | Attribute | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FactoryJobAutoFeed |
Processing Print Items continuously |
||
|
input |
inputFileUri |
https://example.com/fileserver/folder/file.pdf |
File stored on a HTTP/HTTPS-based file storage |
| smb://192.168.74.34/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored on SMB-based network drive | ||
| file:/D:/files/production/file.pdf |
File stored locally on the applications’ Workstation on Drive D | ||
| quantity |
23 | Number of Copies | |
| name | Artwork 1 | Name of the Print Item ${motif.name} | |
|
productDefinition |
guid | 0197e87e-989c-7ad4-8606-c9b18f175a76 | The GUID of the Production Configuration with which the file should be processed. See the chapter Production Configuration for more details. |
Article update: Workflow 1.21.2 – 09/2025