Software - Workflow

InfoTrends has announced the release of its global forecast for the Print Production Workflow Software Market for 2009 through 2014. While this market, like many others, experienced a notable drop as a result of the recent economic downturn, InfoTrends believes that it is beginning to recover and will experience sustained growth through the next several years, at an average yearly rate of just over 5%. International markets, especially in emerging economies like Latin America and Asia Pacific, are also expected to be a significant source of growth.

Alex Sumarta, a Director at InfoTrends, stated, “This market faced a lot of challenges in the last couple of years, and the 2009 numbers reflect those trying times. We have already begun to see improvements in 2010, however, and we expect that growth to continue for the foreseeable future.

Advancements in technology and changing communication methods are among the growth drivers in this market. New software provides vast improvements in workflow efficiency as well as increased personalisation of communications materials. Today’s marketers are evolving toward a multi-channel approach, and that is evidenced by the fact that multi-channel software managed to attain growth even during the recent economic dive.

A rebound is expected for most segments as there is some pent-up demand, particularly regarding customised communication and e-enablement solutions. Although some organisations continue to hold off on investments, print service providers need software solutions to diversify into higher-margin offerings. Investments are also a must for maintaining an automated and cost-effective workflow, which is essential to business success.

InfoTrends has released two forecasts on this market that are available for purchase. They are: Global & North American Print Production Workflow Market Forecast: 2009-2014 and Global & Western Europe Print Production Workflow Market Forecast: 2009-2014.

Clarity Software launches new v4.0 of Clarity Professional this week.  Containing a fresh icon, a wealth of new functionality and hundreds of architectural developments, version 4.0 is Clarity's biggest upgrade release since v3.0 was deployed in 2005.

Richard Gamlin, Clarity Software’s Managing Director, was delighted with the response to v4.0’s new features received from customers who saw it unveiled at the Clarity User Group Meeting in October. “Version 4.0 is a significant release for Clarity, providing some fantastic new day-to-day features to help customers increase their efficiency”, Gamlin said.

“Value-add enhancements such as Microsoft Outlook integration, spellcheck and increased JDF compatibility sit alongside our superb new browser-based Shop Floor Data Collection (SFDC) module. This has been successfully Beta tested at selected customer sites, returning excellent time and cost-saving benefits for them. SFDC runs on Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer and paves the way for Macs and PCs to work together within the workplace.”

Some of the most important modifications, however, can be found under the bonnet of v4.0. Clarity Software’s Road Map for the next couple of years is an exciting and challenging one, so the architecture has been restructured to allow for the significant expansions it has planned.

David Steward, Clarity Product Designer and Developer, disclosed: “The real jewels of v4.0 are not that obvious and are largely invisible to our users. We needed to lay the foundations and install a toolkit for the new features we shall be launching in 2011, when Clarity will augment radical new directions in its product growth.”

But Steward was equally quick to highlight the additional functionality available right now: “You will be far from disappointed this week, as we have incorporated some superb wish list items and advancements, including improved multi-user price list control, printable calendars and data grids, a more user-friendly Calc-Wizard setup and Sage 2011 integration. These will help our users streamline their daily processes immediately.”

Clarity Professional v4.0 and Clarity Lite Edition v4.0 will be rolled out to its users from Wednesday 24th November. For those wishing to experience the product, free trials of Clarity Professional v4.0 can be found at www.claritypro.com/trial.

Clarity Free Edition, currently at v1.4, is penned for a v2.0 upgrade next year.

Enfocus has introduced Switch 09 Update 2, an upgrade of its popular Switch automation software suite. This release includes a new tool for routing Enfocus Certified PDF files depending on their preflight status. It also adds compatibility with the newest features in PitStop Server 10, which was released in October. PitStop Server 10 users can now create workflows to not only preflight files but also to automate transparency flattening with or without preflighting. Furthermore, Switch 09 Update 2 adds four completely new configurators as well as updating some existing ones.

Configurators directly control and automate third party applications that integrate with FullSwitch and PowerSwitch. Enfocus has a growing network of partnerships with other leading software vendors and has regularly added new configurators since Switch was first introduced in 2006. Enfocus also set up the Enfocus Crossroads community of partners, users and integrators, which co-operate to enhance and extend the use of Switch and its configurators.

“In the light of the ‘Enfocus, You First’ campaign we are closely following up on the needs of our users,” explains Elli Cloots, Director of Product Management at Enfocus “For that reason we have introduced four new configurators in this new Switch update. These new configurators are responding to the needs of our customers. A wide range of configurators also reinforces our Crossroads strategy, where we aim to offer a lot of diverse solutions to automate processes.”

