Creating or Editing a Production Plan
You need to create a Production Plan for both Job and Hot Tickets. You do this in 5 steps:
Once you have created a basic single-flow Production Plan, you can expand it by adding extra proofing flows. The following sections explain how to do this, as well as how to edit and rearrange your Plan:
Adding the First Input Task Processor to Your Production Plan
When you create a new ticket, there is no Production Plan. You can start building one by adding the first Task Processor to the Production Plan pane.
To add the first Task Processor to your Production Plan
1 In the Ticket Editor window, select the Plan tab.
You will see the Production Plan Components pane on the left. This gives you access to all the available Task Processors and Actions that you can include in your Production Plan.
2 Select the Input tab in the Production Plan Components pane.
3 Select an Input Task Processor, drag it onto the Production Plan pane, and drop it anywhere in the left of the pane.
Since this is the first Task Processor in your Plan, you will see that it has a square gray connector on the right. This is the point at which you can connect the next Task Processor that you add to this flow. Task Processors use a number of different types of connectors, as described in “Connecting Task Processors in your Production Plan”.
NOTE: A Keep Results action is always added to input Task Processors.
 |
Below the Task Processor, you will see the name of the initial settings file that the Task Processor will use. If you click this name, you will see a list of all the available Parameter Sets for this Task Processor. For more information, see “Setting or Changing Task Processor Settings”.
Currently, this is the first and only Task Processor in your flow.
NOTE: When you add any component to the Production Plan, the default component settings are displayed in the Settings pane.
Dragging Additional Task Processors to Your Production Plan
You create a Main prepress flow by linking together a series of Task Processors in the Production Plan pane.
To add more Task Processor to your Production Plan
1 Select the Input, Processing, or Output tab in the Production Plan Components pane.
The type of Task Processor you can add depends on which Task Processor you want to connect it to.
2 Click on a Task Processor, and drag it to the right edge of the last Task Processor in the Production Plan pane.
 |
•If you see a green connection, it means that this is a valid addition to your Production Plan.
•If you see a red connection, then this combination of Task Processors is invalid. For more information, see “Connecting Task Processors in your Production Plan”.
3 When you have a valid connection, release the mouse button to place the Task Processor.
4 Continue adding Task Processors to the flow.
Connecting Task Processors in your Production Plan
To build a flow in the Production Plan pane, you need to link together a series of Task Processors. However, you can only make links between “compatible” Task Processors.
Each Task Processor has a data-in connector and a data-out connector (Input Task Processors only have a data-out connector). These connectors indicate the type of data that can be input to, or output from the Task Processor, and are displayed graphically as follows:
•Round connectors: These represent PDF or PostScript data.
 |
•A Task Processor with round data-in/data-out connectors (e.g. Impose or Preflight) can only receive or deliver PDF or PostScript data.
A round connector can only be connected to a square connector, or to another round connector.
•Arrow connectors: These represent raster data.
 |
•A Task Processor with an arrow data-out connector (e.g. Digital Film Proof) can only deliver raster data.
An arrow connector can only be connected to a square connector.
•Square connectors: These represent multiple data types (PDF, PostScript, Raster, other).
 |
•A Task Processor with square data-in/data-out connectors (e.g. PDF Render, shown above) can receive or deliver any type of data.
A square connector can be connected to any other type of connector.
NOTE: The Run List Task Processor cannot receive PostScript data.
Setting or Changing Task Processor Settings
You customize each Task Processor in the Plan by opening the Task Processor’s list box and selecting one of the available predefined Parameter Sets.
 |
When you select a Parameter Set, the corresponding settings are displayed in the Settings pane (below the Production Plan pane). If you wish you can directly modify any of the displayed settings.
The Task Processor list box also has two other options:
•Save As: Displays a dialog box which allows you to enter a name and save the current settings as a new parameter set.
•Manage Parameter Sets: Opens the Parameter Sets dialog box, where you can create, duplicate, edit, delete, import or export parameter sets.
Creating a Production Plan with a Single Main Output Flow
To create a simple Production Plan, you need to build a single Main Output flow containing an Input, Processing, and Output Task Processor.
To create a single main output flow
Adding Actions to Your Production Plan
You control the flow of job data through the Production Plan by inserting Actions at specific points in the flow. Actions can also be used to keep track of your job results at any point in the flow.
To add a flow control action
1 In the Ticket Editor window, select the Plan tab.
You will see the Production Plan Components pane on the left. This gives you access to all the available Task Processors and Actions that you can include in your Production Plan.
2 Select the Actions tab in the Production Plan Components pane.
To add a Flow Control Action, such as After Hours, you will need to drag and drop the Action onto the right edge of the Task Processor whose results will be held, pending the specified time.
3 Click on one of the Flow Control Actions and, holding down the mouse button, drag it onto the Production Plan pane to the right edge of the selected Task Processor.
The right edge of the Task Processor is highlighted with a blue bar when the Action is in the correct position.
4 Release the mouse button to drop the Action into place.
 |
NOTE: You can add up to 4 Flow Control Actions, and 4 Result Actions to any Task Processor.
Flow Control Actions, such as After Hours, interrupt the flow (indicated by the break in the flowline). The Action icon is positioned above and to the right of the selected Task Processor, after the break.
5 If you select the Action, you will see the default Action parameters displayed below in the Settings pane. You can modify these parameters as described in the topics listed below.
6 If you click the Results tab, you will also see any Flow Control Actions you have added. Here, the Action icons have a background color to indicate their current status. For more information, see “Working with Jobs in the Results Tab”.
To add a result action
1 In the Ticket Editor window, select the Plan tab.
You will see the Production Plan Components pane on the left. This gives you access to all the available Task Processors and Actions that you can include in your Production Plan.
