For over a decade the printing industry has been receiving PDF files from creative professionals and accepting the task of preflighting and ultimately fixing the files before going to print.
PDF file standards, like PDF/X-1(a), have been introduced to improve the hand-off process, but files remain less than perfect. It’s still typical problems like missing fonts, low-res images, spot colours, transparency, etc…, that cause files to fail.
Enfocus has developed a new product, first announced in March and demonstrated at IPEX last month, called PitStop Connect, it’s a preflight screening tool that sits on a designer’s desktop and also serves as a direct pipeline to the printer via an FTP transfer.
The product sells for US$4,999 and allows printers to create an unlimited number of Connectors that they can distribute to their clients. These Connectors are set up by the printer with an established set of acceptable PDF file parameters. The Connector icon sits on the client’s desktop and contains a preflight engine and performs the task right there (no application software needs to be installed). The tool will let the customer know if their file is print ready, or if it requires a fix before it can be sent. In some cases, using action lists, the tool can automatically fix identified errors.
If the file is good to go, by dragging it onto the Connector icon the file is automatically uploaded to the printer’s queue. "Printers can also permit files to fail and still let them be sent," explains Alex Hamilton, director of business development with Enfocus. "Customers can even send non-PDF files through the pipeline if the printer allows it."
This product will best suit printers that deal with graphic designers—either independents or those working in small firms—that don’t regularly send files for print output. The Connect model forces them to conform to the printer’s file format request.
"We’re trying to simplify the customers’ life and tie them into the printer," notes Hamilton. By shifting the preflight process upstream, the product will ultimately reduce cycle times as well, creating efficiency and saving money.
For printers using the Enfocus Switch rules-based workflow automation solution, the Connectors can also be set up to accept additional metadata that will further guide a file through the printer’s workflow.
For those interested in trying out PitStop Connect there’s a 30-day free trial version downloadable from Enfocus online.
