Overview
Why you should complete this activity
Template jobs reduce repetitive tasks and save time. A template job is created once, and then new jobs are created based on it. Hot folders can be used as part of a template job to save additional time.
This activity is important because it illustrates how to:
- Create a template job
- Associate a hot folder to a template job
What you'll need
For this activity you need to locate:
Prinergy Activity Practice Files /Act_25_Template Job
The instructor or coach will provide you with the location of the practice files.
Note: This activity is optional.
The aim of this activity is to introduce the concept of an automated workflow. Template jobs could be considered a base automation workflow, and be a good starting point for customers to learn further, more complex automated processes.
Consult with the customer to ensure that this activity brings value to their learning experience. Some customers may prefer to learn a basic to more complex introduction to automation, while others may prefer to focus on one type of automation (for example, Rules-Based Automation).
Be certain to clarify these expectations with the customer at the beginning of the workflow automation phase of this training.
If you skipped Activity 1, consult the Activity 1 Instructor's Notes for information about best practices for managing activity practice files during a training session. Activity 1 also contains important information related to the Prinergy client and server relationship, which could be helpful to the customer.
What you need to know
Template jobs
A template job contains settings that you want to reuse in other jobs. Any existing job or pre-job can act as a template job.
Pre-jobs
A pre-job is similar to a job but is used when you want to store elements that are used in more than one job. Pre-jobs are useful in these ways:
- To automatically create jobs by dropping exported jobs into pre-job hot folders
You create a pre-job with hot folder that is linked to an import process template. When you drop exported jobs (with a .zip extension) into the hot folder for the pre-job, Prinergy automatically creates a job. The job is at the root of the server on which the pre-job exists, and has the same name as the exported job.
- As a place to collect elements that are used in many jobs, such as logos
When you want to use these elements in a job, you point the image paths from the job to the pre-job folders where the items are stored.
For example, if you produce a magazine for the same customer every month, you may want to reuse an image search path. To do this, create the pre-job, and then set the image search path to a folder containing the customer's logo and other frequently used images. Then when you create a new job for the customer, copy the image search path from the pre-job. The new job can then access the same images.
Hot folders
A hot folder is a folder that Prinergy monitors for incoming files as a trigger for an automatic operation.
You can create hot folders to automate the process of:
- Adding input files to a job
- Refining input files while adding them
- Importing imposition plans
You must use Prinergy Workshop to create a hot folder for a job. You cannot create a hot folder in a file browser. After you create a hot folder, you cannot change its name or location.
Hot folders and template jobs that work together can assist in a more streamlined workflow. Rather than re-creating the same hot folders each time you create a new job, you can set up hot folders for one job and use it as a template for other jobs.
After creating a hot folder, you can add files to it in either of two ways:
- Using a file browser to browse to locate hot folder and drop files
- Printing directly to hot folder from other software (for example, InDesign)
Note: If you are completing this activity on your own or coaching others in your shop, copy the Prinergy Activity Practice Files folder (available on the Kodak Partner Place internet portal at https://partnerplace.kodak.com/) directly to your workstation. For further information about these procedures, see Activity 1.
Process templates used:
- Refine process template: Refine > Refine > 1st Ref-Normz
- Imposition proof process template: Imposition Output > Virtual Proof > Virtual Proof.Imposed.600