2 Select the Actions tab in the Production Plan Components pane.
To add a Result Action, such as Archive Result, you will need to drag and drop the Action directly on top of the Task Processor whose results you want to archive.
3 Click on one of the four Result Actions and, holding down the mouse button, drag it onto the selected Task Processor in the Production Plan pane.
The background color of the Task Processor changes to light grey when the Action is in the correct position.
4 Release the mouse button to drop the Action into place.
 |
NOTE: You can add up to 4 Flow Control Actions, and 4 Result Actions to any Task Processor.
Result Actions, such as Archive Result, do not interrupt the flow. The Action icon is positioned above and to the right of the selected Task Processor.
If you select the Action, you will see the default Action parameters displayed in the Settings pane. You can modify these parameters as described in the topics listed below.
Deleting a Component from Your Production Plan
Proceed as follows to delete a component (Task Processor or Action) from your Production Plan:
1 Open the Ticket for editing, and select the Plan tab.
2 Select an Action or Task Processor, and do one of the following:
•Press Delete.
•Click the Delete button.
 |
If you delete a Task Processor, a gap appears in the Production Plan. You can close the gap by dragging one of the broken connectors to the other. You could also insert and reconnect another Task Processor in the gap.
Creating a Production Plan with Multiple Proofing Flows
When you build a Production Plan, you must always create a Main flow. However, if you want to include proofing and/or output to additional devices, you will need to create one or more parallel flows, and link them to your Main flow.
The following procedures describe, step-by-step, how to create a Production Plan comprising three flows:
•Main flow
•Imposition Proof flow
•Page Proof flow
NOTE: In each of these procedures, you will need to specify settings for each component. You will also need to submit the ticket when you have finished.
To create a main output flow
1 Create a new Ticket, and select the Plan tab.
2 Create a single Main Output flow, adding components in the following sequence:
Hot Folder - Normalize - Run List - Impose - PDF Render - TIFF Platesetter - Press
Notice that a “Collect for Output” Action is automatically inserted between the PDF Render and TIFF Platesetter Task Processors.
NOTE: When you create a main flow using either an imagesetter or platesetter output device, you always need to add a Press Task Processor to the end of the flow. This is not required when you use export or proofer output devices.
A flow always displays a Flow Identifier after the last Task Processor the flow. By default, this always indicates a Main Output flow. However, you can redefine this as described in “Creating a Production Plan with Multiple Proofing Flows”.
To add an Imposition Proof flow to your Main flow
When included in a Production Plan, an Imposition Proof flow should branch from the Main flow after the Impose component. This ensures that the results from the Main flow and the Imposition flow are identical in layout.
1 Start with the main flow you created in the preceding procedure.
2 Select another PDF Render component from the list of available Processing components in the Production Plan Components pane and drag-and-drop it exactly below the first PDF Renderer in your main flow.
3 Click the square connector on the left edge of this second PDF Renderer.
4 Hold down the mouse button, and drag it up to the round connector on the right side of the Impose component in the Main Output flow.
5 A connecting line extends between the two components, and is colored green, indicating that this is a valid connection.Release the mouse button.
You now have the start of a second flow, extending from the first.
6 Add a Proofer output component to the second flow.
7 Add a Press to the end of the second flow.
Notice the Flow Identifier at the end of the second flow: It automatically indicates that this is an Imposition Proof flow.
8 Click the Flow Identifier to display the name of the flow.
To add a Page Proof flow
When included in a Production Plan, a Page Proof flow should branch from the Main flow after the Run List and before the Impose component.
NOTE: You always need a Run List if you want to select individual pages for proofing.
1 Select a third PDF Render component, drag it the Production Plan Components pane, and drop it exactly below the PDF Renderer in your Imposition Proof flow.
2 Click the square connector on the left edge of this third PDF Renderer.
3 Hold down the mouse button, and drag it up to the round connector on the right side of the Run List in the Main Output flow.
A connecting line extends between the two components, and is colored green, indicating that this is a valid connection.
4 Release the mouse button.
5 Add a Proofer output component to the third flow.
6 Add a Press to the end of the third flow.
Notice the Flow Identifier at the end of the third flow: It automatically indicates that this is a Page Proof flow.
NOTE: Click the Flow Identifier to display the name of the flow:When Page Proofs are printed on a large format proofer, a simple media saving page layout should be used. To get as many pages on a sheet as possible, you must switch on the media optimization feature in the output device.
To control your Production Plan using Actions
Finally, you need to insert some Actions in your Plan to control the sequence of events when a document is processed.
Insert two Hard Copy Proof Actions in the Main flow, one immediately before the Impose component and one immediately after it.You now have a multiple flow Production Plan, which allows you to first check and approve a page proof, then an imposition proof, and finally to output your job to an imagesetter.
This works as follows:
•Page Proof: A document is input and the job results are held in the main flow just before being imposed. However, the results are also passed on to the Page Proofing flow, where they are rendered and output to a Page Proofer. The Page Proof allows you to check colors and content.
•Imposition Proof: If you approve the Page Proof, the results which are on hold at the first point in the main flow are resumed, and the job is imposed. After this, the job results are again held in the main flow. However, they are also passed on to the Imposition Proofing flow, where they are output to an Imposition Proofer. The Imposition Proof allows you to check the layout of the job.
•Print to Imagesetter: If you approve the Imposition Proof, the results which are on hold in the main flow are resumed again, and the job is finally output to an imagesetter.
Exporting Job Results
When you build a Production Plan, you may simply want to export your job results to file, instead of sending them to an output device. In this case, you need to add the Export component to the end of your Production Plan flow.
Export allows you to export processed job results to a specific directory in PDF or PostScript file format. These files can then be used outside the Apogee environment. For more information, refer to “Export Settings”.
To export job results
doc. version 14.0.1