The difference between the two packages is – as the name suggests – that PitStop Server is designed to run centrally and automatically, allowing large volumes of files to be consistently processed without user intervention. PitStop Pro is used on the desktop in a more interactive fashion by the operator, which makes sense if you need to create or check work for different print processes, applications or customers where each file may need different parameters for its final output.
What’s new is version 10?
Aside from the previously mentioned tidying up of persistent niggles, the focus in PitStop Pro is on ease of use, and in particular the handling of colour. In PitStop Server the additional features include transparency flattening at the pre-flight stage and PDF optimisation.
"A lot of companies don’t have the latest RIPs in their workflow, which can result in problems when it comes to handling transparency in supplied PDF files," says PitStop product manager Leen Vanmaele. "Also, if you are outputting the same file via different RIPs, you can get different outcomes (if you don’t flatten transparency earlier in the workflow). By flattening in PitStop Server, you can ensure consistency and it also has the benefit of cutting ripping times."
Vanmaele adds that even within firms that are using products based on the latest versions of Adobe’s PDF Print Engine and Global Graphics’ Harlequin RIP, for the sake of consistency they want to flatten files earlier in the workflow.
Optimisation reduces the size of the PDF file by removing unnecessary data in the file such as that outside the bounding box of an image or outside trim boxes, as well as resampling images to fit within the parameters set in the pre-flight profile. Vanmaele says PitStop goes beyond the optimisation offered by Acrobat, which only does the down sampling.
"The reduction of file size depends on how the PDF was created; if a file uses a lot of cropped images, cutting out the hidden image data can be a big deal," she says.
Cutting file size means the files need less storage space and can be distributed, uploaded and downloaded more quickly. While optimisation can be automated in Server, in Pro it can be applied as a global change.
Colour is the big deal in both versions.
"The priority for version 10 was to improve the handling of colour," says Vanmaele.
Examples include the support of Pantone Plus, the latest system from the colour specification specialist in version 10’s colour picker. It is also possible to import your own colour libraries and to create favourites from both.
Another change is the way ink coverage is checked.
"Finally, we do it the right way, by including transparency and overlapping objects," she says.
It’s also possible to inspect single objects and to add checking for over-specification ink coverage as part of the pre-flight profile.
You can select which colour management module installed on your machine is used by PitStop for its colour handling. Overall, the changes are designed to make it easier to switch colour specifications with each job checked.
To improve consistency throughout the workflow, you can synchronise colour settings in PitStop with those of Acrobat.
"PitStop’s reputation isn’t that good in colour handling, and users have tended to go to other tools," says Cloots. "We didn’t find that any necessary colour handling features were missing; instead, we found it wasn’t easy to find and use the colour tools, apart from the coverage tools, which are new, so we focused on guiding people on how to do things properly."
Having made PitStop’s colour settings easier to handle, she acknowledges that "our goal wasn’t to replace full-blown colour engines from the likes of Alwan and GMG, but just to improve our handling".
With the increase in transparency in supplied PDF files, it has become necessary to carry out more tests on the file and, rather than checking on an object-by-object basis, to check on a global basis to account for where those objects overlap.
Usability has been addressed in all aspects of the software and not just colour. One example is the exchange of global change settings between different users of PitStop. Another is the development and layout of action lists, which, until now, have been restricted to expert users, according to Vanmaele. "We wanted to make them a tool for all users."
Action lists can be imported and they have been grouped into more logical blocks. It’s also been made easier to see what an action list contains and to combine them to build more complicated lists.
Although PitStop Pro isn’t fully automated, the quick-run tool makes it possible to combine a series of checks and edits that take effect from a single mouse click, automating what could otherwise be a series of repetitive routine operations, especially if the same operation needs to be carried out many times per day.
For sites where there are multiple copies of PitStop Pro, Enfocus has launched PitStop Workgroup Manager. This builds on the ability to share action lists, pre-flight profiles and workspaces between PitStop Pro users by allowing an administrator to define common settings across a workgroup.
"It allows the manager to say ‘only use these pre-flight profiles’ and to make sure everyone is using the same action lists," says Vanmaele.
Another feature of Workgroup Manager is the support for floating licenses, which cut software costs for firms where large numbers of users are likely to need to use the software, but not all at the same time. If 20 staff use the software, but only three will be using it simultaneously, rather than paying for 20 licences the user installs the software on all machines, but it can only run on the number of machines for which there are licences.
There’s one area where you might have expected Enfocus to add some tools to PitStop 10, and that’s handling variable data, especially as the PDF/VT format has just been ratified by the ISO. However, the firm argues the demand is not there, yet, but it says watch this space in the next edition.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform Mac & PC
Price PitStop Pro: £510 (€599), upgrade £200 (€259); PitStop Server 10: £2,125 (€2,499), upgrade £1,105 (€1,299)
Contact Enfocus +32 (0)9 216 92 11, www.enfocus.com
THE ALTERNATIVES
Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro
PitStop Pro may go further than Acrobat, with the Server version providing automated checking and correction, but, in recent releases, Adobe has added more pre-flight functionality to its PDF creation and editing package, via an alliance with Enfocus’ rival Callas. Time familiarising yourself with the latest features may be well spent, avoiding the need to shell out for third-party applications.
Platform Mac or PC
Price £440
Contact Adobe UK 0800 028 0148, www.adobe.com/uk
Callas pdfToolbox 4
Expected pre-flight tools check and correct to PDF/X-1a, PDF/X-3, PDF/X-4 and PDF/X-4p, while the ability to convert Microsoft Office and OpenOffice documents into print-ready PDFs is useful for dealing with work from clients whose background isn’t in design and print. Pre-press functions include imposition and the ability to split and merge PDFs. A server version automates many functions and a web development kit allows it to be integrated with web-to-print systems.
Platform Mac or PC
Price pdfToolbox 4 €499 pdfToolbox 4 Server €3,999
Contact Callas +49 30 443 90 310, www.callassoftware.com
Markzware FlightCheck 6.75
FlightCheck goes further than other pre-flight products in that it will check a wider range of file types including native applications files including InDesign, QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word and CorelDraw, as well as PDFs, EPSs and TIFF files, working like a Swiss Army knife for your pre-press department.
Platform Mac OS 10.5 or higher
Price £359
Contact Markzware Europe, +31 15 369 9404 www.markzware.com
