Many workflows have operators monitoring email and FTP sites. Phone calls are made to confirm FTP file receipt or emails are sent. The files are downloaded, unstuffed, unzipped, put into standard folder structures and sent to preflight.
The SWITCH products from Gradual Software in Belgium have surfaced. They automate these tasks and integrate them into existing workflows. The first of these is the entry-level version LightSWITCH.
LightSWITCH has tools available to allow FTP sites and e-mail addresses to be monitored and automatically download files and/or attachments. There are features to: automate decompression of files, copy files, change folder structures by sorting file types or names, rename files and add Type/Creator. The program’s workflow can then redirect files to another server, compress files, upload them to another FTP site, attach them to an e-mail, and also provide e-mail notifications to the parties involved. The mail tools remember the e-mail address for each job/file and jobs/files can also pick them up in the flow.
The software is easy to use and there’s a wizard for creating flows to get you started. There are also pre-made flows available for download on the Gradual Software website.
A sample LightSwitch Workflow: The files are downloaded, decompressed and filed in the department’s choice of folder structure. Email is sent to notify that the job is ready for preflight.
The more advanced FullSWITCH product adds tools that allow links to Adobe Acrobat and Distiller, Creative Suites 2, Apago PDF Enhancer, Enfocus PitStop Server and callas PDF Software.
Possibilities abound. Some examples:
- PDF Enhancer – you can create your own automated softproofing workflow.
- You can have a workflow that distills postscript files from an FTP site.
- Print customer-supplied low-resolution PDF files to your proofer while the rest of the job is preflighting.
- High resolution PDFs can be automatically downloaded and sent to PitStop Server. E-mails sent from the workflow will notify a pass or a fail.
For the Adobe CS2 Products, the workflow tools accept both actions and scripts created for Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. An Automator tool is available when running the program on Mac OS X for Applescripts.
Each workflow has its own log and statistics. When monitoring your customers FTP site or even your own, you’ll have information showing the speed of your file processes and any downtime, should it occur. This information can be sorted and filtered as you wish. The statistics view in FullSWITCH makes it easy to keep an eye on crucial folders in your flows. This window will help pinpoint any bottlenecks in your workflow.
Load Balancing is another tool. Flows can be set to upload or download at specific times. Files can wait in the workflow during the day and be released after hours. The Load Balancer could have several jobs downloading to different servers at the same time in a busy department.
The built-in XSLT tool is ideal to generate custom HTML preflight reports from the Enfocus PitStop Server. The PitStop Server configurator in FullSWITCH also offers XML and textual formats for the preflight errors as well as warnings that would be handy to log preflight problems in a database or spreadsheet for tracking or analysis.
Both products are available for Windows 2000 and 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server, Windows XP Professional and Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. The Mac version is Universal Binary, so it runs on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.
The third version of the software to come out is PowerSWITCH, available this summer. It comes bundled with a workgroup client and has the scripting capabilities to integrate with your third-party technology.
Entry-level version LightSWITCH starts at $900 U.S. and FullSWITCH is listed at $3,000 U.S. Trials (15-day) are available for download at www.gradual.com.
Andrea MahoneyTriBay Enterprise
T: 416.72939687E:
andrea@autoflowforprepress.ca
