Enfocus has re-engineered the functionality within its popular PitStop 13 software to increase the opportunities to preflight and correct PDF files – with a major focus on a solution for the very common issue of “no or insufficient bleed.” PitStop 13 will have a re-designed Preflight engine that addresses the challenges of creating high-quality PDFs, and will be structured to ensure the submission of high-quality PDFs “today, tomorrow and well into the future.” It will include a new option to generate a bleed where none currently exists, and the ability to customize the language and content of the error messaging within Preflight reports – including the use of languages for which the software has not yet been localized.
“As PDF files are now being used for more and more complex print jobs, and deadlines are becoming increasingly tighter, it became obvious to our development team that the current Preflight engine needed some improvements in order to support the current and future needs of our users,” said Andrew Bailes-Collins, Senior Product Manager for the PitStop product family. “The result is the next-generation of PDF Preflight and correction. In addition to paying close attention to customer feedback, we unleashed the creativity of our engineering team to ensure that PitStop 13 – which contains both enhancements and brand new functionality – stays ahead of market demands and secures our continuing leadership position in the preflight and auto-correction arena.”
Preflight Restrictions represent the most significant change to the PitStop Preflight library since it was created 15 years ago. It allows for checks and fixes included in a preflight profile to be limited to certain aspects of a PDF. For example, a PDF page box, a certain page or pages, a particular area or specific elements of a PDF, and even different layers within a PDF file, can each be checked in different ways, depending on user requirements. The options for customizing Preflight are now “virtually endless.”
PitStop 13 users will therefore benefit from a much more targeted Preflight check, receiving fewer irrelevant warnings and errors. It will also allow users to carry out complex quality control routines, thoroughly checking files in one processing pass. And because the familiar PitStop Preflight editor interface has only minimal changes, the new functionality can be implemented without any major retraining or re-reading of product manuals – a “significant benefit for users.”
Bailes-Collins further explained that a lack of bleed in supplied PDF files is still a major issue. Previous versions of PitStop displayed bleed if it was available and could automatically extend rectangular shapes to create bleed if none existed. Users could also manually manipulate a PDF to extend bleed if the file design allowed it. The new version is “a leap forward” as it works by mirroring the individual objects that are close to or cross a PDF box to create a bleed. These mirrored objects are also completely editable, so the resulting bleed can also be adjusted manually, if necessary – which Enfocus believes is unique in the world of preflighting. Bleed can be generated for single or multiple objects, as well as complete pages or documents, significantly streamlining workflow in the production process.
The PitStop 13 “grace period” began February 2, 2015. Users purchasing or upgrading to PitStop 12 from February 2, 2015 will automatically be entitled to PitStop 13 free of charge when the new version is available this April.
Enfocus provides modular tools safeguarding job quality and enabling automation throughout the complete production chain. Its solutions improve communication between design and production while enhancing productivity and predictability through automation of routine tasks. Step-by-step deployment also increases value without forcing users to rethink their way of doing business. Well-known brands include PitStop, Switch and Connect. Enfocus is a business unit of Esko, headquartered in Gent, Belgium.
Enfocus to introduce PitStop 13 with enhanced preflighting and automated bleed creation
