Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates can be used in various areas of the Workflow. They allow a print file to be repeatedly checked against the set requirements and to correct it accordingly. However, this option is also available for external tools via a REST API call.

Generally, there are four areas in the Workflow where you can refer to Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates. These include:

• the use of Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates when uploading files via drop zones.
• the use of Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates when creating Articles/Print Items.
• Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates when executing an Automation Job. This option is available in the Hotfolder environment as well as in Quick Print.
• activating a Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template via the API.

The individual options are described in detail below.

In some areas of the Workflow – Article, Collection, Order, and Production Job – drop zones are available and allow users to upload print data to the Workflow. These drop zones offer the option of selecting predefined Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates and using them to upload print data.

Figure 1: The Articles menu item with the drop zone in the header

To upload and normalize print files via the drop zone in the Article menu item in the Workflow, proceed as follows:

1. Navigate to Article > Article.
2. Click on Configuration [1] and select the desired Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates in the selection menu [2].
3. If desired, further options for uploading print data can be activated. The following options are available:
   • Preflight the first page only [3] –  activate this option if only the first page of a Multipage file should be checked. This can speed up the check-in operation if the file is a Multipage document. However, the print file is still normalized.
   • Preflight only (no correction) [4] – activate this option if you only want to check the print file to be uploaded for possible errors or abnormalities.
   • Split Multipage Files [5] – enable this option if a multipage document should be split into individual pages during upload.
4. You can now upload the desired print data to the Workflow via drag and drop or by clicking on the drop zone and selecting the desired files.

In Workflow, Print Items can be created as either Articles or Print Items. During the upload, the print data can be checked and corrected using Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates, thus bringing it into a normalized state. You can select the desired template when uploading the file.

By using Production Configurations – create them in the Automation > Production Configuration menu – it is possible to represent the processing descriptions of a Print Item's necessary process in the Workflow. Production Configurations are used in the context of Quick Print and Hotfolder or for creating Automation Jobs. Thereby, the user can automate production in the broadest sense and avoid recurring operations.

To describe the Print Item's process in a Production Configuration, we use the Operations that perform the individual sub-steps of the process. The Apply Fixup Chain operation represents the process step that is used to e.g. prepare normalized print data for production with the necessary add-ons.

To create a Production Configuration with the Apply Fixup Chain operation, proceed as follows:

1. Switch to Automation > Production Configuration.
2. Click Add to create a new production configuration.
3. Enter the Name and a Description of the Production Configuration in the General tab [17].
4. Switch to the Operations tab [16] and add the desired operations in the desired order by clicking the symbol [18].
5. Add the Operation Check-in Artwork and Normalize [19] and select the desired template in the Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates [20] option.
6. Use placeholders to determine how the Print Item name [21] should be displayed in the Workflow.
7. Click on Save [22] to complete the creation of the Production Configuration. The Production Configuration is now available in Quick Print and Hotfolders, and can also be used to create Automation Jobs.

Figure 4: The Add Production Configuration dialog

Another way to access Check-in Preflight and Fixup Templates in the Workflow is to call the {REST:API}. If a template should be applied during the upload of an Article or Print Item via a leading system – e.g. ERP/MIS – the corresponding REST call with the GUID of the desired template is to be transferred. A detailed description of this can be found in the REST-API documentation.