Smarter Job Prep
"After PrintFactory was installed, we are more confident to accept customer jobs. We know we will match their needs and we can combine all of our systems without losing time in repeat jobs or extra adjustments. We save a lot of time and we have increased our reputation with our customers.."
“When we installed PrintFactory with the INCA Spyder Machine, we placed a trial order for all the systems including 2 Roll to roll solvent and ecosolvent printers with different manufacturers, and 1 flatbed UV printer and new flatbed acquisition from another manufacturer.
After Print Factory was installed and colour calibrated, all the machines had the same colours independently of ink type, manufacturer, print configuration, 4 colours vs 6 colours
In addition we saved a lot of time not only for prepress and job preparation but also to change one job between machines. That’s why we chose PrintFactory…”
Getting Rid Of Bottlenecks
If you have several printers, you’ve probably got ‘islands’ in your workflow. Printers, RIPs and computers not connected to each other. Pre-press teams tend to work with the Adobe Suite and prefer macs to work on. But production tools are ‘bolted’ onto the RIP, which usually runs off Windows or Linux. What’s more, you’ll usually find pre-press in an office, but production gets done on the shop floor. So: you’ve got multiple licenses for editing software (which can only be used by one person at a time), and more room for error, re-submitting jobs. Plus, you’ve probably got RIP-operators editing too … instead of focusing on what they’re best at, which is maintaining your printers.
However, PrintFactory’s Editor works right across your network. It’s agnostic, it works with macOS, Windows, and Linux. And you can have multiple installs in any location. This means job-prep can be done where you need it to be, your people are never tied to working on just one RIP, and you’re not creating bottlenecks with last-minute amends. Using a centralized RIP moves the tools away from different stations and gives your team the freedom to work wherever they want to – on-site, or not. It also gives you unprecedented visibility of the entire workflow.
A Premium-Quality Editor
Let’s not overlook the basic features we’ve included with the Editor. From font styles, to typographic errors, to kerning, to image sizes – and colours – PrintFactory’s Editor gives you all the versatility of a complete design package, inside the workflow software. PrintFactory’s Editor uses the same PDF engine that’s driving the RIP. So the amends you see on screen are the amends you’ll print. Font; image; colour; scale; adjust; reformat – all done in-app. No studio time involved. It works with most files’ formats, too: PDFs, PSDs, TIFFs, JPGs, EPS and AI. There’s no need to close one piece of software, open another, find and import the file, amend the typo, tweak the colours on the image, check, do a save-as, close the file, switch back, jam up the server … none of that. In fact, our customers tell us they prefer PrintFactory’s Editor to any other design package.
Unlimited Scaling Means No More Mistakes
Unlimited Scaling Means No More Mistakes. The trouble is, when you’re working on something like a floor graphic, wall-sized map or mural, building graphics or vehicle wraps … the limitations of design programmes do make life difficult. What’s more, a lot of artwork won’t fit 1:1 on the canvas in Adobe’s Illustrator or InDesign software. That’s a recipe for disaster when the job gets into production. But with PrintFactory, you don’t need to do any maths or make notes in a job bag. Our editor tool works the way a designer thinks. Unlimited brain power (we know some cool designers). If there’s a sizing field in our software, then you can type in the finished size of a job. Type in ‘ft’ – work in feet. Type in ‘m’ – work in metres. Or inches, or centimetres. It’s unlimited scaling with zero room for error, so your RIP-operators don’t need to work things out to scale. Easy.
Better Quality With Visual Matching
Better quality with visual matching device-link profiles don’t compress or expand a printer’s gamut the way the ICC profiles do. Instead, device-link technology translates a profile directly onto a printer’s gamut with a mix of colormetric and perceptual rendering, which combine to be known as visual matching.
This ‘true rendition’ of colour means there’s not as much need for extra coloured ink. Consistent colour is guaranteed. As are your savings, using up to 20% less ink in the process – all of the time. What’s more, with Calibrator running, you can be matching the calibration on different printers in 10 to 20 mins: our Delta-e tolerances are proofing quality from the outset. This means you can load-balance with ease. You can do repeat jobs too – saving files as a template to use a few weeks or even months later – with 100% confidence in the colour. Just think. Your print quality is the same, if not better. But how much extra profit-margin could you be making with PrintFactory?
