A Drive to Unified Premedia

Managing production across multiple printing devices has become “business as usual” as nearly every traditional print niche now includes a viable digital print engine. As qualitative differences between offset, toner and inkjet fade, printers are rushing to adopt unified workflows with a single interface for all their presses.

More than just “black box” connections between disparate hardware elements, a true unified workflow solution should provide tools for job ticketing, imposition, proofing, archiving and more. Many shops have chosen to spin off digital print capabilities into a separate business, installing digital print-specific MIS and production systems. Adoption of a unified color workflow can change the paradigm for digital print facilities, allowing toner, inkjet and litho to co-exist within a single production stream.

EFI introduced the concept of unified color workflow with the launch of OneFlow in 2002. Six years later, this product is being retired in favor of EFI's new XFlow. According to Marc Reiners, marketing manager, EFI graphic arts solutions, “One of the biggest issues for print service providers is that customer files are heterogeneous.” XFlow “standardizes prepress processes to free press operators from routine tasks so they can provide value-added services,” he says.

XFlow can accept a multitude of document formats, including PDF, PostScript, DCS, TIFF/IT and native Microsoft Office. Automatic preflight and file correction are performed via action lists, using EskoArtwork's Pitstop technology. EFI's Colorwise is used to convert incoming files to color-managed PDFs for further proofing, imposition and output. Rather than limit users to a built-in imposition tool, XFlow accepts third-party templates.

Easy connectivity with EFI's Colorproof XF RIP (for color proofing) and Fiery XF RIP (for digital print production) makes it simple for XFlow to drive multiple output devices. In contrast to OneFlow's built-in RIP, XFlow allows users to attach their own third-party RIP engines through PDF or PostScript file handoffs. New workflows can be created or amended at any time, with job tracking available through EFI's Job Monitor. For e-commerce capabilities, XFlow provides seamless integration with EFI Digital Storefront.

Heidelberg's Digital Print Manager leverages JDF and JMF to connect with the Prinect Prepress Manager (formerly known as PrintReady). “Cut-sheet toner, inkjet web press—it doesn't matter,” says Ray Cassino, director of prepress product management for Heidelberg. “The way that we're communicating is through JDF, so any device with a JDF-certified interface can connect.”

Flexibility is paramount in Heidelberg's approach to integrating other engines through the Digital Print Manager. “We send JDF presets to the device, along with individual or fully imposed pages in PDF format,” explains Cassino. “Through JMF, we get back reporting from the digital press that feeds into both Prinect and Prinance, or any other JDF-enabled costing system.”

The Near-Neutral Calibration utility within Heidelberg's Print Color Management module is also compatible with Digital Print Manager. Embed an ICC press profile or ISO print condition as the print reference for the digital press, and it will emulate that reference using the digital front end and color management of the digital press.

Agfa's :Apogee 5.0 workflow management suite includes :Apogee DigitalPrintLink for connecting to select HP Indigo digital presses; integration to Canon's imagePRESS C7000VP is scheduled for later this year. DigitalPrintLink downloads raster data from :Apogee Prepress to the attached print engine, along with JDF/JMF job ticket data for stock selection, finishing and other output options.

Kodak takes a big picture view of the unified workflow landscape, seeking to link business, color, production and data concerns. More than a specific application, Kodak claims to enable connectivity throughout its software portfolio, enabling components to be configured as desired. Colorflow, UpFront, InSite and Kodak Link software are all part of its approach, in addition to prepress mainstay Prinergy and its Prinergy Digital extension.

“Prinergy Digital is just a set of definitions for creating JDF,” observes Patrick Stuart, technology marketing director for The Bureau of Engraving, Inc., in Minneapolis. “Our NexPress takes in those JDF files, then connects back to the server to get the jobs. That means we can use Prinergy to drive both our offset and digital workflows, and as a common archiving server for all projects.”

Stuart finds that the advantages of unified workflow are magnified when e-commerce becomes part of the equation. “It really was the missing link for our web-to-print,” Stuart says. “Kodak's Insite Storefront system defines the JDF and defines the customer's intent, so through Prinergy's rules-based automation we can programmatically decide where that file should go—offset or digital—based on our own criteria.”

ONLINE: Reach the author at hal@halhinderliter.com