In the Settings section of the tab Artboard, the Impose Mode Die Cut now provides the option to create Double-Sided Output [2]. Once this option is activated, the following settings are available:

• Turn Impose Sheet [3] – Specify whether the Impose Sheet should be flipped (horizontal), turned over (vertical), or not flipped at all.
• Create Markers on [4] – Specify on which side the Marks should be placed.

Figure 2: The tab Artboard with the section Settings

In the Operation Create Impose of a Production Configuration, the option Use Repeat Size from N-Up [5] is now available for the Impose Mode Die Cut. This option is accessible not only in the Impose Editor, but also in the automation environment when placing Print Items in the selected N-Up.

Figure 3: The Operation Create Impose with the option Use Repeat Size from N-Up

The placement algorithm for Shape Nesting in the Impose Editor has been improved in this version so that it now optimizes not only the Height but also the Width of the Nesting. This results in better Substrate utilization, especially when only short Nestings are created.

Starting with this version, a significant reduction in calculation time for determining the possible Bleed between Print Items is provided. This makes processes such as opening, saving, and optimizing an existing Shape Nesting considerably faster.

Starting with this version, the Bleed of a Print Item is no longer included in the calculation for generating a warning about the Print Items overlapping beyond the Impose Area.

As a result, the Print Items can be imposed right up to the Imposition's edge [6] without triggering a warning [7] in the Impose Editor.

Figure 4: Print Items with Bleed that are placed up to the edge of the Imposition

The calculation logic has been changed. The Print Item with the lowest quantity now determines the maximum length of a column across one or more Impositions. All other Print Items are produced only up to this length, resulting in underproduction.

In the example shown in the following figure, the first page of the Imposition would be printed 334 times, while the second page of the Imposition would only be printed once. Print Item 1 [8] – with the lowest quantity – would be fully produced, whereas Print Item 2 [9] and Print Item 3 [10] would be underproduced.

Figure 5: The tab Print Items in a Step & Repeat with the strategy Underproduction applied

Starting with version 1.20.2, users can create Hybrid Spot Color Definitions systemwide. There are two possible approaches for creating this Color Type:

Option 1 – systemwide Creation

To create a systemwide Hybrid Spot Color, proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu Color > Spot Colors.
2. Click Add [11].
3. In the dialog Create Spot Color Definition that opens, select the entry Hybrid Color under Type of Spot Color [12].
4. Next, select the corresponding Processing Steps Group [13] and Processing Steps Type to classify the colors according to the ISO standard.
5. Then select the desired Color Mode [14] and enter the preferred color values. These values are only used for visualization purposes and have no effect on the output.
6. Finally, click Save to create the color systemwide.

Figure 6: The dialog Create Spot Color Definition with a Hybrid Color

Option 2 – Creation from a Print Item

To create a Hybrid Spot Color directly from a Print Item, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to the tab Print Data of a Print Item within an Order, Production Job, or Article.
2. Switch to the settings area Spot Colors.
3. Select the desired Spot Color [15] from the list.
4. Click the icon for Create a systemwide Hybrid Spot Color of the Spot Color [16].

Figure 7: The settings area Spot Colors with the new function for creating Hybrid Spot Colors

5. The dialog Create Spot Color Definition opens, where you can proceed as already described in option 1.
6. To save the Hybrid Color, click Save.

Figure 8: The dialog Create Spot Color Definition

7. By saving, this Spot Color is stored systemwide as a Hybrid Color. Whether you follow the procedure above or simply rename an already existing Spot Color to a Hybrid Color depends on your workflow. However, it is recommended to rename the color rather than creating numerous new Hybrid Colors in the system.
8. In the Spot Colors settings area, separate subsections for Hybrid Colors [18] and Spot Colors [17] are now displayed to maintain an overview.

Figure 9: Detail Information of a Print Item with the division of the setting area Spot Colors

Starting with version 1.20.2, it is now possible for the first time to generate Vision Marks consisting of Inspection Marks (circles) for all used CMYK-OVG and Hybrid Colors, to create Rectangular Marks (black areas) in the defined size, and optionally to add a white background to the Marks. For Vision Marks, you can also set Registration Marks according to the defined position, use of Bearer Bars, generation of Separation Names on the respective Separations, and the creation of additional Captions for Separations.

