A few years on, and the originally targeted smaller-format platesetting market is now starting to respond. “We think it’s because the first generation platesetters are being sold on. The new owners may be very small one or two person operations, so they are looking to automate their pre-press,” explains Steve Donegan, Compose’s European sales and marketing manager.

Compose is based in Hong Kong but has a UK office and showroom near Dartford in Kent. It also develops digital proofing software for inkjet printers, notably StarProof which can reproduce pretty accurate halftone dots from screened TIFF files. For Express WorkFlow, Compose originally took the popular Harlequin RIP, added a simple to use, but functional, workflow management user interface and shipped it out for as little as £9,000 without a RIP.

RIP-free option
There now are about 100 Express WorkFlow users in the UK with around 400 worldwide. One factor in its success has been that its workflow components can be supplied without a RIP. Platesetters often include a standard RIP as part of the package and Express WorkFlow can hook into any current Harlequin-based RIP.

If you do need a RIP, Compose’s ExpressRIP uses Harlequin Genesis 7.1. This was the first commercially available workflow to be awarded JDF Certification by PIA/GATF on behalf of the CIP4 JDF development organisation.

Apex Digital Graphics, which distributes Screen’s pair of entry-level violet platesetters (the Micra and PlateRite 2055vi) sells Express WorkFlow under its own name as apexPress Workflow. HighWater Design’s forthcoming Quickflow is also based on Express WorkFlow and will link to HighWater’s Torrent implementation of Harlequin Genesis.

From the start, Express WorkFlow has been modular and scaleable. Number-crunching is done on a Windows 2003 Server platform, which can be operated directly or accessed from PCs or Macs on the same network. There’s a choice of raster (TIFF and similar) or vector (PDF) workflows from end to end.

Originally, the stored workflows could be accessed and monitored from web browsers on networked machines. Browser and hot folder operation is still there, but Express WorkFlow 3 also introduces small Widget windows for job submission. These sit on the Windows or Mac desktop and offer a smarter alternative to hot folders, letting you select from a list of workflows before choosing more pre-set options, so each job is configured individually. Behind the Widget menu is a Java client linked to the Compose server.

Express WorkFlow can be configured from a choice of up to 35 modules. Some modules link to third-party programmes such as Enfocus PitStop (for pre-flight), Jaws PDF Creator or Adobe Acrobat Distiller (for PDF creation or re-purposing) and Preps or DynaStrip (imposition). Several levels of proofing modules are also available: VisualProof (for soft halftone proofing); ContentProof (a basic layout proofer); DI Proof (higher-grade data-integral ROOM proofs); and StarProof (Compose’s flagship halftone digital proofer for inkjets).

Input formats include PostScript, PDF, EPS, PCL and one-bit TIFF. The imposition modules PRI Station, PDF Imposi­tion and Plate Controller use Express WorkFlow’s JDF module to manipulate page placement and generate folding, creasing and cutting instructions. Job tracking uses JDF to allow users to search for jobs by any criteria. JDF tickets can be exported for ink-zone profiles, folding, creasing, trimming and cutting.

Pitched against Prinergy
There’s a wide range of more than 200 output drivers for platesetters, imagesetters and now digital presses. It can export one-bit TIFFs for use with other systems.

“We have relationships with a lot of the CTP manufacturers and their dealers that only make imagers and don’t develop their own workflows,” says Donegan. These include ECRM, Escher-Grad, HighWater and Lüscher, as well as Fuji and Screen dealerships in some countries. Donegan says that Express Workflow is often pitched against Kodak’s Prinergy Evo where users of older Creo platesetters are considering upgrading from their original Brisque workflows.

Donegan adds that Compose has made quite a lot of European sales recently to support Presstek and Ryobi’s DI presses, including the world’s first Presstek 52DI installation at Absolute Digital Print in Kendal. Presstek used Express WorkFlow to drive its demonstration 52DI at the Digital Print World show in London last month.

Drag-and-drop
There is a newspaper version, Express NewsFlow, with a load balancing module that can automatically shift heavy work to additional servers, and Express ColorFlow, an entry-level system for large-format printing and proofing.

To create a workflow you start with a row of process icons at the top of the screen, drag the icons you require into the main window and link them to create the processing sequence. Most stages can be given individual settings.

The drag-and-drop user interface was originally developed by Harlequin for the slow-selling MaxWorkflow system it launched at Drupa 2000. Compose licensed the core technology for its Express Workflow, which was originally conceived as a more affordable MaxWorkflow Lite.

Proofing modules can be dropped in at hold points in a workflow, sending the ripped job to a proof printer or to the VisualProof soft-proofing module. High-res ripped files are held on the system until the customer approves them, then imposed and released to the platesetter or filmsetter.

The Configuration Manager lets you set up rules for dynamic flows that will later be displayed in the Widget palettes and can be selected by the operator at the time the job is submitted. These can be pre-set options selected from a list, or a limited set of manual controls.

Donegan says that usually the dealer would set up several workflows at installation time to get the user started, but then these can be added to or modified as experience grows.

PlateController, not part of the Classic package, lets you arrange multiple jobs onto the same plate, or repeat jobs, including alignment of front and back sides. It shows you a “virtual plate” with an alignment grid, and you drag thumbnail job images onto it from the ripped output list.

“Our dealers will typically configure packs of Express WorkFlow modules for their customers,” says Donegan, “Basic use would be for job input, submission to the RIP and output to a device. You could then add trapping, imposition, soft proofing and so on at any time if you needed it. Classic configuration would cost about £13,000 with RIP, but a configuration for a DI press with just pre-flight, 2-up imposition and soft proofing would cost substantially less.”

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SPECIFICATIONS
RIP ExpressRIP 7.1 (Harlequin Genesis) optional
Platform Windows 2003 Server
Clients Web browser and Widgets for Mac or Windows
Price From £12,995 (Classic system with RIP and platform)
Contact Compose 01474 700500 www.compose.co.uk

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THE ALTERNATIVES
HighWater QuickFlow
The current version is based on today’s Express WorkFlow and will be beta-tested prior to full release. It links to Torrent RIPs.
RIP Torrent
Platform Windows server (edition also available for Mac OS X)
Price £7,000–£12,000
Contact HighWater Designs 01242 542100 www.highwater.co.uk

OneVision Speedflow Suite
OneVision’s Speedflow suite is a JDF-enabled production workflow. Pre-flight checking corrects files via its Check and Edit modules. Any file can be read, but output is always PDF.
RIP Not included. Securiq or third party Rips supported
Platform Windows
Price £7,950. Cockpit 3 adds £5,400
Contact OneVision 01908 690790 www.onevision.com

Polkadots PlateFlo
PlateFlo is the new name for PrePage-It. Its Rasterize-It RIP uses the Harlequin Genesis 7.1. Today’s PlateFlo is up to twice as fast and includes an easy-to-use interface.
RIP Rasterize-It 7.1 (Harlequin Genesis)
Platform Windows server
Price £6,000–£8,000
Contact SiliconCrag 01282 615 892 www.siliconcrag.com