Prepress
:Apogee Suite 8 Prepress Workflow Launches in North America at Graph Expo 2012
Tuesday 09. October 2012 - Award-winning software adds new tools, including ecommerce solution for improved customer interaction
Making its North America debut at Graph Expo 2012 is :Apogee Suite 8.0, Agfa Graphics’ next-generation prepress workflow. :Apogee Suite 8.0 features new tools designed to help offset and digital printers optimize their production process.
Among the innovations in :Apogee Suite 8.0 is :Apogee StoreFront, a new cloud-based, web-to-print solution. :Apogee StoreFront makes it easy to set up online stores for both printed and non-printed products. It gives printers the means to reach new markets and enrich the customer experience.
Also new in :Apogee Suite 8.0 is :Apogee Impose, which now supports web offset printing. Designed for the specific needs of web printing operations, this rule-based imposition software takes specifications into account, including web folding and finishing requirements to generate the optimal imposition scheme. :Apogee Impose lowers setup costs while delivering the level of automation web printers demand.
“:Apogee Suite 8.0 is stacked with innovations that cater to every type of operation-sheet and web offset as well as hybrid operations, including wide format,” said Deborah Hutcheson, Director of Marketing, Agfa Graphics North America. “Unique to :Apogee Suite 8.0 is :Apogee StoreFront, which seamlessly integrates with :Apogee Prepress or any other workflow software. Because it is cloud-based, printers can launch multiple, customized storefronts with no additional staff or costly infrastructure investment, giving them the ability to reach new markets, enrich their customers’ experience, and increase revenue potential.”
:Apogee Suite 8.0 gives prepress operators more process control. A toolbox of plug-ins allows them to easily manipulate PDF pages in the workflow. A varnish plug-in, for example, allows creation of a spot varnish on top of text or images.
The new CSR Dashboard gives customer service representatives or production managers detailed job status reports, allowing them to interact more efficiently with customers. CSRs can record notes and add customer requests. All information stays with the job to ensure absolute job integrity.
:Apogee Preflight offers improved color management. The new document-based capability verifies that profiles attach to all objects and automatically update incorrect profiles. :Apogee Preflight also makes the necessary adjustments should the output target change. A new customer profile wizard generates the optimal calibration profiles for any substrate. The end result is consistent color output over different media types regardless of the output device.
:Apogee Suite 8.0 also features ICC Profile Regularization, an Agfa-patented technology that avoids discontinuities in profiles due to folding. This is especially important for wide-format applications, resulting in better and more consistent color output.
A new Merge Jobs function determines which jobs can be combined in one production run, cutting costs by optimizing press runs. An innovative algorithm places different jobs on the print sheet in the most optimal manner, resulting in fewer cuts and less paper waste. New 64-bit support combined with virtualization (VMWare) lets high-volume printers consolidate processing and leverage the latest technologies to their fullest extent.