To place a Vision Hybrid Mark, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Automation > Impose Editor.
2. Open the Impose Editor in the desired Impose Mode.
3. In the tab General [19], click Edit [20] on the Impose Sheet Template.
4. In the dialog Sheet Configuration that opens, add the Vision Hybrid Mark [22] under Marks [21].
5. Enable or disable the Bearer Bars [23] – Color bars in the respective Hybrid Color.
6. Enable or disable the Separation Name [24] – Name of the respective Hybrid Color.
7. Enable or disable the Captions [25] – Captions can also be defined using placeholders.
8. Enable or disable the Vision Marks [26] – Color Circles for each used Print Color and Hybrid Color – and the option White Background [27].
9. Enable or disable the Registration Marks [28] and define their position by setting the Reference Point [29].

Figure 10: Left: The tab General with the Sheet Configuration; Center: The Sheet Configuration with the Vision Hybrid Marks; Right: The Vision Hybrid Mark in detail

Figure 11: A Step & Repeat with active Vision Hybrid Marks as shown in Figure 10

When Vision Hybrid Marks are used in an Imposition, the Separation for the selected Hybrid Color can now be exported as a PDF. The export includes all Marks, Captions, and the required Y-Distortion.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Production Jobs > Production Jobs.
2. Select the desired Production Job with an Imposition that includes Hybrid Colors in combination with the Vision Hybrid Mark.
3. Open the tab Impose [30].
4. Click Download Imposition [31].

Figure 12: The tab Impose of a Production Job with Hybrid Colors in the Imposition

5. In the dialog Imposition that opens, enable the checkbox Hybrid Colors [32].
6. Use the checkbox to select the Separations that should be downloaded as PDF.
7. Enter the Distortion [33] to be applied to the vertical axis – this value is provided by the die maker.
8. Click Download to save the Imposition with the Hybrid Colors locally.

Figure 13: The dialog Download Imposition with the option to export Hybrid Colors with Distortion

The Separation with the applied Distortion would look as shown in the following example.

Figure 14: Export of a Hybrid Color with Vision Hybrid Marks

In the Print Item Detail View, under the tab Page Information of an Article or Print Item, labels [38] are now provided. These allow users to easily see the severity level – red for Errors and yellow for Warnings – as well as the total number of errors.

Figure 19: The tab Page Information with Errors, Warnings along with their respective counts

In this version, the option to search the list of Fixup Templates by GUID has been added under Administration > Settings > Preflight / Fixup > Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates.

Figure 20: The tab Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates

In this version, when deleting a Preflight Template that is being used in an active Hotfolder, no error message is displayed. Instead, the Template is deleted, and the Hotfolder automatically uses the Template defined by default under Administration > Settings.

The Fixup Convert selected Spot Colors to CMYK can be used to convert selected Spot Colors to CMYK using the alternate color values defined in the PDF file.

Use this Fixup if you want to convert selected Spot Colors – e.g., a printable Dieline – to CMYK. If you want to convert all Spot Colors to CMYK, use the Fixup Convert Spot Colors to CMYK.

A detailed description of the functionality of this Fixup will soon be available in the following article.

Figure 21: The dialog of the new Fixup Convert selected Spot Colors to CMYK

The Fixup Create Bleed by Mirroring generates Bleed on the selected page edges by pixel repetition, mirroring, or stretching the document content – based on the ImageBox or the ImageBox + Bleed.

With version 1.20.2, the following improvements are available:

• The method Auto Mode [39] has been newly added – depending on the context, Bleed will be added by using mirroring, stretching, or pixel repetition. If no Bleed is required for the Print Item, no mirroring will be applied to the respective edge.
• The option Honour existing Bleed has been moved to the tab Advanced.
• The Processing Steps input fields have been removed in this version.

A detailed description of the functionality of this Fixup can be found in this article.

Figure 22: The dialog for the Fixup Create Bleed by Mirroring; Left: The tab Basic Settings; Right: The tab Advanced

The Fixup Create Spot Color Separation depending on Total Ink Coverage creates a separation in the selected Spot Color from the current page content, depending on the detected Total Ink Coverage (TAC). The higher the Total Ink Coverage, the lower the percentage value of the separation. Use this Fixup, for example, to create a white channel – or any other systemwide defined Spot Color – that depends on the Total Ink Coverage. This can help to reduce ink costs, limit Ink Coverage, and enable creative effects in the design.

With version 1.20.2, the following improvements are available:

• The functionality has been extended so that the Total Ink Coverage of the Spot Color, rather than the tonal value of the Spot Color, is now used to calculate the Spot Color Channel. Example: 100% "Ferrari Red", defined in CMYK 0/100/100/0, is now calculated as 200% Total Ink Coverage instead of 100%.

