Significant savings can be achieved in page assembly through intelligent production planning. ProPag has replaced the classic page assembly process at light and mounting tables by a fully digital process. ppi's ProPag assembly system is responsible for this. All page elements from the ad and editorial departments are automatically assembled to finished pages according to the specifications from the planning department (PlanPag). Dividing rules, class headers, date lines, page numbers, page titles etc. are automatically generated and assembled to color-separated PostScript or PDF files together with the page elements.

In 4c printing, the challenge is to find the right dosage for the required ink application. Ink application of over 300 %, which has a negative influence on printing results, especially when waterless presses and printing couples without ink zones are used, are not unheard of in everyday use. Past experience shows that an appealing image quality, which reduces ink consumption, the number of waste copies and drying time to a minimum, is only achieved at a value of less than 240 %. To ensure that you are always on the safe side here, ppi offers a solution for automatic ink reduction which you can integrate quickly and easily in your PostScript or PDF workflow.

If you are thinking about how to integrate third-party jobs efficiently in your production workflow, you should take a closer look at JobEntry. Suitable for both conventional web offset and semi-commercial printing, this module can be used to process practically any kind of newspaper-related commercial job. Thanks to an ergonomically designed GUI, a wizard and internal plausibility checks, the planning process is quick, reliable and transparent. And to ensure that the planning output is implemented just as effectively, it is forwarded to ppi's production system printnet OM - which forms an integral unit with JobEntry - for further processing.

Reliable ripping is a prerequisite for a performant, automated prepress workflow, in particular in industrial newspaper production. ppiRIP has been specially designed to meet customer requirements in this field. ppiRIP can be flexibly integrated in different production environments and used efficiently and reliably both as a production and ad RIP. In the ppi workflow the ripped files are transferred directly to ppi's output management system (printnet OM). All RIP processes, which encompass a broad range of functions, can be administered, visualized and controlled on an enhanced GUI.

Output management is one of the most sensitive processes in the newspaper production workflow. Optimization, however, may not be achieved at the expense of security. With printnet OM, an efficient, logical and transparent output management system has been developed that takes over from the publisher's upstream production workflow. printnet OM automatically controls and monitors the end-to-end plate production workflow, including OPI, RIP, merge, imaging, proof etc.

Production systems from different suppliers can be integrated via open interfaces. This intelligent workflow management system ensures that plate orders are processed on a priority-driven basis. Short-term changes in printing times or press configurations are automatically taken into account. This priority-driven workflow significantly improves the prepress workflow, lowering costs by more than 50%.

In an automated newspaper production workflow, the seamless transfer of page bitmaps to the platesetter is of paramount importance. Any errors not detected on the digital pages are transferred directly to the plates, and hence onto the paper. ProofStation helps to prevent scenarios like this by generating a perfect simulation of the print results on your screen. As a soft proof system that can be used on both the intranet and internet, ProofStation visualizes all the required bitmap pages from the production RIP. The enhanced GUI ensures rapid detection of technical and content-related errors, and any corrections can be made prior to imaging.

ProPagPreRIP is used to rip newspaper elements in an upstream process in the production workflow. After production, ad files are converted immediately  from their original format to bitmap format, which is required for imaging, and then made available for the assembly of digital pages. This technique makes it possible to detect and correct faulty ads very early on. At the same time, the strain on the downstream time-critical ripping process is signficantly relieved.

There are good reasons for choosing a module from ppi’s Publishing Solutions for preflight checking your production files. On the one hand, it reduces the number of external interfaces, which in turn eliminates the source of potential adjustment and support problems. On the other hand, this integrated ppi solution guarantees a highly automated, end-to-end workflow. As an ideal solution for finishing your production workflow, pdfPerfect creates more transparency and maximum security for checking PDF and EPS files.

Central planning – local production. DistEl (short for Distributable Elements) is tailor-made for this kind of publishing. Because as intelligent distribution software, DistEl ensures that cross-site planning and production processes for pages and page elements are organized efficiently. Together with the planning component PlanPag, the assembly module ProPag and the technical ad production system AdMan, DistEl offers a highly automated networked workflow which exploits all the benefits of a central planning system and, at the same time, ensures the flexibility and autonomy of the local print sites.