Version 1.0. User Guide

Transcription

1 Version 1.0 User Guide Premedia Systems, Inc. March, 2007

2 Contents Introduction Overview Installing ProofThing Configuring ProofThing ProofThing Templates Running ProofThing ProofThing Errors ProofThing Options System Requirements

3 Introduction Premedia Systems ProofThing is a hotfolder application designed to harness the robust PDF handling functionality of Adobe InDesign to automatically gang and print proofs of single-page PDFs. Features Supports any number of hotfolder proofing queues, each with it s own properties: Hot folder Queue priority Number of pages to gang per proof PDF box region to include in the proof document TrimBox, BleedBox, MediaBox Trim and bleed mark properties length, gap, weight, color Hotfolders are processed in priority order. Templates are easy to construct and maintain. Templates support a variety of text variables which are automatically replaced with queue- or proof-specific data when the proof document is created. Mac OS X (Universal) and Microsoft Windows versions available. Proofed on queue: Test Proofer Queue at :52:50 Proofed on queue: Test Proofer Queue at :52:50 File Last Modified: :00:36 TEST PAGE 1 File Last Modified: :00:36 TEST PAGE 2 File: TestPage_01.pdf Bleed: 8.75 X in. Trim: 8.5 X 11.0 in. File: TestPage_02.pdf Bleed: 8.75 X in. Trim: 8.5 X 11.0 in. ProofThing User Guide

4 Overview ProofThing watches any number of hotfolders you configure. When it is running, ProofThing checks each of the enabled hotfolders in priority order. Once a hotfolder s Go folder contains enough PDF files to fill the hotfolder s template, ProofThing sends instructions to InDesign to print the files. Instructions are sent from ProofThing to InDesign via the included Premedia Systems Scripting Communicator Plug-In which provides detailed feedback to ProofThing during processing. A proof document is generated from a ProofThing template which is an InDesign document. Once a proof has been printed, the proofed PDF files are moved into the hotfolder s Done folder. By default, the proof file is deleted after it has printed, however, the file may be saved if desired. Any files that are not PDFs or are too large to fit the hotfolder s specifications are moved to an Errors subfolder. Hotfolders are processed in priority order with all available files in hotfolders of a higher priority handled before files in hotfolders of a lower priority. Hotfolders of equal priority are processed in a round-robin fashion. Within a hotfolder, files are proofed in alphabetical order. ProofThing User Guide

5 Installing ProofThing Installing ProofThing is very simple. Install the application ProofThing.app (Macintosh) and ProofThing.exe (Windows) may be run from any computer on which InDesign CS2 is installed. Simply drag the application file into any folder on your hard disk. You may make the application a startup item if you wish. Install the InDesign Plug-In Quit InDesign if it is running, and place the supplied Premedia Systems Scripting Communicator Plug-In in the Plug-Ins folder within the InDesign CS2 application folder. ProofThing User Guide

6 Configuring ProofThing In order to use ProofThing, you must configure one or more hotfolders to be monitored. First, use the Macintosh Finder or Windows Explorer to create a root folder for each hotfolder you want to configure. The root folder may be located anywhere you want, including on a network volume. The user under whose account ProofThing will run must have read and write permissions on the folder you chose. Launch ProofThing, and press the button in the lower left corner of the main window. The Hotfolder Configuration Window will be displayed: Supply a name for the hotfolder, and select the root folder you created above by pressing the Select... button, and navigating to it. ProofThing will automatically create the Go, Done, and Errors subfolders inside the folder you select. ProofThing User Guide

7 Set the new hotfolder s properties as desired. Select a Priority between 1 and 10 for the hotfolder. (A setting of 1 is the highest priority, and 10 is the lowest.) In the Cropping and Marks section, you may choose the PDF box to which the placed file will be cropped when placed in InDesign by ProofThing. You may choose MediaBox, BleedBox, or TrimBox. Depending on the box you choose, you may also choose to turn on or off Trim marks and Bleed marks. You may specify the Weight of the marks to be created, and choose between Registration and Black for their color. Specify the Mark Length and the Offset from trim. The Offset from trim represents the gap between the TrimBox and the beginning of the marks. Note that the Offset from trim also controls the distance between the TrimBox and the text or graphics frames that comprise the Edge Matter for each page. Proofed on Proofed on Proofed on ProofThing User Guide

