Prinergy Workflow provides the following features to help streamline your offset prepress work.
Repeatability in job context
Input source files are converted to PDF pages that embed necessary elements such as fonts and images. User-defined and reusable process templates are applied to each stage of the workflow, from input to plate generation, ensuring consistent and repeatable results. Prinergy Workflow lets you save settings to automate repeated processes, saving time and reducing errors.
Page-based workflow
As a page-based workflow, Prinergy Workflow allows you to manage and correct individual pages without rebuilding the entire job. The system can handle late-stage imposition changes because pages are independent from imposition layouts.
Flexibility
Prinergy Workflow software supports a number of common input artwork formats (PS, EPS, CT/LW, PDF) as well as various imposition formats.
Scalable architecture
Prinergy Workflow uses Adobe Extreme technology and client-server architecture so you can easily scale the system to match your production needs by adding secondary or content servers and multiple clients. This allows you to expand your system as your prepress operation grows.
Ease of use
The server-client system promotes a team approach where managers, customer service representatives, and prepress and plate room operators can use Macintosh or Windows-based client computers to obtain up-to-date production information and processing history of any job.
Extensibility
Prinergy Workflow is based upon an open architecture, published interfaces and file formats, allowing for easy integration of new feature extensions, plug-ins, and Web-based software.
Database
Prinergy Workflow is backed by a robust database that maintains current and historical information about the Prinergy system and related files.
What are the key components of Prinergy Workflow?
This section lists the key hardware and software components of a Prinergy Workflow system.
Kodak queuing technology
Kodak queuing provides the core technology for Prinergy Workflow. This technology provides a framework for building distributed processing and an optimized prepress workflow.
The main components of Kodak queuing are:
- Portable job tickets/Portable job ticket format (PJTF)
- Job ticket processors (JTPs)
- Job description format (JDF)
- Job messaging format (JMF)
PDF file format
PDF is a file format that can store high-resolution images, text, and fonts. PDF files are smaller and perform more reliably than PostScript files. PDF files are independent of any platform, operating system, authoring software, or output device.
PJTF and JDF
In the Extreme architecture, job control is handled by a job ticket, which is described by portable job ticket format (PJTF). Job tickets contain processing instructions. PJTF is based on PDF format and is the internal format used with Prinergy systems.
PJTF and job definition format (JDF) can both be used externally with Prinergy as input files, or in the case of JDF, as output to other systems used for production (such as MIS systems, press digital ink consoles, and digital presses). JDF is similar to PJTF but uses an XML format rather than a PDF-based format.
Client and server
Prinergy is a client-server system. In a client-server system, client and server computers work together to perform the processing. The client-server combination increases the available processing power and uses it more efficiently.
The client software sends a request to the server software, which starts the requested service, and then sends the relevant information back to the client software
Client software
Prinergy Workshop client software is based on Web technology and enables you to create, edit, and monitor jobs. Typically, a client computer will also have Adobe Acrobat plug-ins and Preps imposition software installed.
Resources, equipment, and materials (REM) database
The Prinergy Setup tool enables you to set up a database of resources, equipment, and materials that are commonly used in your site.
Client hardware
Prinergy Workshop is client software that runs on both Mac OS X and Windows operating systems that are listed in the release notes. You can have any number of client computers in your Prinergy system. Multiple client computers can access your system at the same time.
For the latest information on supported client operating systems, please see the Prinergy Workflow release notes for the version you are running.
Server software
In Prinergy Workflow, the main server software runs on the Prinergy primary server and includes the following components:
- Prinergy Administrator: software that allows you to monitor and configure the system
- An Oracle database that stores data about jobs in the Prinergy system and other related files
- Adobe Extreme architecture, including JTPs
- Daemons: processes on the server that perform non-PDF processing
Prinergy server types
There are three types of servers possible in a distributed Prinergy system:
- The primary server (required)
- One or more secondary servers (optional)
- One or more tertiary servers (optional)
Primary server
There is only one primary server in a Prinergy system. It contains all Prinergy primary server components, including the job file information database.
Secondary server
A secondary server is any server that is running Prinergy server software, but does not store the database. A secondary server can store some Prinergy server components, such as JTPs, to facilitate distributed processing. You can store jobs on the primary server, but you may want to store some or all jobs on one or more secondary servers to increase performance on the primary server.
Tertiary server and file server
A tertiary server is a Windows or UNIX server that is part of the Prinergy network but is not executing any Prinergy primary server software components. Use it to store jobs and input files.
A Prinergy system can also include one or more file servers. A file server stores input files, but does not execute any Prinergy software components or store any Prinergy job folders. A file server can be any computer that is visible to the Prinergy system such as a Windows, UNIX, or Mac XServe server.