Software - Prepress & Design

Version 10 of Caldera's flagship printer control suite has been upgraded for all current licence-holders, featuring productivity markers, speed improvements and improved language support for international users. Drivers have also been developed for a number of new printers and cutters, building on Caldera's reputation as the go-to software internationally for the imaging of wide-format graphics. The update, V10.1, is available for free all current Version 10 holders.

Users can now add extra print-to-cut marks from within VisualRIP and GrandRIP at the stage of finalising the job, carrying these indicators over between repeated or nested documents. Not only does this provide improved accuracy, especially for textile and digital signage work, but it also optimises media space by eliminating the need for cut markers on borders. This option is fully supported by many industry standard cutters, including the Zünd, Protek and Summa brands.

Amongst the performance upgrades included in V10.1 are the incorporation of APPE 3.7, which decreases the RIP time for complex PDFs with variable data content or transparencies. Raster files and spot (or N-) colour processing are improved by more than four times when used in combination with Caldera's dedicated C4 engine or a computer with similar processing power, giving a significant productivity enhancement to the growing audience of wide-format houses that are using special effects and regionalisation within their output.

Popular features also receive improvements, with support for the Kala XY trimmer newly available to Trim-O-Matik licence holders. Nest-O-Matik, meanwhile, now allows users to change the automated naming of files; this is reflected in Nexio, Caldera's JDF-JMF connector module, which sees a 'GangName' field added for clustered jobs and is fully compatible with these amendments.

Japanese users benefit from improved support after customer feedback, while the Hebrew character set has been extended to cover new functionality. The entire suite has received a new language, Czech, in Caldera's continuing mission to extend its user family; similarly, Nexio now carries full documentation in Spanish.

"Our landmark Version 10 is establishing itself firmly as the product to beat world-wide and we continue to receive feedback from our various customer contact channels," explains Frédéric Soulier, Chief Technology Officer. "We will continue to augment Caldera across the board with incremental upgrades as we find new ways to improve speed, functionality and performance for our users."

Enfocus has established a new subscription option that gives users a low-cost way to license software, while providing more flexibility and control over where and how the software is used. The first product to be available with this subscription option is PitStop Pro 13, which will be released mid-April, 2015. The PitStop customer base strongly validated the company’s research regarding need, requirements, and viability of a subscripton option to be available along with the traditional PitStop Pro license.

Bjorn Willems, Director of Product Management at Enfocus, says: “The lower cost barrier and greater flexibility of the subscription model brings the benefits of PitStop Pro to users who were previously unable to access this powerful solution. With the subscription model of PitStop Pro, we can improve the quality and efficiency of many more organizations than before.”

Benefits of the Subscription Option
A subscription license is a cost-effective way for users to access applications. The model lowers upfront fees, and the monthly subscription option allows users to control their operating expenses more efficiently. For example, customers can increase subscriptions during peak times, and reduce them during slow periods. Additionally, the new model gives users access to PitStop Pro wherever they are, and whenever they need it.

While the subscription and traditional licenses afford access to the same application, subscribers always have immediate access to the latest version of the technology, eliminating the need, in some cases, to obtain approvals for updates or upgrades.

Fabian Prudhomme, Vice President of Enfocus, says, “The cloud has changed how many companies access technology, but it’s not the right solution for everyone. So before making any changes to our license options, we went to the source – our customers – to confirm exactly what they needed. The result of that survey greatly influenced the licensing options for PitStop Pro. We thank our customers for the strong role they had in helping to create it.”

Enfocus will continue to offer the PitStop Pro license key option to customers who prefer capital expenditure over operational expenditure.

The Enfocus Subscription Model at Work
The subscription license is tied to a new system that utilizes customers’ account identification, called Enfocus ID. To access their PitStop Pro subscription, users sign into their accounts using their Enfocus ID.

Once authorized, the subscription to PitStop Pro is enabled on that computer. The users remain signed in and do not need to re-enter their credentials every time they are online.

To access their subscription from another computer, users simply log out and use their Enfocus ID to log in from the new computer - such as a different computer at their company or a laptop at home. Companies can purchase multiple subscriptions with one Enfocus ID, and assign them to staff. These subscriptions can be easily managed and updated as the needs of the company and the staff change.

Customer Input is Always Decisive
A survey of more than 2,000 Enfocus customers confirmed the positive response to this subscription license model and helped to guide its development.

Many of these customers are also contributors to Enfocus’ research and development on a regular basis – a hallmark of the company’s success.

Support and Price Plan
Subscribers to PitStop Pro have full access to email technical support. Users can easily manage all aspects of their subscriptions in the account section on the Enfocus website.