8 The Outside margins may be individually specified of each of the four sides. These values represent the distance from the end of each mark to the edge of the sheet. The sum of the Left and Right (or Top and Bottom) Outside margin values represent the distance between the ends of the marks of adjoining pages, allowing a single chop cut when trimming individual pages out of a multi-page proof. You must specify the number of PDF pages to be ganged in both dimensions of the proof document as well as the minimum and maximum document sizes that ProofThing may create for this hotfolder. (Version 1 of ProofThing only supports one row of ganged PDF pages.) You may choose the unit of measurement which you want to use for this hotfolder configuration using the popup menu at the lower left of the window. You may also enter values with an explicit unit of measure other than the currently chosen unit. For example, if your chosen unit of measure is inches, you may enter 612 pt in any of the numeric fields, and the value will be converted to inches when you tab out of the field. note In addition to affecting the way you enter values in the configuration window, the chosen unit of measure is used in filling in the various box size test variables you may choose to use in creating a template. ProofThing User Guide

9 ProofThing Templates ProofThing templates are ordinary InDesign documents with certain special characteristics. In order to function, each hotfolder must have one InDesign document at its root level. The document must be named ProoferTemplate.indd. tip Use the provided file Sample Template.indd as the basis for your own templates because it contains all the ProofThing XML tags. A ProofThing template can contain up to four text or graphic frames one to be positioned on each of the four sides of each PDF file being proofed. The desired position of each frame is determined by an InDesign XML Tag. These tags are left, right, top, and bottom. Each text frame will be enlarged or reduced to fit between the marks on its side of the PDF proof page with its edge positioned away from the trim of the PDF proof page by the amount specified in the Mark Gap property of the hotfolder configuration. NOTE As is the case with all InDesign XML tags, these special Proofthing tags are case sensitive. ProofThing User Guide

10 Edge matter text frames may contain any combination of static text and ProofThing Variables special text which will automatically be replaced with proof- or PDF-specific information when the proof document is built. Version 1 of ProofThing supports the following variables: $queuename $proofdatetime $prooffilename $prooffilecreationdatetime $prooffilemoddatetime $prooffilebleedboxdims $prooffiletrimboxdims $prooffilefilesize The name as entered in the hotfolder configuration The time and date the proof document was created The file name of an individual PDF proof page The date and time the individual PDF proof page file was created The date and time the individual PDF proof page file was last modified The dimensions of an individual PDF proof file s BleedBox in the unit of measure specified in the hotfolder configuration The dimensions of an individual PDF proof file s TrimBox in the unit of measure specified in the hotfolder configuration The size (in KB or MB) of an individual PDF proof page file For example, if you enter the text Proofed on $queuename in a template text frame, it may become Proofed on Epson 4800 in a production proof document. Graphic frames are not enlarged or reduced during the proof page creation process they maintain the size and scaling that was applied in the ProofThing template. By default, graphic frames will be centered between the marks on their side of the PDF proof page. If you want a graphic frame not to be centered, you may add a position attribute to the corresponding XML Element in InDesign s structure view. In addition to the default C value, permissible position attribute values for right and left elements are T and B which result in the graphic frame being positioned to the top or bottom mark, respectively. Permissible position attribute values for top and bottom elements are R, L (and C ). ProofThing User Guide

11 In addition to the four Edge Matter frames, a ProofThing template may contain frames which will be placed on the TrimBox and/or BleedBox of each PDF proof page. These frames must be tagged with the trimboxstroke and bleedboxstroke XML tags, respectively. If you want a stroked rectangle to denote the bleed and/or trim areas, simply stroke one or both of these frames in the template as desired. If you do not want these frames to appear, you may either delete them from the template, or simply set both their stroke and fill to None. InDesign remembers the printer and all the print settings last used to print a document and saves them as part of the document. Before saving the template, you must set up all the print options, and actually print it to the printer or print queue to which it will be printed in normal production. After you have printed the template, save it as ProoferTemplate.indd at the hotfolder s root level. tip If you do not want to waste materials in actually printing the template, you can suspend the printer or print queue in your operating system, print the template document, and then delete it from the print queue. ProofThing User Guide

