Application Notes Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

ErgoSoft AG Moosgrabenstr. 13 CH-8595 Altnau, Switzerland 2010 ErgoSoft AG, All rights reserved. The information contained in this manual is based on information available at the time of publication and is subject to change without notice. Accuracy and completeness are not warranted or guaranteed. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic medium or machine-readable form, without the expressed written permission of ErgoSoft AG. Brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.

The ErgoSoft RIP is available in different editions. Therefore the description of available features in this document does not necessarily reflect the license details of your edition of the ErgoSoft RIP. For information on the features included in your edition of the ErgoSoft RIPs refer to the ErgoSoft homepage or contact your dealer. Rev. 1.1

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................1 Basics of Printing .......................................................................................................................................................2 Printing Directly to the Port...................................................................................................................................3 Printing Using a Print Client ..................................................................................................................................4 Printing Copies ...........................................................................................................................................................5 Other Print Options ..................................................................................................................................................6 Suspend RIP ...........................................................................................................................................................6 Suspend Printing..................................................................................................................................................7 Keep Rip Data after Printing ............................................................................................................................8 Preflight ...................................................................................................................................................................9 Reprinting Jobs ........................................................................................................................................................ 10 Preparing for Later Reprinting ..................................................................................................................... 10 Reprinting on the same Printer ................................................................................................................... 10 Reprinting on another Printer ...................................................................................................................... 10 Solution to Common Problems......................................................................................................................... 11 Changing Copies during Printing ............................................................................................................... 11 Print Client does not start Printing ............................................................................................................ 11 RIP Server Crash ................................................................................................................................................ 11

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

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Introduction
This documentation explains the process that is started when you launch a print command. Depending on the options selected in the Print dialog, the job will follow different paths some of them needing user intervention. At the end, we will explain how you can use the available features for easy reproduction of already produced jobs and how you can solve some common problems.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Basics of Printing
Preview Server
Creates previews of images during the import process.

[ Image Import ]

Preview Creation

Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

JobCenter

Display interface for JobQueueServer

[ Print Command ]

JQ-Server [
Progress Report

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

[ RIP Command ]
[ Print Command ]
[ ] ]

RIP Server
Rip engine

Progress Report

[
Print Data

RIP Data

Hosts spool data and print queue for a specific printer. Sends all data to the printer.

Print/Cut Client

[ Print directly from RIP Server ]

Spool Folder

Common Windows folder containing ripped data for the Print Client.

Basically, the data flow when having launched the Print command is the same for all possibilities: The JobComposer (main program you are working with to create your jobs) forwards the print command including all necessary data and information to the JobQueueServer which shows its processes in the JobCenter parts of which are displayed in the JobComposer windows Waiting, Done, Preview, Details, and Journal. The JobQueueServer controls data ripping in the RIP Server and forwards the ripped data either directly to the printer or into a Print Client that controls the printer.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

[ Print ]

Printing Directly to the Port

Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

[ Print Command ]

JobCenter [
Progress Report

Display interface for JobQueueServer

[ RIP Command ]

JQ-Server

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

RIP Server
Rip engine

To print directly to the port, the option Skip Print Client (Print directly to port) must be checked in the Print dialog. When having launched the print command, the JobQueueServer sends the job data to the RIP Server for ripping. The RIP Server returns the ripped data to the JobQueueServer that send the ripped data to the printer. Since the ripped data is sent directly to the printer, ripping can be just as fast as the printer is able to capture the data. To avoid problems with mixing two printouts we strongly recommend using just one RIP Server to rip jobs for the same printer.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

[ Print directly from RIP Server ]

Printing Using a Print Client

Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

[ Print Command ]

JobCenter [
Progress Report

Display interface for JobQueueServer

[ RIP Command ]
[ Print Command ]
[ ] ]

JQ-Server

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

Progress Report

[
Print Data

RIP Data

Rip engine

RIP Server

Hosts spool data and print queue for a specific printer. Sends data to the printer.

[ Print ]

Print/Cut Client

Spool Folder

Common Windows fol-der containing ripped data for the Print Client.

To print using a Print Client, the option Skip Print Client (Print directly to port) must not be checked in the Print dialog. Please note that Print Client usage requires also a spool folder being specified in the print environment. When having launched the print command, the JobQueueServer sends the job data to the RIP Server for ripping. The RIP Server returns the ripped data to the JobQueueServer that send the ripped data to the Print Client that sends the ripped data to the printer. Since the ripped data is captured in the Print Client, ripping can be faster than the printer is able to capture the data. The Print Client also controls which job is sent to the printer; thus you can rip several jobs simultaneously in several RIP Servers.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Printing Copies

[ Print Command ]

Progress Report

[ Print Command ]

Progress Report

[ RIP Command ]
All copies

[ RIP Command ]
One copy
] ]

[ Print Command ]

Progress Report

RIP Data

One copy

[ Print directly from RIP Server ]

All copies

To print several copies of the same job, the number of Copies must be entered. The Total Length of the print job is calculated automatically. When printing directly to the port, the RIP Server has to rip the job for each copy needing a lot of time. When using the Print Client, the RIP Server has to rip just one copy of the job because the Print Client will send the same data as often to the printer as copies are requested. As long as the printing process is not finished, you may change the number of copies by selecting the job in the appropriate job (e.g. Waiting window in JobComposer) and select Properties from the Job context menu. The job Properties dialog allows changing the number of copies to be processed.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