In addition, users who opt for a subscription license will always have access to the latest version of PitStop Pro, as all upgrades are included in the subscription pricing model. A PitStop Pro subscription is available through a local Enfocus reseller or through the Enfocus website.

The option for subscription licensing will be available when PitStop Pro 13 is released in April 2015. A single monthly subscription for PitStop Pro will cost £25 per month, or £20 per month with an annual prepaid contract at £240, while a perpetual license costs £579.

 

SAi will use the International Sign Expo 2015 (9-11 April, Las Vegas, USA) to educate audiences about what makes Flexi and EnRoute software products the leading solutions for sign makers.

Educational presentations offer up-close look at SAi Flexi

Via demonstrations and informative educational presentations of its flagship signmaking and CAD/CAM software solutions, SAi's booth (#1574) will offer ISA visitors a platform to hear how the company's feature-rich product solutions help customers improve their signmaking operations. This includes SAi Flexi v11, the very latest version of the industry-acclaimed software family, which comprises a variety of banner finishing tools, a QR Code Creator for interactive signage, cloud-based business tools, and a mobile app to view production insights.

SAi's Flexi-based educational presentation topics at ISA will run continually through the event and will offer an in-depth, yet simple look at how sign and print businesses can make the most of Flexi software. Customers who use RIPs like Onyx®, VersaWorks and RasterLink will learn how the Flexi design module complements these programs. Other topics will cover tips & tricks from SAi's lead support specialist, how the pros use Flexi for creative text manipulation and designing in full scale, advanced color control, and the ease of Flexi's print-and-cut workflow.

EnRoute educates audiences on turning creative design ideas into reality

SAi will also use ISA 2015 to showcase its industry-leading EnRoute v5 CAD/CAM software for CNC signmaking projects, which offers creative 2D design tools for drawing, 3D engraving and 3D texturing and surfacing, as well as production tools such as associative toolpathing and advanced true shape nesting. Product experts will be available to demonstrate and answer questions about how to use EnRoute for design and production in the sign market. ISA visitors will be treated to in-booth EnRoute training sessions on how to create 2D, 3D engraved and 3D surfaced signs using EnRoute software.

"SAi is a long-standing ISA exhibitor and we now enjoy a very mature set of products that, for many customers, represent the heartbeat of their signmaking operations," says Mark Blundell, CEO, SAi.

"SAi's focus at ISA will be fixed firmly on educating the audience on the multitude of productivity-enhancing benefits delivered by our foremost software solutions. As a result, for ISA visitors looking to improve productivity and boost efficiencies within their signmaking workflow, a visit to SAi's booth will be well worth their time," he concludes.

Free Happy Hour at SAi's booth

SAi invites show visitors to unwind at its Free Happy Hour at 4pm on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th April, where it will offer drinks and the opportunity to network, while enjoying SAi's hospitality.

 

CADlink Technology will present the “SignLab Theatre” for the second year running at Sign& Digital UK 2015 on stand M16. Whether you are new to the industry, new to SignLab or just want to refresh your software skills there will be something for you in one of our daily seminars this year.

In addition, the company has announced a competition to win a copy of SignLab 9.1 Print & Cut (RRP £2300).

Make sure you visit the SignLab Theatre (stand M16) to be in with a chance of winning your very own copy of one of the most powerful, dedicated sign making software solutions on the market.

• Customers will be required to leave their full details to be entered into the prize draw.
• The winner will be drawn at random from all valid entries received by the close of the show.
• The winner will be announced the week following the show.

Enfocus has announced the release of Enfocus PitStop 12 update 3. In addition to support for Mac OS X Yosemite, this latest release of PitStop technology includes a range of new and user-requested features that improve the quality of PDF pre-flighting and editing. PitStop 12 update 3 is available now.

As PDF files have become the standard for file exchange in the graphic arts industry, critical gaps have emerged in PDF workflows. PitStop technology covers these gaps, giving users tools that go beyond quality control and enable manual and auto¬mated error correction that guarantees reliable PDF processing and output.

Andrew Bailes-Collins, Senior Product Manager at Enfocus, notes: “Since its introduction, PitStop has helped customers worldwide solve the challenges that occur with PDF file production and output. It has become the must-have product for anybody working with PDF files in the graphics arts industry, used by over 130,000 customers all over the world to detect, correct and edit problems within PDF files.”