New configurators

The four new configurators include one from Dynagram, which is new to the Enfocus Crossroads community, while the other three are additional configurators from existing partners Elpical, ColorLogic and Axaio.

• Dynagram inpO2: a powerful, modular PDF imposition software solution. By combining the Switch configurator and the inpO2 Automation Module, users can now fully automate their PDF impositions for digital and offset workflows.
• Elpical Claro Premedia Server: offers a complete image processing workflow for fast processing of high volumes of images. While Claro Premedia analyzes and enhances the images for highest-quality results, Switch automates the management of these images.
• ColorLogic DocBees Profile Tagger: a special kind of color management preflighting tool that automatically identifies the profile that suits a CMYK separation best. The tool analyzes both TIFF and JPEG image data, as well as CMYK images in PDF files, assigns them the most suitable profiles and, if required, embeds these profiles in the files. The Switch plug-in allows the combination of traditional and advanced color management preflighting.
• Axaio Made To Print InDesign® Server: a solution for high-speed, high-volume output from InDesign® Server. Axaio Made To Print Server takes care of printing and exporting InDesign documents and seamlessly integrates with Switch which manages those documents and the different exported files.

The updated configurators are for Ultimate Impostrip Scalable Server Edition, callas pdfToolbox 4.5, ProofMaster, Axaio Made To Print InDesign®, Axaio Made To Print Quark Xpress and Enfocus PitStop Server 10. These updates guarantee compatibility with the latest software versions.

Certified PDF tool

Enfocus also added a tool that can route Enfocus Certified PDF files according to their preflight state (error, success, warning and sign-off). This is available for all Switch users (even in LightSwitch), without the need to install third party software.

Certified PDF files coming from Enfocus PitStop Pro, PitStop Server and Instant PDF can be sorted automatically, but Switch users will get the most out of this tool when processing files coming from Enfocus PitStop Connect, a new tool launched earlier in 2010. PitStop Connect allows printers and publishers to ‘connect’ with their customers, supplying them a Connector, a tool to preflight and deliver their PDF according to the required specifications.

PitStop Connect seamlessly integrates with Enfocus Switch. Once files are delivered to Switch through one of the Connectors made in PitStop Connect, they can be sorted depending on the result of the preflight process performed in the Connector. A Connector is a droplet that is created in PitStop Connect and used by a creative to preflight and deliver his PDF file.

"Users of PowerSwitch, which supports metadata and scripting, will benefit even more from this update because handling script expression and picking up metadata has been improved too," points out Elli Cloots.

Availability

Switch 09 Update 2 is available now. Existing users of LightSwitch 09, FullSwitch 09 and PowerSwitch 09 can upgrade by downloading a free update from the Enfocus website. Users of earlier versions should contact their local dealers for upgrade offers.

A fully functional (time-limited) trial version can be downloaded from the Enfocus website www.enfocus.com as well as trial versions of all other Enfocus products.

Design professionals in the architecture, engineering and construction industries will be able to save time, improve collaboration and reduce review cycles using the industry’s first web-ready large-format printing solution – available today.

The new HP ePrint & Share and HP Designjet T2300 eMultifunction Printer (eMFP) solution allows design teams to easily access, share and print large-format project files online anytime, anywhere.(1) HP also introduced new HP Graphics Solutions Partner Program offerings that come bundled with the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP to help simplify and improve the technical design process.

“In September, HP announced a breakthrough in the way design professionals can collaborate and share information through its ePrint & Share platform and the new HP Designjet T2300 eMFP,” said Santiago Morera, vice president and general manager, HP Designjet Large-Format Solutions, HP. “Today, HP is making this innovative solution available to allow technical design professionals to reduce review cycles and unleash their creativity.”

The world’s most collaborative printing solution

The HP ePrint & Share platform revolutionises the way design professionals manage project workflows. Available for download at www.hp.com/go/eprintandshare, HP ePrint & Share allows architects, engineers and construction professionals to directly scan project files to the cloud, quickly print and access plans from the road, share designs with remote project teams(1) and seamlessly collaborate with design partners around the world.

HP ePrint & Share is available for all HP Designjet customers and will be accessible from the touchscreen of the HP Designjet T2300 eMFP(2) – the industry’s first web-ready large-format printer with scan, print and copy functionality.(1) Designed to match today’s collaborative and mobile work styles, the new printer allows technical design professionals to easily scan and upload documents to the web and to print drawings wherever needed.(1)

Autodesk solutions for end-to-end workflows

HP and Autodesk, a leader in 3-D design software, are providing a completely integrated workflow solution that helps design professionals improve efficiency, collaboration and productivity on every project, from start to finish.

