Pre Press work flow in printing and packaging Industry. Basic essential understanding

1. PRE PRESS WORKFLOWS
Kulakkada Pradeep
CEO, Future Schoolz

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3. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW
 Pre Press Workflows are derived from the set of standard
procedures followed in a production environment.
 A prepress workflow, however, does not refer to processes, but it
is used to refer to the software that is used to automate all or some
some of those processes in prepress.
 Workflow solutions consist of tools that help printers produce
high quality work quickly and cost effectively.
 A prepress workflow, however, does not refer to processes, but it
is used to refer to the software that is used to automate all or some
some of those processes in prepress
 Prepress workflow solutions geared towards digital printing are
often called a Digital Front End (DFE).
Image Credit: http://www.nanosysinc.com/
My workflow is not your workflow

4. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW
 There is a wide range of prepress workflow solutions available for commercial
printers
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 Fujifilm XMF
 Heidelberg Prinect
 Kodak Prinergy
 ScreenTrueFlow
 Agfa Apogee
 Some of the software companies also have solutions such as,
 DalimTWISt
 Esko Automation Engine
 Puzzle flow
 Xitron Navigator

5. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW - Types
 There is a wide range of prepress workflow
solutions available for commercial printers
Image Credit: http://www.nanosysinc.com/
 Fujifilm XMF
 Heidelberg Prinect
 Kodak Prinergy
 ScreenTrueFlow
 Agfa Apogee
 Some of the software companies also have
solutions such as,
 DalimTWISt
 Esko Automation Engine
 Puzzle flow
 Xitron Navigator

6. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW – Special
types
 It includes workflow for special works or processes
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 EFI Fiery
 Xerox XM Free Flow in XMPIE for digital retail
 EFI Enhanced Hybrid Work flow with Apogee 10 + EFI Fiery DFE for digital
 AGFA ASECURI- all-in-one high security work flow
 HP Smart stream for digital
 ESKO DESK PACK for flexo

7. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW - Tasks
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• DATA RECEPTION
• PREFLIGHT
• IMPOSITION
• RENDERING DATA
• TRAPPING
• GENERATING
PROOFS, EITHER
HARDCOPY
PROOFS OR
SOFTPROOFS
• MANAGING CORRECTIONS AND LAST
MINUTE CHANGES
• OUTPUT TO A DIGITAL PRESS,
IMAGESETTER OR COMPUTER TO
PLATE (CTP) SYSTEM
• GENERATING DATA TO AUTOMATE
PRINTING & FINISHING
• REPORTING TO MIS FOR BOTH
COSTING AND SCHEDULING
PURPOSES
• ARCHIVING JOBS FOR REPRINTS

8. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -APOGEE
Image Credit: http://www.nanosysinc.com/
Apogee Prepress from Agfa is a modern
prepress workflow solution.
Below is an overview of:
 the system architecture
 the main workflow components or task
processors
 types of jobs production management
functions

9. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -OVERVIEW
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 The Apogee Prepress software runs on the Microsoft Windows platform. It is
a scalable system
 Apogee Prepress is a client-server architecture. Operators usually don’t
work directly on the main server but use a separate computer to manage
Apogee. They can do this on-site or remotely
 Apogee is database driven. There is a central database that is used to
keeps track of all the jobs, locations of files, system settings, etc.
 The system supports virtualization, meaning that the software does not run
directly on the hardware of a computer but instead runs on VMware virtual
machines.
 Apogee can run on-site or it can be used in a cloud-based subscription
model, called Apogee Cloud
 Agfa offers an additional suite of applications to integrate ecommerce
(Apogee StoreFront), remote approval (Apogee Web Approval), cloud-
based data exchange (Print Sphere), etc

10. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Components
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 Hot folder
 Pre-flight
 Run list
 Impose
 PDF render
 CTP device
 Generic press

11. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW –Hot Folder
 The Hot Folder task processor is used to send data to a job.
 It allows you to define that a certain folder on the server or elsewhere should be
checked regularly for data.
 As soon as PDF files, PostScript data, TIFF files,… are dropped in that folder, they
get picked up and made a part of the job.
 Apogee Portal input channel, which enables customer to upload data using a web
site.
 JDF/JMF input channel for automatic job and data submission using the JDF
protocol.

12. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Preflight

13. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Preflight
Image Credit: http://www.nanosysinc.com/
 It is the process of confirming that the
digital files required for the printing
process are all present, valid,
correctly formatted, and of the desired
type
 The Pre flight task processor uses Pit
Stop to check incoming PDF files.
 It is for checking the resolution of
images, the presence of fonts and
dozens of other settings
 This module can also be used to fix
certain issues.

14. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Runlist
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The Run List task processor
is used to put all incoming
pages into the correct order.
This can be done
automatically, provided the
designer or agency used a
logic set of file names. Since
PDF is the internal file format
within Apogee Prepress,
pages in the Run List task
processor

15. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Impose
 One of the most important
modules is the Impose task
processor. As its name implies,
this takes care of imposition,
based on templates coming
from supported imposition.
applications.
 The ability to preview all
imposed flats before sending
them to the plate setter is very
practical.
 Apogee has its own imposition
engine, it can also handle JDF
jobs that including stripping

16. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW –PDF render
The RIP inside Apogee Prepress is
called PDFRender.
It is based on the Adobe PDF Print
Engine. The older Adobe CPSI RIP
is still available for job reruns,
when consistency with an old print
job is crucial.
You can purchase multiple
renderers and have the system
load balance all signatures or
pages across these RIPs. It is
pretty impressive and fast when
you see 3 or more RIPs crunch big
jobs.

17. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW –Output
device
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Apogee can drive multiple output
devices. These can be physical
devices such as an imposition
proofer or a CtP device.
It can also be logical or file
devices, such as PDF output
device or a virtual imagesetter that
generates TIFF 1-bit data.
Obviously you can use multiple
devices in a single job because
you need both proofs and plates.

18. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW -Components
Image Credit: http://www.nanosysinc.com/
 Of course Apogee
Prepress can drive a
number of digital presses.
 In an offset environment,
presses such as
the Generic Press are
used to define processing
settings. These can include
dot gain, the target colour
space or the type of CIP3
file with ink key settings
that needs to be generated.

19. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW –Plug ins
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Internet Explorer
OPERA

20. PRE PRESS WORKFLOW –Plug ins
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Firefox Chrome