Workflow software developer Enfocus has unveiled a new software tool designed to help speed up the file ‘onboarding’ process at print sites.
Revealed in the last of a series on online webinars and scheduled to be commercially available towards the end of 2020, Boarding Pass is a stand-alone application that integrates with Microsoft Outlook email to provide a streamlined way for customer services and sales staff to quickly check incoming files without needing to send jobs into production first.
‘Printing is the easy part,’ said Enfocus’s Andrew Bailes-Collins, ‘The challenge is getting the job through production to the presses and job onboarding is the bottleneck – too much time is lost between CSR, the customer and the prepress. Getting the file into pre-flight, confirming it’s OK and matches the quote can take between hours and half a day to confirm the OK back to the customer.’
Boarding Pass allows drag-and-drop of Microsoft Outlook messages with PDF files for production attached; lower levels of integration will be available with other email clients and ftp systems. The PDF is displayed with art, trim and bleed boxes for all pages. The file is analysed for missing fonts, low resolution images and use of colour separations. Problem items are both listed and highlighted visually, using the same technology as in Enfocus PitStop; Boarding Pass will also allow users to toggle on and off individual colour channels to check overprint and process/spot colour splits.
The accompanying email message or instructions can be viewed within the Boarding Pass app and template-based replies outlining problems or confirming that all is OK can be generated from there. Future developments may include direct linking to MIS or Switch-enabled production workflows, though colour profile and PDF/X compatibility are seen to be outside the scope of the application due to the complexity of the issues they raise and are better left to PitStop or similar applications, according to Mr Bailes-Collins.
The software will be available for Macintosh and Windows in a free public beta version in July, with commercial availability, at a subscription price of around €200 per year per seat, targeted for November 2020.