Autodesk software solutions bundled with every HP Designjet T2300 eMFP purchase include:

• new HP ePrint & Share plug-in, which allows customers to simplify their printing directly from AutoCAD, industry-leading software that offers powerful tools for exploring design concepts and accelerating documentation
• AutoCAD® Raster Design,(3) which enables the full scanning and vectorisation of sketches, printed plans or blueprints, is one of the leading raster applications for design professionals who need to use or reuse scanned paper drawings to manage, convert, analyse and edit those images in AutoCAD software and applications based on AutoCAD.

“With the new HP Designjet T2300 eMFP, architects and designers can scan existing drawings and blueprints, and then rasterise and vectorise them through AutoCAD Raster Design, and then bring them into AutoCAD for editing,” said Amy Buszel, senior director, AutoCAD Products, Autodesk. “Beginning a project with a CAD file instead of manually creating a design in AutoCAD based on paper files is a much more efficient process.”

Trial version of Scan2CAD software from Softcover

Also bundled with each HP Designjet T2300 eMFP is a 30-day trial version of Softcover International’s Scan2CAD software. Customers who have purchased an HP Designjet T2300 eMFP also will be entitled to a significant discount on Scan2CAD software, version 8.

With Scan2CAD, users can quickly scan drawings and printouts into Drawing eXchange Format (DXF) files suitable for editing in any PC computer-aided design (CAD) program using Softcover’s automatic raster-to-vector and PDF-to-CAD conversion technologies. The program can extract CAD-editable data from a variety of formats, including single- or multipage vector PDFs, single- or multipage raster PDFs, single- or multipage hybrid PDFs (raster and vector), and scanned (raster) images created with desktop/large-format scanners and saved in many standard image file formats, including BMP, CAL, CIT, JPEG, TIFF and PNG.

(1)   Internet connection required.

(2)   Upgradeable functionality planned to be available in 2011. May require an internet connection to the printer. Feature works with any internet- and email- capable device.

(3) Software delivered as a free 30-day trial and requires the 2011 release of AutoCAD software or an AutoCAD-based product.

ONYX Graphics, Inc. has joined forces with industry leaders to define open Job Definition Format (JDF) standards for the wide format printing market. JDF is a technical interface standard developed for and by the graphic arts industry to facilitate cross-vendor print workflows.

"Today, our customers maximise productivity and quality using ONYX® Quickset automation and software tools available in every ONYX RIP product," said Danielle Mattiussi, Director of Product Portfolio and Business Development at ONYX Graphics. "JDF further enhances our automation capabilities by extending our connectivity to other JDF-enabled products. This digital job ticket can now be shared between systems automatically, reducing the manual intervention that is required to move a job through the shop. It minimises the expense associated with errors, increasing reliability and ultimately leading to higher quality. We are excited to be a part of the JDF initiative as it gains momentum in the wide format market."

This initiative, under the guidance of the International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4) is chaired by HP, which introduced a new certification program that enables alliance partners' workflow products – including those from ONYX Graphics – to be "HP Certified for Wide Format Printing JDF Exchange." The initiative is designed to resolve interoperability shortfalls between web-to-print tools, production devices, raster image processors and digital front ends so that they work together to streamline wide format printing workflows for increased productivity. ONYX Graphics is among the first alliance partners to achieve certification through the program. This enables wide format print providers using ONYX Graphics production software products to take advantage of automation tools that reduce costs and differentiate their service offerings.

ONYX Graphics has also joined the CIP4 workgroup and will release certified JDF workflow interfaces for its various production workflow products, starting with an update to ONYX ProductionHouse™ software Version X10 early next year.

ONYX Graphics has worked closely with other JDF alliance partners including Cyrious Software, a leading provider of estimating and business management software, to increase automation of job submission and business information. "Cyrious is very pleased to be working with ONYX Graphics, HP and the other certified JDF partners in what is a natural next step for increasing productivity and profitability," said Cyrious co-CEO Charlie Carter. "Being able to exchange information between Cyrious Control, ONYX RIPs and the other JDF certified equipment and systems will sharpen the accuracy of estimating profitability, increase the visibility and manageability of work-in-process in production, and reduce costly errors."

EFI announced two new print MIS customers at Graph Expo 2010 in Chicago - ANRO Inc. of West Chester, Pa. (USA), purchased EFI Monarch, and The DATA Group of Companies of Canada selected EFI Pace™.