All copies

[ Print ]

One copy

Print Data

Other Print Options

Suspend RIP
Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

[ Print Command ]

JobCenter [
Progress Report

Display interface for JobQueueServer

Waiting for user intervention before sending data

[ RIP Command ]

JQ-Server

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

RIP Server
Rip engine

When Suspend RIP is checked in the Print dialog, the JobComposer just sends the job data to the JobQueueServer where it is put into the Suspended Queue waiting for user intervention. To start ripping for this job, it must be manually un-suspended in the Waiting window of the JobComposer or in the Suspended Queue in the JobCenter.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Suspend Printing
Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

[ Print Command ]

JobCenter [
Progress Report

Display interface for JobQueueServer

RIP Command ]

JQ-Server

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

[ Print Command ]

Progress Report

] ]

[
Print Data

RIP Data

RIP Server
Rip engine

Waiting for user intervention before sending data

Hosts spool data and print queue for a specific printer. Sends data to the printer.

[ Print ]

Print/Cut Client

Spool Folder

Common Windows fol-der containing ripped data for the Print Client.

When Suspend Printing is checked in the Print dialog, the print job is going through the normal process to the Print Client where the job has to wait for user intervention. To start printing this job, it must be manually un-suspended in the Waiting window of the JobComposer or in the Print queue in the JobCenter or in the Waiting for Print queue in the Print Client. Please note that Suspend Printing is only available when using the Print Client.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Keep Rip Data after Printing

When Keep RIP data after Printing is checked in the Print dialog, the ripped data are not removed from the spool folder when printing is finished but kept until they are removed manually. Keeping the RIP data helps reprinting the same job later by saving ripping time and ensuring that the same data is sent to the printer as last time. Please note that the ripped data might need a lot of disk space.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Preflight
Main module. Layouting and job make-ready interface.

JobComposer

[ Print Command ]

JobCenter [
Progress Report

Display interface for JobQueueServer

[ RIP Command ]
Waiting for user intervention before sending data

JQ-Server

Background task. Manages all communication between the different modules.

RIP Server
Rip engine

Preflight
When Preflight is checked in the Print dialog, the JobComposer sends the job data to the JobQueueServer where the Preflight is done according to the settings in the Job Processing Policies. Then, it is put into the Suspended Queue waiting for user intervention. To start ripping for this job, it must be manually un-suspended in the Waiting window of the JobComposer or in the Suspended Queue in the JobCenter.

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

Reprinting Jobs
Preparing for Later Reprinting
Sometimes, jobs have to be reprinted e.g. because the customer orders another printout some time later. When you know or expect that you might have to reprint a job some time later, you can prepare your production for easy reprinting: 1) 2) Check Keep RIP data after Printing in the Print dialog. In the JobCenter, archive the printed and accepted job including print environment, images and ripped data as soon as possible. Save the archived job from the archive folder to your preferred user data storage.

Reprinting on the same Printer

As long as the job still is available in the Done queue of the JobCenter or Print Client, you just have to select the job and launch the Reprint command from the Job context menu. When the needed job is saved somewhere on a data storage medium: Copy the job (*.pja file) to a location in which it is accessible by the system. In the JobCenter launch menu File > Restore and select the job to be reprinted. When clicking the Open button in the Restore jobs from archive dialog, the job is imported into the Done queue with status Restored. Reprint the restored job by launching the Reprint command from the Job context menu. When the archived jobs included the ripped data also, the job is immediately sent to the printer; the colors of the printout will be the same as before except for changes because of ink changes, media changes, head usage, etc.

Reprinting on another Printer

When you have to reprint a job on another printer, you cannot use the information in the archived job except the information about the job layout. Ripping including color management must be re-done according to the new printer. To reprint the archived job: Copy the job (*.pja file) to a location in which it is accessible by the system. In the JobComposer launch menu File > Import Job from Archive and select the job to be imported. Enter a name that is used to save the extracted job. If you need to see the settings of the used print environment you can import it also. Now, the job can be printed like any other job in the JobComposer by selecting the correct print environment and launching the print command.

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Solution to Common Problems

Changing Copies during Printing
As long as the printing process is not finished, you may change the number of copies by selecting the job in the appropriate job (e.g. Waiting window in JobComposer) and select Properties from the Job context menu. The job Properties dialog allows changing the number of copies to be processed.

Print Client does not start Printing

There are several reasons why a job might not be printed though its status in the Waiting queue is Waiting or Waiting for Print: The Print Client is set to offline or start manually. The printer is not ready. The media check in the Print Client is activated and the media settings in the job are different from the media settings in the Print Client.

RIP Server Crash

When the RIP Server crashed because of problems with a PostScript file you should proceed as follows: 1) Select the responsible job in the Waiting queue (it shows that it is ripping but nothing happens) and set it to Suspend in the Job context menu. Do not care that the Suspend status is not applied. Save the job in the JobComposer. Close all running RIP modules. Restart the computer or launch the Maintenance Tool from the ErgoSoft RIPs program group and select Shutdown ErgoSoft RIP. Start the JobComposer and verify that the responsible job really is set to Suspend. If it is not set to Suspend when launching the next print job, this job will first be ripped causing the RIP Server again to crash. Delete the job. Load the job saved in step 2 and check the PostScript parameters. Convert the image to another PostScript level or another file format if necessary.

2) 3) 4) 5)

6)

Printing with ErgoSoft RIPs

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