Next Up: Hundreds of Hours Given Back to Designers
June 7, 2010 — Special to the HOW CONFERENCE — The Internet can “lose” the 5,170,000 files Google returns on a search for “Preparing Files for Print”, because Enfocus has automated that preparation for everyone with the release of new PitStop Connect.
From the developers of the world’s most popular PDF correction and preparation tool, PitStop, comes a solution that will give creative professionals hundreds – maybe thousands – of hours back in their lives when they start using free PitStop Connect “Connectors”. The Connectors automatically prepare files for output, according to print or display specifications. Designers just drop their files on the Connector and they are done. The files are fixed using the power of PitStop – but designers don’t pay for it, or do the work.
Gone are missing fonts and low-res images. Plus, production partners’ custom specifications are added and also automatically applied. And then the Connector sends the file to production.
“It’s like having an assistant skilled in PDF, checking, fixing, and sending your files, but at no cost,” says industry guru David Blatner. “What are designers going to do with all that extra time?”
The Real Deal on PitStop Connect
PitStop Connect bridges the gap between creative professionals and printers/publishers with a free droplet, called a Connector, that automatically preflights and delivers files according to print or display specifications.
PitStop Connect is insurance that the files designers create will reproduce properly, thereby eliminating time-consuming, frustrating, phone calls and returns for changes.
Bridging the Gap Between Two Worlds
Despite the fact that PDF has become the dominant file format for graphic design and printing, roughly 25% of PDF files still fail preflight.
Even if designers have developed PDF expertise, it is difficult to consistently create production-quality PDFs because systems, software, substrates and applications are so varied and dynamic. Settings are not easy to find and installation can be complicated. The few solutions available to help creative professionals generate perfect PDFs have proven to be too expensive or too complex.
By using PitStop Connect, printers and publishers can set specifications in a free “Connector” that automatically and transparently prepares files according to those parameters.
Regular partners are not the only ones who will appreciate the use of Connectors. Now creative professionals can supply quality jobs, with confidence, to new or less-frequent clients –and increasing the odds that they will want to work with them more!
Easy to Set-Up & Use
A simple interface allows printers/publishers to create Connectors for their creative partner suppliers. The Connector contains settings like Preflight Profile, Actions Lists and delivery specifications.
Delivery settings define whether the preflighted PDF file should be sent to the printer or publisher’s FTP server, or directly to Enfocus Switch. Printers and publishers may also brand the Connector icon itself with their own logo, a company background, or URL.
Printers/publishers only pay for PitStop Connect once, but it allows them to create an unlimited number of different Connectors, which can be distributed to all of their design and creative partners. There are no extra costs for the numbers of Connectors created, or the number of suppliers they distribute the Connectors to.
The Connectors can be posted on the printer/publisher partner website, where designers download and use them free of charge.
Perfect PDFs, Tailored to Customers’ Needs
The printer/publisher partner will define PitStop Connect’s preflight and correction process using a standard GWG profile, or using their own specifications expressed via an Enfocus Preflight Profile and/or Action List.
In case of errors, designers receive a preflight report identifying problems that they can still solve on their side. Depending on the printer/publisher partner’s settings, they can allow creators to send Certified Not Ok files, or allow the creators to sign-off on errors and still allow a file that failed preflight to be delivered.
When delivering directly to Switch, it is also possible that the designer will be asked to supply additional information before sending the file. This metadata can be used to automate processes directly in Switch (e.g. preflight, impose or archive depending on the metadata delivered with the PDF file).
Easy file delivery
Design partners only need to put the Connector on their desktop and literally start to “drop” files on it. There is no installation or set-up needed. The Connector automatically does the rest: checking, fixing, making the file comply with customer specs, and then sending it to their partner’s FTP or to Switch.
An Easy Relationship
By using the PitStop Connect tool, designers will give print and publishing customers consistent, quality files they can rely on; without frustration and delays on either side. The improved, positive atmosphere can make all the difference in an industry where communications can make or break business relationships.
About Enfocus
Enfocus provides modular and affordable tools safeguarding job quality and enabling automation throughout the complete production chain. Innovative solutions improve communication between design and production while enhancing productivity and predictability through automation of routine tasks.
Step-by-step deployment dramatically increases added value without forcing users to completely rethink their way of doing business. Well-known brands include Instant, PitStop and Switch.
Enfocus is a business unit of EskoArtwork and has its headquarters in Gent, Belgium.
About EskoArtwork
EskoArtwork is a global supplier and integrator of innovative solutions for packaging, commercial printing, sign and display finishing and professional publishing. Its products and services help customers raise productivity, reduce time-to-market, lower costs and expand business.
EskoArtwork employs around 950 people worldwide. Its global sales and support organization covers Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan, and is completed by a network of distribution partners in more than 40 countries.
EskoArtwork is headquartered in Gent, Belgium, and has R&D and manufacturing facilities in 5 European countries, the United States and in India. The consolidated full year financials ended for 2009 with revenue of EUR 145 million and an EBITDA of EUR 23 million.
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Media Contact:
Helene Smith
HSPR
+1 321-388-6511
smith@helenesmith.com