In theory GMG ProductionSuite separates the prepress from the ripping for greater production efficiency, so what’s it like in practice? Nessan Cleary asked users.
We've long been advocates of using workflow programs to organise production departments more efficiently, so it seemed like a good idea to look at one such system – GMG's ProductionSuite – in more detail. This should separate prepress functions from the output in order to squeeze the maximum efficiency from both halves of a job. It can oversee multiple printers so that jobs can be routed to the most appropriate device, even late in the production process. It can take care of difficult issues such as colour management and finishing marks and offer centralised management of every job in production.
One of the first companies to realise this was Gardners, based in Cardiff, which begun working with PerfectProof’s PrintFactory to develop a workflow back in 2007. Gardners was also using GMG's ColorServer and asked GMG to integrate the two products. According to Markus Finkbeiner, GMG’s marketing manager, other companies were also looking for better integration of GMG Color management into their wide- format workflow, leading to the strategic decision in 2011 for GMG to purchase Aurelon, the Dutch company behind the technology that underpins PrintFactory, with GMG then developing its own version, ProductionSuite, mixing the workflow technology from Aurelon with its colour management expertise.
It uses a system of templates that allows designers to quickly prepare jobs and add items such as fold marks. Gardners’ production manager Gabriel Coombs notes: “There's less room for human error.”
Gardners has integrated the templates with hot folders so that a PDF can be dropped into a folder, where the template then automatically adds items such as profiles and cut marks before the file is sent through to the Rip with the minimum of fuss.
Having the colour management is another bonus, which also includes ink saving and profiling. Coombs says that it also helps having the same system profiling and running the Epson proofer as the other printers: “Different vendors use different algorithms so using the same profiling and Ripping with the proofer means that we can verify what colours we should be seeing on press.”
Gardners uses a lot of unusual materials, such as a white woven recyclable PE, and Coombs says that ProductionSuite has helped produce profiles for these that optimise the amount of ink used. This has a direct cost saving, given the high volumes that Gardners is printing for some jobs.
Gardners has a service contract with GMG which includes regular updates for the software. Coombes says that although the updates come regularly, “some of the early releases have bugs and we have been through a bit of pain in working through them without having the whole picture.”
GMG has clearly had some issues in the way the software is sold and supported and has recently shaken up the way that it works. Coombs says this has improved some of the issues, adding: “A large-format Rip needs immediate support and that has been frustrating but they have recognised this now.”
Markus Finkbeiner, GMG’s marketing manager, comments: “As an advanced wide-format firm with considerable print power Gardners was and is an ideal company to work with on the development of GMG ProductionSuite. While there were some software issues in the early days, these were quickly ironed out by working closely with early adopters.”
Another early adopter of ProductionSuite was Your Print Solutions, based in High Wycombe. The company spent a year trying to get ProductionSuite 1.0 to work, having initially installed it on a Mac Mini to output to a HP latex printer. Managing director David Jackson says: “It was awful. We kept going back to GMG. They put it on a PC platform but it wasn't much better.”
Yet, YPS was a committed GMG customer, having used its products for over ten years, including ColorProof, which Jackson says is fantastic. But eventually he gave up, taking his dealer's advice to switch to an Onyx Rip for output. He adds: “We still have ProductionSuite running on a Mac so if we need to put guides or grommet holes we can still do that but the actual Rip has been the problem.”
So what was the problem? Jackson says he would normally hold off on new software until it was proven, and yet Finkbeiner says that the system itself had been in existence for several years before GMG took it over and was a mature proven performer.
However, Finkbeiner acknowledges that some customers had problems understanding the way that the workflow system runs through the Editor, saying: “This is different and customers need to get used to it. For us it was sometimes difficult to explain to people the benefits of the Editor.”
For version 2 GMG added a new feature, Layout, that lets users submit jobs from the Editor, mimicking the way that conventional Rips such as Onyx and Caldera work and which Finkbeiner believes will make it easier for users to get to grips with the program in the future.
Finkbeiner also accepts that selling the software direct was not the best approach and consequently GMG has now opted to leave the sales and support to a distributor, Perfect Colours, which has a pedigree in wide-format and a nationwide support team.
About the product
ProductionSuite is a large-format workflow, based on technology from the Dutch developer Aurelon, which GMG bought back in 2011, and GMG’s own colour management know-how. It has a separate Editor so that file management and prepress can be split from the Ripping and printing stage. It includes drivers for most wide- format printers and thus can take care of screening and Ripping for output. It can also generate marks for finishing, including cutting paths for tables and grommet holes for banners. The system records edits made to a file without actually having to edit the file until at the point of Ripping which means that it is fast and the PDFs remain clean for use with other programs.
For v2 GMG has also beefed up the profiling capability with a new SmartProfiler module. Finkbeiner explains: “If you were upgrading a profile you couldn't save it throughout the process and come back to work on it later but you can now.”
GMG has also added some of the more advanced 'profile tweaking' abilities of its ColorServer programs, which were originally deemed as being unnecessary for wide-format.
Alternatives
- PrintFactory and PixelBlaster
There’s a growing number of workflow programs suitable for use with large-format printing. This includes two systems based on the same Aurelon technology as ProductionSuite - PrintFactory, now owned by Four Pees, and PixelBlaster from SAi. Thus these both have the same basic structure, with an Editor module for prepress functions and a separate Rip.
PrintFactory 4.4 includes a Calibrator for creating ICC profiles and there are options for working with a spectrophotometer and a cutter as well as for adding some automation. There’s an entry-level version, PrintFactory Go, which is essentially the Editor giving all the job preparation with output via PDF to existing Rips.
PixelBlaster has a similar modular structure, with a central area for preparing jobs, an output engine and options for creating profiles and managing print queues.
- Asanti
Agfa has recently launched Asanti, essentially a cut down version of the Apogee workflow that has been optimised for wide-format work. It’s split into three main modules. This includes Render, based on Adobe’s PDF print engine, which creates files suitable for output from most wide-format printers and includes Agfa’s proven colour management. The Production module takes care of preflighting, while the Storefront module is a cloud-based Web-to-print solution.
- Automation Engine
Esko sells the Automation Engine, which has proven popular amongst UK wide-format users. It’s used for a variety of applications from commercial print through to labels and packaging. It has a number of modules, including Layout and 3D that can be used to create items such as pop-up displays.
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