12 Running ProofThing ProofThing stores the state of all hotfolders before it quits, so each hotfolder will return to its stored state when ProofThing is relaunched. When ProofThing launches, its processing is switched off. To turn processing on, use the ON/OFF switch in the upper right corner of the main window. ProofThing will resume processing, attempting to process enabled hotfolders in priority order (priority 1 = highest). When ProofThing finds enough files in a hotfolder s Go folder to fill out a proof document as specified in the hotfolder s configuration, it will display a global floating progress window which will remain visible, and will display progress information until the process is completed: tip When ProofThing begins processing a hotfolder s files, it does so without warning, and will block any other InDesign operations for the duration of the process. We strongly advise turning OFF ProofThing processing whenever you want to perform some manual task in InDesign. ProofThing User Guide 10

13 InDesign must be running in order for ProofThing to process files; if it is not running, and error will be displayed, and ProofThing will turn OFF all processing. You can test the ProofThing InDesign communications connection by pressing the Test... button in the lower right corner of the main window. The current status of each hotfolder is shown in the left column of the list: A red light means the hotfolder has been paused by the user. A green light means the hotfolder is active and is actually processing a proof at the moment. An amber light means that the hotfolder is active, but is not currently processing a proof. A stop sign means that a serious error of some sort occurred when ProofThing last checked the hotfolder. ProofThing User Guide 11

14 If a hotfolder has a stop sign next to it, you can check the nature of the problem by selecting it in the list, and selecting the Info item in the tool bar. Once you have corrected the problem, you can select the hotfolder in the list, and press the Start tool bar button to try and resume processing. ProofThing User Guide 12

15 ProofThing Errors While processing, ProofThing may encounter four general types of errors: Routine errors: Routine errors are ones involving specific files that ProofThing attempts to process. For example, if ProofThing finds a file in a hotfolder s Go folder which is either not a PDF, or which is too large to fit within the hotfolder s configuration setting limitations, it will log an error in the main window s error pane, write the error to a log file in the source hotfolder, and move the file or files that triggered the error to the hotfolder s Errors folder. Hotfolder halt errors: These errors are ones involving problems with a particular hotfolder. For example, if ProofThing cannot locate the ProoferTemplate.indd file, or if there is a permissions problem, a hotfolder halt error will be generated. It will be handled in the same way as a routine error, and processing of that hotfolder will be paused. Depending on your ProofThing Options settings, routine errors and hotfolder halt errors may also sound a periodic audible alert tone. ProofThing User Guide 13

16 Serious errors: Certain errors are so serious that they will cause ProofThing to halt all processing. An example of such an error is an inability to communicate with InDesign. If such an error is encountered, ProofThing will turn OFF all processing, and display an error dialog box: Depending on your ProofThing Options settings, serious errors may also sound a periodic audible alert tone which will continue until you dismiss the dialog box. Unexpected errors: Please report any ProofThing crashes or unexpected errors to Premedia Systems. ProofThing User Guide 14

17 ProofThing Options ProofThing provides several processing options which you can use to configure the application to best suit your needs, and for troubleshooting purposes: Show Docs in Process: This option controls whether ProofThing s InDesign documents will be visible during creation and printing. In general, this option should be turned off as making documents visible slows down performance somewhat. Debugging: This option displays a debugging window which will list certain diagnostic information, and causes ProofThing to do everything it ordinarily would do while processing except for actually printing the proof documents. Save InDesign Documents: When this option is turned on, the InDesign proof documents created by ProofThing will be saved to a time-stamped folder within a folder on your desktop named ProofThing Debug. If this option is turned off, the proof documents will be deleted as soon as they are printed. Alarm on Fatal Errors and Alarm on Other Errors: The two options control whether ProofThing will play audible alarms when certain errors occur. ProofThing User Guide 15

18 System Requirements ProofThing has been developed and tested with InDesign CS2 version under both Mac OS X and Windows XP sp2. ProofThing is a product of Premedia System, Inc. PO Box 2767 Danville, CA info@premediasystems.com Copyright 2007, Premedia Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.