There are many different stages in the life of a job, from the quotation through to final output, and its not always easy to link these together. But there is help at hand finds Nessan Cleary.
There is a tendency in wide-format to think in terms of individual machines and their capabilities but where there are multiple machines this can lead to a fragmented production department. The Image Reports’ annual Widthwise survey flags-up that, increasingly, PSPs are recognising that as a problem and looking at ways to improve their workflow.
But workflow can mean different things to different people. In some cases it’s just a matter of linking up the different islands so that jobs can be passed from one process to another or can be switched easily from one printer to another without having to worry about the colour output. But for others it’s more about integrating a Web-to-print system or managing the overall business. No one system does all of this but there are several different approaches.
Heavy duty Rips
Over the years many wide-format Rips have gained production features such as tiling and nesting. But recently, several Rip vendors have also developed more production-orientated Rips, which offer many of the sorts of features that we associate with a workflow, with things like preflighting and the ability to edit the artwork.
EFI’s Fiery XF Rip, for example, has a number of production options, including the ability to set up cutting marks and to drive a cutting table, as well as colour management and spot colour handling. There’s also a Fiery ProServer, which comes with an extended version of the XF Rip and the option to support a second printer. It also includes better colour controls and a Color Verifier option to ensure the correct colours are printed. It also links to EFI’s Digital Storefront web to print system and there’s a choice of MIS.
The latest versions of the Caldera Rip has an optional Printboard plug-in that shows an overview of the print queue and the jobs that have already been processed. But Caldera has also developed Flow+, which is built on its standard Rip but also has elements of MIS and CRM. As such it can deal with quotations, monitor the jobs coming in and check the stock inventory, as well as analyse the cost and profitability of each job.
Onyx already has a number of workflow modules to extend its core ProductionHouse Rip. These include preflighting, the ability to handle cutting paths and generate ICC profiles. But Onyx has also extended this with a workflow product, Thrive, which is built around an Onyx Rip but with an extended colour management engine. This has a number of tools including black generation GCR, spot colour handling and a job editor. It can organise jobs through hot folders and Rip multiple jobs simultaneously.
Wide-format workflows
In recent years we’ve also seen a number of workflows that have developed independently of the Rips. John Davies, business strategy manager for Fujifilm explains: “Lots of wide-format Rips have got a certain amount of capability but what’s missing is that there’s no sense of doing all the preparation work to the files ready for production.”
He adds that often there’s no point where all the relevant parts of a job can be brought together and centrally colour managed.
Fujifilm has developed its XMF workflow to be a central hub for the jobs coming into a print shop. Fujifilm also has a standalone Web-to-print offering, XMF Print Centre, and a colour management tool, Colour Path. XMF doesn’t contain drivers for all the different output devices, but instead works with the Rips supplied with each printer. Davies says these Rips are often very capable but says that the issue is to create consistency: “We want to have a central workflow with our Colour Path product to provide consistent colour management across all the different front end Rips.”
He adds: “We are finding that the colour management settings differ greatly on the different Rips.”
GMG has also developed a wide-format workflow, ProductionSuite, but has split this into two parts for editing jobs and for driving production devices. Toby Burnett, GMG’s UK managing director, says that often a job comes in but is not ready to go straight to production because it needs further work, which is best carried out by someone in a design department rather than on the production floor. He explains: “We have a set of tools that allow you to prepare a job.”
The main part is a production system capable of driving most wide-format printers and cutting tables. Burnett says: “We configure the production system so that the Rip server allows you complete independence of device. So if a printer goes down then you can just reconfigure it for another device using a template to make any changes needed.”
The system allows users to work on a preview, with the edits stored as XML instructions that the Rip applies when outputting the file. This makes for a very fast system. Burnett explains: “We just show the Rip what we want it to look like and the Rip does the processing.” He says that some tasks can be saved as templates and that the system can also automate some repetitive processes, but stresses that it also allows for manual intervention when necessary.
The GMG system is based on technology from the Dutch develop Aurelon, which GMG acquired two years ago. Prior to that the Belgian distributor Four Pees had worked with Aurelon to produce its own workflow, PrintFactory. This works in a similar way, with a separate Editor for processing jobs before sending them to the PrintStation for production.
SAi has also licensed Aurelon’s technology for its PixelBlaster, so this also works in a similar way. Up until now SAi has concentrated on selling this in Europe, but is planning to launch it into the UK at Fespa.
