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News Release from: Heidelberg | Subject: Preflow
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 April 2005
CTP-Workflow Package For Small-Medium
Companies
Heidelberg announced a new GBP 25,000 workflow package for CTP and proofing production to suit small to medium sized commercial printers and repro service providers on day one of the UK's Northprint.
Heidelberg announced a new GBP 25,000 workflow package for CTP and proofing production to suit small to medium sized commercial printers and repro service providers on day one of the UK's Northprint exhibition yesterday Preflow comprises a number of packages including Prinect Signastation version 1.5 (Heidelberg's totally revised imposition and workflow software), Metadimension version 5 RIP, Adobe Acrobat Professional, Enfocus Pitstop, Heidelberg's PDF Toolbox (Trap Editor, Colour and PDF Assistant) and PC server hardware (X2 Pentium IV, 3 GHz Intel workstations)
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 6 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Heidelberg said that those features make Preflow a multi-functional system that will take care of CTP output, soft and hard proof output (including readers spreads, individual pages or imposed flats), pre-flighting, PDF creation and editing, job folder structure with export and Windows XP back up and JDF connectivity to MIS systems.
Lance O'Connell, the marketing manager for Prinect workflow and CTP products at Heidelberg UK, said: "Preflow is an excellent workflow tool aimed at those printers who need more than just a rip.
PDF is virtually a de facto standard in our industry now and the benefits of the file format are enormous.
Further reading
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Creative Print in Leeds has made its first move into full colour and CTP production with a Heidelberg Speedmaster SM52-5L five-colour with coater and a Prosetter 74 visible light platesetter.
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Heidelberg) signed over the 100th Stitchmaster ST 400 gang-stitcher to Buchdruckerei Lustenau in Austria in December 2003.
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Heidelberg will be supplying customers with the latest release of its automated prepress workflow, Prinect Printready System 1.2, with immediate effect.
PDF workflows were once the domain of the larger organisations with database structures and underlying architecture but now with the emergence of powerful PDF plug-ins and JDF, those types of workflow come within reach of the lower volume user without huge investment.
Preflow not only provides users with a cost-effective pre-print workflow in front of proofers or CTP devices but it's fully upgradeable to a full blown Prinect Printready system in the future." With the new package operators first create PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Professional, whilst Enfocus Pitstop is used for pre-flighting files.
Heidelberg PDF toolbox is a bundled collection of PDF tools that are accessed via the plug-in architecture within Adobe Acrobat.
Operators have complete editing rights over the PDFs with the ability for interactive trapping, colour management of components within the PDF and numerous other tools for PDF handling including, a layout editor for imposed flats, geometry editor for correcting page trim boxes and register control for checking backup up of signatures for register, said Heidelberg.
Building on the success of Signastation (now Prinect Signastation version 1.5) with over 300 installs in the UK, Preflow uses the former imposition product turned workflow tool as its engine room.
A 'wizard' leads the user through complete job creation from setting up customer and job details, through complete imposition, plate and proof generation and even folding scheme assembly with CIP3 presetting generation for folding, cutting and stitching machines, added the company.
O'Connell added: "The Prinect Signastation really does raise the bar again.
Originally an imposition tool, Prinect Signastation has now become an extremely powerful workflow tool.
It's JDF presetting capabilities are really work seeing.
It is one of the best examples I can find to illustrate the power (and potential) of JDF." JDF data import is built in to the software and its main benefits will be realised in the future when JDF becomes more mature, although even now JDFs can be imported and used to automate much of the setup procedure, commented Heidelberg.
PDFs are imported and imposed via drag and drop and the Prinect Signastation outputs imposed PDFs data directly to Meta Dimension version 5.0 (Heidelberg's Adobe based RIP) for CTP and proof output.
After completion all job data including PDFs, JDFs, templates, impositions, marks and other data such as fonts, images and original application files (via manual drag and drop) can be saved to hard disk in job folder structure which can then be backed up via XP or archived using third party software.
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