PrintFactory Offers Alternative Workflow

PrintFactory offers a RIP-based workflow for wide format printers in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Perpetual Licensing model. The company has about 17,000 active installations, supports more than 2,000 physical devices and has about 40 employees. We spoke with Toby Burnett, the company’s Director EMEA and North America, to learn more about the company’s offerings, differentiation and strategy for the future.

WhatTheyThink: Toby, can you provide us with some background on the company?

Toby Burnett: We were a service bureau, and we needed a RIP. Our CEO is actually a programmer, and he had started to build a RIP for a printer he bought in the late 1980s or early 1990s. That led into creating our own PDF engine and different desktop tools for the sign making segment. We merged this product set with a proofing technology we also had, to make PrintFactory; creating a full RIP-based workflow with built-in color management. Over time, we added functions for different markets, including textiles.

WTT:  What do you see as your key differentiator?

TB:  Because of the holistic way we process work, we can reduce errors and reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare files for digital large-format printing. Large-format printing can be error prone as every job is different and takes different applications to complete. We deliver those application sets with our RIP to create a workflow suite—where all the elements use the same PDF engine. Whatever our customers see on the screen in our editor and layout applications is what will print, and we eliminate 90% to 95% of errors, including nearly 100% of color issues while also introducing ink savings and reducing material wastage by about 20% each. Job preparation time is cut at least in half.

WTT:  How does it handle a physical device for which you may not have a driver?

TB:  We can support other devices for a total fleet management approach; if you need to send files to a toner device that is not directly supported, we would send a RIPed file in PDF, TIFF or PostScript format to the network RIP that ships with the machine.

WTT: Explain the workflow.

TB: PrintFactory operates with either Mac or Windows. The operator receives the file, opens it in "editor" for preflighting, and can edit the file and check that it is ready for print. Textile producers might want to make additional colorways from a single design—this would take place here. Then in "layout," it can be nested, or repeated; our textile-specific tools offer the necessary step-and-repeat algorithms for these users. Our applications take very little training because the interface is similar to applications they are used to working with, such as those from Adobe. When the job is sent to the RIP, we are actually sending an XML job ticket that specifies the PDF file location and any edits that have been made. There is no high-resolution data processing until the job is RIPed, so it’s a highly efficient workflow.

WTT:  What do you mean by the edits?

TB:  We don’t make hard changes to a PDF. The changes are recorded inside the workflow which makes it very fast. We are not building a lot of new files. A typical workflow for textiles, for example, that requires different colorways would bring a design into Adobe Illustrator, duplicate it, set new color values, save PDF number two, then change the color and save PDF number 3, etc. We don’t do that. We use only the original PDF, we set the colorways and the step-and-repeat patterns, and submit these as XML instructions to the RIP. The RIP reads the job ticket, makes the color changes, applies the step-and-repeat pattern, and prints the job. It means much less data created, easier job management, and a true WYSIWYG result. This approach means we can do just-in-time layout, speed up productivity and give more flexibility to operators.

WTT: Sticking with textiles for a minute, how do you handle sampling before a production run?

TB:  We can quickly produce samples on a smaller printer that emulates a larger printer, like a Durst, for example. We can factor in bleaching, environmental conditions—if we have the information, we can factor that in. This also means that if the job needs to be reprinted six months down the road, it will print exactly the same. We have built-in device and color management on two levels: device recalibration back to the same start point using a closed-loop device-link profile, plus another device-link profile specifying conditions, like RGB or GRACoL or SWOP or an analog device.

WTT:  What about distributed fleets?

TB:  We have an automation solution to connect sites and manage distributed fleets, ensuring they can all print to the same standards.

WTT:  What you have described so far sounds like a fair amount of manual intervention. What about an environment where you have lots of jobs coming in via web-to-print, for example?

TB:  Files that come in via web-to-print can pass through an automated prepress process, only involving an operator for exception processing. In that case, the file is dropped into "editor" for repairs and then introduced back into the workflow. Files can be ganged for production of like files together; for example, if they are to be produced on the same substrate or across a pool of like devices. It is possible to even specify different factory locations if you have multiple production sites. With virtual production planning, you can see the job in the workflow but let the system make the decision about which files go where. We can include barcodes and/or cut files so once they are printed, they can be taken to finishing for cutting.

WTT:  Any other automated functions?

TB:  We also have dynamic scheduling and dynamic nesting. With XML under the hood, we don’t actually nest any of the image files but rather, read the XML ticket that comes from an MIS or the web-to-print solutions at the very last minute when the job is being produced. The automation module sends an XML ticket to the RIP telling it to grab a specific PDF, send it to a certain printer, and with a specified layout order and which cutter will be used. The RIP generates the cut file on the fly.

WTT:  How do you integrate with the rest of the operation?

TB:  We have a robust and well-documented API, and we can deliver bidirectional integration with an MIS, sending data to the MIS. Using our automation technology, we open up the API via web sockets so you can cull every piece of information you can see in the UI, whether on the desktop or via an automation job.

WTT:  What about estimating ink costs prior to printing? That’s a pretty big demand these days.

TB:  We calculate ink usage based on coverage and the droplet size defined in the driver. If you tell the system how much your ink and media costs are, it will give a cost per job.

WTT:  Can you give me a customer example for signs and display graphics?

TB:  One example is Signtech, who used PrintFactory to achieve consistent color across their printers and boost production by 25%. Our cloud-based plan meant there was no capital outlay on software, giving them an immediate ROI. It also had an impact on staff morale, as the bottlenecks disappeared, and it reduced overtime costs, too. One benefit was the ability to create profiles in under 10 minutes, allowing the team to take real ownership of the color management process. And, as the device-link profiles are frozen into what’s known as a “golden state,” they can also re-calibrate any printers being affected by color drift in just a couple of clicks—essential for jobs that are printed weeks or months apart. The EcoSave module is using less ink without compromising on color fidelity, and the bottom-line savings are business-wide. 

WTT:  How about a textiles customer?

TB:  Artex is a premium textile manufacturer. With PrintFactory, the team has cut down the amount of material being unnecessarily wasted as they try to match finished products with fabric samples printed much earlier in the season. Artex monitors this closely using the dashboard. We supported Artex on-site during the transition to PrintFactory. The software’s tools are easy to use, but we did showcase the automated workflow’s load-balancing capabilities to the production team: if a printer goes down for any reason, PrintFactory now redirects jobs to a second device and still guarantees production of the right color. This kind of automation removes the need to calibrate manually, repeatedly, which slows everything down. They also liked our browser-based reporting tools. These monitor ink and media usage, which makes it possible to work out far more accurate job costings and—with this level of detail —that in turn means Artex can offer a more competitive proposition.