Agfa is working on developing a version of its Apogee prepress workflow specifically for use in the large-format environment. This too is due to be launched at Fespa so Agfa isn’t keen on talking about it now. However, Geert Zelck, product manager for workflow, says that it will include Agfa’s Apogee Storefront, a Cloud-based web to print solution. The new workflow will be able to preflight files, and to carry out standard tasks such as tiling and nesting.
Agfa will continue to use the Wasatch Rip for its Anapurna printers and the ErgoSoft Rip for its Jeti range, but Apogee will be able to connect to other vendors Rips, with those Rips carrying out the screening but with Apogee responsible for the colour management.
The workflow will also connect to finishing systems including cutting tables. It will keep a log of whatever work is done on each file, so that users know if a job has been edited.
The concept of workflow in terms of large-format production is still in its infancy. But regardless of the size of the company, the key elements ought to be a Web-to-print front end with some form of centralised colour management to allow jobs to be switched to other devices if needed, or to be reprinted without risking the colours changing. Most medium and large companies would also benefit from separating their file preparation from production.
It’s relatively simple to configure a Web-to-print system to send an XML file with an order but the tricky part is ensuring that there is enough automation within the workflow to justify the cost of the workflow and the Web-to-print systems, but with the level of manual intervention necessary for some wide-format jobs.
Designer clouds
The idea of software operating from the cloud is slowly becoming more popular, with several design programs now embracing this approach.
SAi, for example, has just announced Flexi Cloud, which will complement its Flexi family of sign design programs. The software itself will sit on the user’s computer but a window on the screen will offer extra features, such as FlexiQuote, which can be used to calculate quotes automatically. Another feature, Job Reports can give an idea of the cost of a job in terms of materials used and time spent. There’s a mobile app so that company directors can keep track of costs whilst away from the office.
SAi has also added a cloud option to its PhotoPrint Rip. Both of these cloud solutions come with some storage, including 1GB of free space, which could be used, for example, to allow customers to upload artwork or to store a portfolio of past jobs to show new customers. Marc Hermans, SAi’s director of sales for Europe, says: “We would like to get closer to knowing what our customers want to do and how we can serve them better.”
Adobe has also introduced its own online services through its Creative Cloud offering, which to start with is an extension of the Creative Suite programs, but could also point to a different way of buying and selling software. Adobe’s vision is that customers pay a monthly fee to join the Creative Cloud, which then gives access to a range of different programs. This could be handy if say, you regularly use Illustrator but only occasionally need Photoshop. It also means that you always have the latest version of the software, but of course it does commit you to an on-going monthly cost, which is going to seem expensive for anyone who prefers to simply use the older version that they’re comfortable with.
Onyx sells a number of plug-ins, which it calls Smartapps, to add sign-specific features to the Creative Suite. These include: Pitstop Pro, for preflighting and file editing; Vehicle Wraps, for preparing vehicle wraps from Illustrator graphics; and Sign and Banner, for adding things like grommets and eyelets as well as bleeds to files.
The DIY approach
The alternative to buying an off-the-shelf workflow is to build your own. James Birch, sales and marketing manager at Colour Graphics in Walsall, has done just that. He says that he was fed up with the existing solutions: “There are lots of big workflows that will work everything out to the penny. But smaller printers don’t need the full reporting because we know what the costs are and our capacity. What we want to know is the job and when it’s due and if it can be nested with other jobs.”
He developed a Web-to-print system to allow his customers to make up their own orders online, to see the cost and to upload their artwork. When a job is placed it goes straight to the prepress operators who work out if jobs can be nested together. From there it goes to the production department, where jobs can be prioritised according to the deadline from the customers. Customers can track the job through its various stages. When it’s ready the system automatically outputs delivery notes and because it hooks into TNT’s tracking system customers can track the delivery of their jobs.
Birch says he rarely has to deal with customers directly now: “It’s streamlined everything for us.” He has done some of the development himself, but outsourced other elements such as the ecommerce and some of the databasing.
For now, the jobs are processed directly by the Rip for each printer, but Colour Graphics is talking with Esko about making changes to its workflow to allow that to be integrated into his W2P system.
Birch is about to start offering it to other printers, reasoning that many companies would prefer a system that’s been written by a printer for printers.