Enfocus (Gent, Belgium), a leader in PDF quality control, advanced PDF editing and workflow automation for the printing and graphic arts industry, has announced the upcoming release of PitStop Pro and PitStop Server 2020 next month. Enfocus PitStop has long been the PDF quality and repair “go-to tool” for pre-press. “PitStop Pro and PitStop Server 2020 will release with a long list of new features and improvements,” said Andrew Bailes-Collins, Senior Product Manager at Enfocus. “The features’ set offers new automation possibilities, and has new tools for working with vector graphics. Customer feedback has driven many of these advancements. The extensive list will be revealed as the release date approaches. Enfocus works tirelessly to keep PitStop in its position as a must-have for print-service providers. Give pre-press 20/20 vision with PitStop 2020,” he added.
Among the highlights is a new “breakthrough” patent-pending Enfocus technology that uses Computer Vision techniques. This enables PitStop Pro and Server to ‘see’ the visual content of a PDF file. What that basically means is that PitStop will be able to look for images and graphical shapes such as logos, to check if they’re present or absent in a PDF file. The technology can even flag cropped or partial images that may occur in the file, and also has options for size and rotation. This new technology has special value when files have particular legal or design restrictions, such as a corporate identity or compliance rules.
Also new in PitStop 2020:
- The ability to trace raster elements to create a vector shape. Users will find it valuable when creating varnishes, under-prints or digital cutting paths.
- PitStop 2020 will be able to overlay and merge one PDF document onto another to make a single document, while also using variables for placement, resizing and opacity options.
- Find and replace text is being added as an Action List feature in PitStop 2020. As one of the features that customers requested most, it will allow users to automate search and replace text operations using variables in PitStop Pro and PitStop Server.
- A “totally new” check for bleed is also a major improvement as it works using a page-based approach (as opposed to object-based technology used in older versions).
- Adding copied graphics and adding pages can now be accomplished using variables that greatly increase the automation possibilities in PitStop Server, especially when used in a Switch environment.
Grace period for upgrade
As of March, any customers purchasing a new copy of PitStop Pro or Server 2019 with maintenance prior to the release of PitStop 2020 in April, will automatically receive a copy of the 2020 version when released. Current PitStop users on older versions who upgrade with PitStop Pro or Server 2019 with a maintenance contract, will also be entitled to the 2020 version. Current PitStop 2019 customers with a current valid maintenance contract at the time of release, will also receive a copy of PitStop Pro or Server 2020 as part of their maintenance contract.