How To Stop Scaling Errors
“Most of our jobs and our customers’ artwork won’t fit 1:1 on the canvas in Adobe’s Illustrator or Adobe InDesign. That’s okay for designers, but it’s a recipe for disaster in production. It means using a calculator or, worse still, scribbling numbers on a job bag and trusting people to do scale-up maths in their head. I wanted to stop scaling errors completely, so that’s why I chose PrintFactory…”
Printfactory | Wide Format Workflow Software
The trouble is, when you’re working on something like a floor graphic, wall-sized map or mural, building graphics or vehicle wraps, the limitations of design programmes do make life difficult. They were created to help designers with detail, not dinosaur-sized dimensions.
Printing a poster at the wrong scale won’t cost you your business (as long as you don’t send it out to the client). But when you’re handling building wraps or large-scale signage, any error is expensive. It’s not just a huge amount of wasted media that’s going into the bin. It’s overtime, your team’s morale, and – in the worst case – you’re risking your reputation, too. PrintFactory is the answer.
With PrintFactory, you can work in actual sizes. That means zero errors on the press, no wasted ink or media.
PrintFactory’s size fields let you work in 1 to 1 scale, on jobs up to 1KM x 1KM in size. That means there’s no need to prepare any jobs in a scaled-down version.
If there’s a sizing field in our software – anywhere in our software – then we’ve made sure you can type in the finished size of a job as it will be when it’s printed.
Let’s Get Technical
We were printers, once. First-hand, we know that adding in room-for-error doesn’t make sense in any workflow.
So, when we wrote the software used in PrintFactory, we took that problem out. With PrintFactory, there’s no need to reach for a calculator. There’s no math involved. There’s no chance of a designer using one scale, and your operators using another – to print something impressive that’s going straight in the bin.
Type in ‘ft’, work in feet.
Type in ‘m’, work in metres.
Type in ‘cm’, work in centimetres.
Or inches or hectares if you want to – you get the idea. It’s unlimited scaling on the grandest scale, with zero room for error. You don’t need to do any weird multiplication. There’s no need to argue about how ratios translate from imperial to metric. And you don’t need to rely on handwritten notes in a job bag.
Setting the artwork at full size removes the chance for human error. Just type in the finished size of the job as you’d like to print it and send it to the RIP.
Get A More Efficient Workflow
“Our workflow software sat on the computer holding the RIP. Normal, really. But there was a problem with that. It’s just not as efficient as it could be. Whenever we had to do prep work there, on that machine – adding bleeds and grommets, for example – then we’d be holding up every other part of our production. We needed a better solution, so that’s why we went with PrintFactory software…”
Printfactory | Wide Format Workflow Software
The trouble is, if you’ve tied one computer and its editing software to each RIP, then only one person can make corrections or add special instructions to a file. You can’t have two people preparing jobs at the same time. And in larger print businesses, where you’re running multiple RIPs, your team simply might not know all the software well enough to handle it. There is a workaround, but it’s not clever. You can prep jobs on other workstations. But that means disconnected job bags … writing notes … files coming to the RIP from who knows where, stacked who knows when. It may not be a recipe for disaster, but it’s not efficient – and you’re constantly building in room for error.
PrintFactory is the answer.
PrintFactory gives you a more efficient workflow. It frees up your press operators to do what they do best: maintaining the presses.
With our workflow software and RIP in place, you can get a job production-ready before it gets to the press. All the prep work can be done in one place, without specialist skills – or extra licenses for several copies of the same design software – and this leaves your press operators doing what they do best, maintaining and running the press.
Let’s Get Technical
It’s true, some press operators are very good at making design amends and prepping files quickly. That can be a real help in a small team, especially if they’ve picked up the colour expertise that’s often needed, too.
But let’s face it. While those minutes or hours spent lending a hand can help production to flow faster in the short term… it also means those operators can’t be focused on maintenance or running the presses.
Plus, every time you divide prep-work between your press operators and your pre-press team, there’s a risk of more mistakes creeping in.
PrintFactory solves those problems, which means you stop building in room for error. Our workflow software checks jobs for errors, and corrects and normalises the files automatically to deliver ISO-standard, compliant, error-free jobs. Perfect colour; corrections made; and problems addressed before the files reach the press.
PrintFactory speeds up your production and focuses your press operators’ time on what they do best.
The Right Kind of Support
You’ll like PrintFactory.
We do the hard work for you, no problem.
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