He adds: “The value of this wide network of customers gives us a tremendous benefit. They are a great source of ideas and information on how we can make our technology even better. You can clearly see the input of our users in this latest release of PitStop technology. Their input, combined with our development efforts, makes PitStop 12 update 3 an important resource for our customers and for anybody working with PDF files.”

New features and functionality included in PitStop Pro 12 update 3 are:

OS X Yosemite Support
Apple recently announced its OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and PitStop 12 update 3 is officially supporting this new version. This compatibility gives users the opportunity to take advantage of the features in this new operating system.

New Actions for Better Production
PitStop 12 update 3 includes several new actions that better support the speed, accuracy and output of PDFs that are managed with PitStop. These actions include:

• Add Colour Bar - This new action lets users automatically generate a colour bar using the document colours of each individual page. While users can still control tint values, patch size and position, the automatic generation of the colour bar saves time and ensures greater colour accuracy in production.
• Match, Fill and Stroke Colours - This new action fills a request heard from many PitStop customers. It lets users change the stroke to match the fill – and vice versa - based on the selected objects.
• Flatten Annotations - This new action builds on a previous ‘Flatten form fields’ action that was released in an earlier version of PitStop 12. Because that action had no configurable options, users reported that some of these annotations were causing issues on output. This new action solves that problem by giving users the tools to flatten annotations so they become normal objects within the PDF.

Tools for Proportional Resizing
This is another customer request that Enfocus is addressing in PitStop 12 update 3. It gives users a ‘lock’ in the Inspector that can be used for proportionally resizing objects or page boxes.

New Actions for Layer Functionality
PitStop 12 update 3 also includes improved functionality for working with layers in PDF files. Users now have actions that enable them to select layers in various ways, giving them the ability to select, remove, check, and change layers and layer properties.

Enhancements to Existing Functionality
PitStop 12 update 3 improves the user experience further with better colour mapping from Gray to CMYK, and support for rasterising content within PDF files via Action Lists.

New default Action Lists
PitStop 12 update 3 also ships with many new pre-configured Action Lists that use the newly developed functionality. These new Action Lists helps users to get immediate benefit from the new features without having to create Action Lists of their own. The Action Lists can easily be modified by users to meet their own production requirements.

New functionality for PitStop Server 12 update 3.
PitStop Server also benefits from the new Actions and Action Lists available in this new release. In addition, PitStop Server also includes an improved configurator for use with Enfocus Switch and PitStop2Switch.

How to get Pitstop 12 update 3?
For more information on obtaining PitStop 12 update 3, please contact Enfocus at sales@enfocus.com or visit the Enfocus website at www.enfocus.com/pitstop 

Enfocus today announces PitStop FontFix, the new Adobe Acrobat Pro and Standard plug-in that checks and replaces fonts missing from PDF files. PDF is an extremely popular file format used by a wide range of markets worldwide, including graphic arts, government, corporate, office, financial and medical. To celebrate the release, Enfocus is making the Font Fix solution available to customers for free. To get their copy, customers simply share their thoughts on social media.

As PDF files have grown in popularity, so has the problem of missing fonts. Users in all of these markets experience the challenge that comes from managing a PDF file that is missing correct fonts.

PitStop Font Fix is the result of an agreement between Enfocus, the leading software developer of tools to control the quality of PDF files, and Monotype, a leading global provider of typefaces, technology and expertise. With the new PitStop Font Fix plug-in, users can check their PDFs for missing fonts and make simple corrections. If fonts are missing, users can simply embed them from fonts available on their computer system, or by downloading them from Monotype Baseline™, a cloud-based font library.

Here’s how it works:

- Visit the Enfocus PitStop Font Fix link (www.enfocus.com/en/products/pitstop-font-fix) and click the “Get It Now” button.

- Write a personal message or use the Enfocus' suggested post:  “I fixed fonts in my PDF file with PitStop Font Fix!” Then share the update on social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google+, xing en vkontakte).

- Download and install the plugin (Macintosh and Windows) into Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Acrobat Standard.

Once users have installed the plug-in and registered for a free Monotype Baseline account, they can embed as many local system fonts as they want. By creating an account on the Monotype Baseline platform, users get access to a massive font library. This Monotype library holds over 60,000 fonts of various types, including Adobe Type 1 fonts. As a start, users receive 10 free tokens enabling them to embed 10 fonts absolutely free of charge.  After that, additional fonts can be purchased via the Monotype website at $0.39 per font. This exceptional promotional offer is valid until the last day of this year.

For more information, visit www.enfocus.com/en/products/pitstop-font-fix.

If you are not currently a customer and want to learn more about the entire Enfocus range of solutions for managing PDFs, please visit www.enfocus.com.