Imposition technology in digital workflow

In the field of printing and platemaking, traditional hand-stabs and impositions are heavy and inefficient, and there is a great deal of duplication of effort. The computer imposition technique makes the work of imposition large and easy. Its convenience has completely changed the traditional way of making impositions. Automatic layout is an important part of the digital workflow. There are many layout softwares for manufacturers and software companies. It is necessary to carry out a comprehensive analysis to facilitate users to choose the products that are suitable for them.

Layout features

Computer spelling, as the name implies, uses a computer to make many small pages into a printing version. The role of the imposition version in printing is to determine the most reasonable printing method, provide correct folded sheets, and also save material and shorten the printing time. We know that traditional manual imposition has high requirements for operators. Operators need to know the paper size used for printing, the type of binding, folding, bleeding, cutting size and cutting marks, crosshairs and color control strips, and creep adjustments. parameter. Now that the computer is used for imposition, the situation has greatly changed. Its main advantages are:

(1) Simplify the process flow, increase the degree of automation, replace more manual operations, and reduce the requirements for operators.

(2) Shorten production time and preparation time. Because the speed of computer imposition exceeds the speed of artificial imposition, the files that originally needed to fight one day are now completed in an hour.

(3) Reduce waste of raw materials. While reducing the setup and preparation time, the material waste during the adjustment is reduced, and the production cost is reduced. Due to the high error rate of manual imposition, it is often found that after finishing the PS version, the imposition is wrong, resulting in more material waste, and computer imposition rarely has these problems.

(4) Improve product reliability and consistency. Since the documents handed to the printing factory have been completed, the quality of the products processed at different times and regions can be kept consistent and the quality of the printed matter can be improved.

(5) Improve product quality and reduce errors. Since the imposition version was completed by a computer before the film was issued, there was no problem of registration and error, effectively improving the quality of the product.

Layout Technology

1. Fight and fight

From the main use of the computer layout, there are mainly two ways to fight and fight.

(1) Couplings are mainly used for samples, books, pictures, and other printed materials that require folding. This imposition process is more complicated and requires the operator to have certain expertise in printing and post-press processing, such as the size and quantity of printed paper, the way of printing and folding.

(2) The freedom to fight is to save material (film) for the purpose of imposition is relatively simple, mainly to different sizes of different files together, so that the film's effective use of the largest area. However, it is also necessary to have a certain understanding of the printing method when printing a document on the same machine.

2. RIP pre imposition and RIP post imposition

From the point of view of the relationship between the layout and RIP, it can be divided into two ways: pre-RIP and RIP.

(1) RIP pre-imposition: First, the page is spelled into a large version and sent to RIP. This is the most common method at present. Completion of layout and trapping of each page, followed by page layout work, and production of an output file containing OPI (Open Prepress Interface) commands (for high and low resolution images when used in RIP). Finally, this document is sent to RIP for processing. However, this type of imposition makes the data volume of RIP-processed files larger, and is not suitable for transmission and reception via the network during processing. In addition, since various types of imposition software are mainly based on processing PS files, the layout software must output the prepared pages in the file format of PS or EPS before the imposition operation (DK&A's Imposition is an exception. This is a time-consuming job. At the same time, since PS files are usually much larger than the original files of the application software, they must spend more time processing files and require a large amount of hard disk storage space.

(2) After RIP imposition: First RIP page, then the big version, suitable for packaging, label printing. This workflow simplifies how to modify the final document. If you find that a page contains a typographical error, you only need to re-run the RIP once to correct the error and replace the original error. This is much more convenient than reusing the entire large version as RIP.
Mainstream software

The dedicated software for the layout is used to properly configure pages for multiple pages and to solve various problems that arise in imposition layouts. They are used for PS file imposition and can perform basic operations for page layout on different sized table papers. They can precisely control saddle stitching and other types of binding processes. They are suitable for sheet-fed or web printing machines and can be processed. Crawl phenomenon that occurs during stapling. At present, the mainstream software in the market is Preps from Scenic Soft Corp., Ultimate Impostrip from Ultimate Technographics, Inc. from Taiwan, Fuxin Prinect from Taiwan Fuxin Technology Co., Ltd., Fang Zhenghe from Peking University Founder Electronics Co., Ltd. and Farrukh System Co., Ltd. Imposition Publisher, DynaStrip Software, DynaStrip, etc.

1.Preps

Preps is the only software that can directly use the RIP page to make a large version of the software, this software is very suitable for the packaging file layout operation, Preps allows users to mix different file types, page size and direction, and for each page separately The setting of cutting marks and crosshairs also allows users to put a variety of different prints on the same piece of paper, such as general carton packaging or label printing. The new version of Preps 3.5 fully supports PDF file group editions and supports built-in RIP trapping information. Extend the plug-in approach to many popular page design software. In order to make the program easy to work in a complex work environment that includes various format files, the software supports the mixed use of PS and PDF files.

2.Ultimate Impostrip

Ultimate Impostrip is a typical "post-ripple RIP" software that is compatible with many professional software for color separation, typesetting, and trapping. This set of software provides a set of how to finalize the sample display, so that users can choose according to the type and size of paper, single-color or multi-color printing, sheet-fed or web presses, each sample contains Crop marks and crosshairs also contain a different set of color guides. The software has a special feature that you can execute an "Origami" software before printing to use it to simulate the actual paper folding after printing and tell the user how to configure the position of each page on each paper. This is very useful for beginners. help. In addition, Impostrip can also replace the wrong page with a blank page on a large version of the page. If an error occurs in a page when RIP is performed, the software will automatically generate a blank page and replace it with the original page. In this way, RIP can not only complete the output operation as usual, but also will not cause a crash due to handling the wrong page. After RIP is completed, the user can perform page error correction, re-do a RIP output, and then manually put into the original large version, saving A lot of time. The software's Signature Server option allows users to take advantage of client/server workflows to make documents on their workstations and send them to the server for processing and output.

3. New Printing Prinect

This is a typical RIP post-imposition software. Because there is no guarantee that the same file can be completely identical after two interpretations, the new P&T adopts the “ROOM” technique, which means RIP first, and then make up the version. Once used, one imposition can be used multiple times. It has a full layout feature and can also preview real CMYK images.

4. Party text combination

With flexible interactive imposition function, it can deal with the situation where multiple middle seams are on the same page. It can accurately align the layout of pages with different editions or page sizes. This feature is suitable for newspaper printing. It can support all kinds of typesetting software and a variety of file formats, its handy function is also very convenient, and its interface is "Chinese", very simple and intuitive, it is very easy to use.

Ultimate Impostrip is quite popular in North America and Europe. Its function is very powerful and considers for the subsequent printing process very well, but the price is relatively expensive, about 5000 US dollars; Preps technology content is very high, has good compatibility, Can meet the needs of different grades, different versions of the price between 3000 ~ 7000 US dollars; Fuxin Prinect uses the industry's leading RIP after the imposition technology, the function is relatively strong, the price is not expensive; party text is easy to use, its The design is tailor-made for the Chinese market and its price is relatively cheap. It is a good choice. Through the above analysis, newspapers, printing houses, publishing houses, magazines, export centers, office printers, and other users can select the most suitable products according to their own actual conditions, and improve the production process with minimal investment, so that the hands-off and fight Edition work is faster and more accurate to get the maximum benefit.

Source: Coinprint