Imposition Automation Software's JDF Certification

Ultimate Technographics will be showing how it achieved the certification of JDF connectivity from its Impostrip system to Muller Martini's booklet makers at Drupa 2008.

The Ultimate Technographics stand at Drupa - hall 9, stand A61 - together with that of Muller Martini - hall 14, stand B38 - will demonstrate how Ultimate developed imposition automation and optimisation for the offset and the digital print markets and how the Impostrip engine connects to several types of web2print systems.

Ultimate Technographics said that it is now extending the same type of connectivity to finishing, helping to connect various types of workflow systems to increase the profitability of the printing process.

Ultimate added that it is developing a user interface for customers to set their finishing preferences for the specific equipment they use as part of the imposition workflow.

JDF finishing instructions produced by Ultimate's products can be exported with JDF imposition instructions to a JDF workflow system so that it can pass those instructions to the finishing equipment, said the company.

Ultimate claimed that its system can also pass JDF instructions to workflows based on other types of XML encoding.

For example, web2print systems that interface with the Ultimate XML Director for automated production can be configured to pass along the JDF instructions to the finishing equipment used, in-line or near-line.

That creates true automation from web submission to finished product.

Joanne David, the executive vice president at Ultimate Technographics, said: "We create Impositions just like a mould that is used to pour pages in, based on the exact look and feel that we want to create as the final product for the consumer.

For this reason imposition has an impact on finishing, in many ways.

Moving forward with the certification of our JDF with Muller Martini's saddle stitchers will offer our customers new advantages for a greater level of automation." Peter Doyle, the corporate integration and work flow manager at Muller Martini, added: "Many printers have been prevented from creating a CIP4 standardised workflow to their bindery departments because there have been few systems that are capable of generating a JDF file that includes bindery specifications.

The good news for printers wishing to automate their post-press workflow is that Ultimate Technographics has created a system that allows printers to overcome this obstacle." He added: "The Ultimate Technographics' imposition software can now be used to write JDF files that include bindery specifications for cutting, folding and saddle stitching.

There is no extra data entry to create these files.

The specifications entered in the Ultimate software during the pre-press pagination process, such as trim size, lap, head trim and bleeds are easily exported in the CIP4 standardised job definition format, creating a JDF file that can be used on Muller Martini saddle stitchers.

Our saddle stitchers can be set-up in less than half the time when a JDF file is used." He continued to say that the use of the JDF file ensures that the machine is set-up to the precise dimensions that were used to paginate, proof, print and fold the signatures.

Redundancy in data entry is eliminated, steps in the make-ready process are reduced and mistakes are eliminated.

And Doyle explained: "This is exactly the system that many printers dreamed of when the job definition format was first proposed.

The Ultimate Technographics system follows the CIP4 standards and allows users to create an open, multi-vendor, automated production process.

At Muller Martini we applaud that accomplishment.''.

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