A detailed description of the functionality of this Fixup can be found here.

Figure 23: The dialog of the Fixup Create Spot Color Separation depending on Total Ink Coverage

The Fixup Rename Spot Colors allows you to add one or more Spot Colors in order to rename them. You can also use RegEx (Regular Expressions) for search and replace. The expression "(PANTONE)\s((?:.*))\sU" in "Spot Color Name - Source" as well as "$1 $2 C" in "Spot Color Name - Destination" would convert all Pantone Uncoated Colors names ending with "U" into Pantone Coated Color names ending with "C". Special characters: If you want to use one of the following characters – ()[]{}|\^$?.*+ – in the Spot Color Name, they must be preceded by a backslash \ – e.g., "My Spot\(color\)".

With version 1.20.2, the following improvement is available:

• Renaming a Spot Color has been restricted to Spot Colors only. Previously, when renaming the Spot Color "Black", the channel of the DeviceN Color (CMYK) or separations were also renamed.

Figure 24: The dialog Rename Spot Colors

The Fixup Duplicate Spot Color Separation creates a new separation in the selected Spot Color for the Spot Color Separation to be duplicated.

With version 1.20.2, the following bug fix is available:

• Duplicated Separations are no longer shifted starting with this version.

With the Fixup Clip Print Item with Additional Bleed, it is possible to mask targeted Spot Color Objects including a defined Bleed. Select the Spot Color Name – which describes the Shape – and enter the width of the Bleed to be generated. The ImageBox can be aligned to the Spot Color Object. If, in the case of nested Dielines, you only want to use the outer Dieline for masking, select the option"Dieline (solid/dashed/dotted)" and additionally enable the option "Clip at" and the checkbox "Outside only".

The following improvement is available in version 1.20.2:

• The option Set TrimBox to Spot Color object [40] has been introduced, allowing the TrimBox to remain unchanged.

Figure 25: The dialog of the Fixup Clip Print Item with Additional Bleed with the new option Set TrimBox to Spot Color object

The Fixup Flatten or Remove Annotations allows Annotations (Annotations in the PDF) within the printable area to be converted into printable objects, deleted from the file, or moved outside the ImageBox. RGB objects are assigned the source profile sRGB, and missing fonts are embedded.

With version 1.20.2, the following extensive improvements are available:

• The Fixup was renamed from "Render Comments" to "Flatten or Remove Annotations".
• Extended Annotation Options [41] are now available:
  • Flatten all Annotations – Annotations remain as printable objects.
  • Delete all Annotations – Annotations are removed from the print file.
  • Move all Annotations outside the ImageBox – All annotations within the printable area are moved outside the printable area.
  • Flatten graphical and textual Annotations, move all other types outside the ImageBox – Annotations added as text or marks remain as printable objects; all other annotations are moved outside the printable area.
  • Flatten graphical and textual Annotations, remove all other types – Annotations added as text or marks remain as printable objects; all other annotations are deleted from the print file.

Figure 26: The dialog of the Fixup Flatten or Remove Annotations with the new Annotation Options

Improvements have been made to the internally used Fixup that extracts the Shape Nesting path from the print file. This allows for higher penetration during the processing of this Fixup. The following improvements are applied during execution:

• Objects outside the MediaBox are deleted.
• The Spot Color to be processed is extracted from all DeviceN constructs.
• Registration Colors are excluded from processing.

The Fixup Prepare Print Items for Shape Nesting is applied in the following situations:

• Print Item Detail View > Technical Color – Icon in the footer of the settings area.
• Impose Editor > Print Item tab – Icon next to the image or applied automatically when applying a Shape Nesting.
• Operation Prepare Print Item for Shape Nesting – Selecting the Operation in a Production Configuration.

Figure 27: The button Prepare Print Item for Shape Nesting in different situations

The following changes have been implemented for the Operation Create Production Job:

• Grouping Options [42] – Three new options are available, from this version onward:
  • Keep All Print Items together – Creates a Production Job or Imposition with all Print Items that are pending at the time of the Production Job creation.
  • For every single-page and multipage Print Item – Creates individual Production Jobs or Impositions for each single-page and multipage Print Item. If a multipage Print Item was previously split into single pages, all individual pages remain together in one Production Job.
  • For each Print Item – Creates individual Production Jobs or Impositions for each Print Item. If a multipage Print Item was previously split into single pages, a separate Production Job is created for each individual page.
• Production Date and Shipping Date [43] – You can now dynamically set the Production Date or Shipping Date for the Production Job depending on when the Production Job is created. To set the placeholders, first click on the icon Variable Content [44]. The following use cases can be implemented:
  • Set the Production Date to "in 2 hours" so that rendering the Production Job is occurs with the corresponding Offset.
  • Set the Delivery Date to "in 48 hours" if you know that 48 hours are required for rendering, printing, and finishing between the creation of a Production Job and the actual delivery.
• Impose Mode "Tiling" – Grouping Options – The Grouping Options described above [42] are hidden when using the Impose Mode Tiling, and a Production Job is automatically created for each Print Item.

Figure 28: The dialog for the Operation Create Production Job

The following changes have been implemented for the operation Create Impose:

• Grouping Options [46] – From this version onward, three new options are available:
  • Keep all Print Items together – Creates a Production Job or Imposition with all Print Items that are waiting at the time of the Production Job creation.
  • For every single-page and multi-page Print Item – Creates individual Production Jobs or Impositions for each single-page and multi-page Print Item. If a multi-page Print Item was previously split into individual pages, all individual pages remain together in a single Production Job.
  • For each Print Item – Creates individual Production Jobs or Impositions for each Print Item. If a multipage Print Item has previously been split into individual pages, a Production Job is created for each individual page.
• Trimmed Display [45] – When using an Impose Template that has been trimmed in height and/or width, this version now displays whether the Impose Template is set to trimmed or not. In this context, Height and Width have been renamed to Max. Height and Max. Width, since the entered value represents the maximum value.
• The user guidance for the Impose Modes in the Operation has been revised. This includes the following changes:
  • Impose Mode "Tiling" – All options that are not relevant for Tiling have been removed.
  • Impose Mode "Nesting" – In this Mode, the Impose Option Optimize is available and Plate Templates are also provided.
  • Impose Mode "Step & Repeat" – In this Mode, the Option Override Step & Repeat Parameter of the Impose Template is offered to easily overwrite columns and rows.
  • Impose Mode "Die Cut" – In this Mode, all irrelevant options have been removed; users can also use the option Use Repeat Size from N-Up.

Figure 29: The dialog for the Operation Create Impose

The following changes have been implemented for the Operation Check Status:

• Starting with version 1.20.2, the option to send a check report when the status fails is now only available in conjunction with sending an E-mail [47].

Figure 30: The dialog of the Operation Check Status

Inks can now be added and removed via Administration > Inks. This was not possible in previous versions.

Figure 43: The tab Inks with the option to Add an Ink

Starting with this version, the Spot Color Definition displays which Customer a customer-specific color belongs to.

Figure 44: The dialog Spot Color Definition with information about the Customer

The calculation of color values for DeviceN is no longer performed automatically after each entry of a color value.

The display of Favorites for Fixups varied between the old and new user interfaces. Starting with this version, both interfaces are consistent and show no differences.

The selection of Grid Charts created in the old user interface caused an error in the Grid Charts list in the new user interface.

Starting with this version, a Production Job can also be created from the Impose Editor when the Cutter Device "Summa L-Series" is used in the tab Finishing. This was not possible in previous versions.

Figure 45: The tab Finishing with the Cutter Device Summa L-Series

In this version, it is possible to select, modify and save a Output Template in the tab Output Configuration [67] of a Production Job. This aligns the functionality of the new user interface with that of the old user interface.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Production Jobs > Production Jobs.
2. Open the tab Output Configurations [67].
3. Make changes to the desired Template [69].
4. Click Save [68].
5. In the dialog Save Template that now opens, you can overwrite the existing Output Template [70] or create a new one by deselecting the checkbox.
6. Click Save to apply the settings.

Figure 46: The dialog Output Configuration with the option to Save a Template

Starting with this version, information about the Impose Mode [71] and the Impose Template [72] is also displayed in the new user interface of the dialog Send to Printer. This was not the case in previous versions.

Figure 47: The dialog Send to Printer with the Impose Mode and the Impose Template

When filtering for Print Items in the Side Panel – opened by clicking on the Preview Image [73] in the list of Orders –, only the Order Lines containing Print Items matching the search term are displayed in the overview starting with this version.

Figure 48: The Side Panel of an Order with filtered Print Items