In this article, you will learn
- how to perform a Quick Print,
- which parameters are required for the process, and
- which additional information can be added.
1. Introduction
The Quick Print function allows you to quickly upload print data to the $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW application in order to create a Production Job, optionally create an imposition, and optionally send the data directly to the printer. This function is particularly useful for recurring print jobs or whenever fast processing without manually creating individual Production Jobs is required.
Depending on the selected options, Quick Print creates at least one Production Job containing the Print Items in order to process them appropriately before they are sent to the printer. Internally, Operations – which you may already be familiar with from a Production Configuration – are dynamically arranged in sequence and executed. You can monitor the progress of the individual Operations under Automation > Automation Jobs as well as in the Quick Prints History tab.
The Quick Print menu item provides the following three areas, which are configured in sequence:
- Upload Files – in this area, you can add the print data to be processed, define the desired order, and enter the required information, such as Name, Quantity, Scale Factor, Width, Height, etc. You can also specify which Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template and which Template for extracting metadata should be used to process the print data during normalization.
- Production Job – in this area, you can specify the Job Name for the Production Job, select the Output Configuration to be used, and determine whether a single Production Job or multiple separate Production Jobs should be created for the selected files.
- Impose – in this area, you can optionally specify whether an Impose should be created and which Impose Mode and which Impose Template, Sheet Template, Plate Template, and Print Item Template should be used.
Unable to Access all Features?
Please note that the functionality described in this article covers all available options. If certain features are not available to you, this is usually because they are not included in your license or because you have not yet upgraded to the version specified in the footer.
2. Performing a Quick Print
If you want to create a large number of print data files as one or more Production Jobs or send them directly to the printer, proceed as follows:
- Select the Automation > Quick Print menu item. You are taken directly to the Quick Print tab.
- In the Upload Files area [1], add the print data to be processed. First, define the desired processing order for the files, enter the metadata for each Print Item, and select the Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template and, optionally the Template for extracting metadata.
- In the Production Job and Impose areas [5], define the parameters for the intended processing method. The information field [4] provides an overview of the selected Printer, Destination, and Substrate, as well as whether an Impose will be created.
- Once you have configured everything, simply execute the Create Production Job command [2] or Send to Printer [Printer Name] [3]. The remaining steps are performed automatically.
Figure 1: Main area of the Quick Print menu
The following area provides a detailed explanation of the various configuration options available in Quick Print:
2.1. Upload Files
In the Upload Files settings area, perform the following steps:
- Before uploading the files, select the desired Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template [21] in the Upload and Normalization Settings [13]. This Template is used for normalizing files. The dialog also provides the following additional options:
- Preflight and fix the first page only [22] – enable this option only if you want to upload multipage print data and are certain that all subsequent pages of the document have the same page size and orientation and contain the same Spot Colors. This can significantly speed up the upload of a multipage document.
- Preflight only (no correction) [23] – enable this option only if you are certain that the print file meets all requirements of the application. If this is not the case, corresponding warnings and error messages are displayed, and the print item ends up with the status Data Check.
Options Not Displayed
If these options are not displayed in the Upload and Normalization Settings dialog, they have been hidden for the $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW application under Administration > Settings > Preflight / Fixup in the General settings section.
- If information such as Name, Quantity, Width, Height, etc. is to be extracted from the file name of the print item, select the appropriate template from the Template for extracting metadata [16] dropdown menu [24].
- Add the files to be processed to the settings area. You can do this either by dragging the files into the dropzone [9] or by clicking the dropzone and then selecting the files. You can also click Add [11] to upload files. Clicking the Remove All [12] icon removes all uploaded files. The number of uploaded or contained files [6] is displayed next to the corresponding icon. If an uploaded print item is a multipage file, the Split Multipage Files checkbox [10] is displayed. The checkbox is only shown if at least one multipage file has been uploaded.
- For each uploaded file a row is created in the list below. You can change the order of the print items by dragging the handle [8]. For each uploaded print item a preview image with the current file information [7] is displayed.
- Now specify the Name [17], Quantity [20], Width [19], and Height [18] for each print item. Additional fields, including user-defined fields, can be shown or hidden via the Display Options [15].
- By clicking the Global Changes button [14], you can define metadata globally for all print items. The following special characters are also available for naming, making it easier to apply global names:
$– entering this character inserts the file name of the respective print item.#– entering this character automatically inserts a number for each print item based on its row number. The number of#characters entered determines the number of digits in the numbering. With three characters (###), the first print item is assigned the number _001, the second _002, the third _003, and so on.
Figure 2: The Upload Files area with files already added and all dialogs that can be opened with Quick Print
Assign an Order Number to Print Item Names
To use an Order Number as a prefix for each print item, enter 202608120 $ under Global Changes. Here, 202608120 represents the respective Order Number. The $ character serves as a placeholder for the existing print item name. This automatically adds the order number as a prefix to the print item names.
2.2. Production Job
Select the Production Job [25] operation to configure it with the desired values. The following options are available in this section:
- Job Name [26] – enter the Job Name for the Production Job or Production Jobs here. The name can be freely defined or predefined using a placeholder under Administration > Settings > Dynamic Naming in the Default Names when creating Production Jobs settings section.
- Grouping Options [27] – select how you want the print items to be grouped. The following options are available:
- Keep all Print Items together – a single Production Job is created from all uploaded print data. If an Imposition is also to be created, all Print Items are placed on a single Impose.
- For every single-page and multipage Print Item – a Production Job and, optionally, an Imposition are created for each uploaded file. This option is equivalent to the following option if Split Multipage Files [10] (Figure 2) is enabled in the Upload Files section.
- For Each Print Item – a Production Job and, optionally, an Imposition are created for each page of the uploaded files.
- Output Settings [28] – select an Output Template to define the substrate and color policy to be used to process the print data, as well as the printer to which the finished files or Impositions are to be transferred. Click Edit [32] to manually adjust the output configuration. An overview of the selected settings for Printer, Destination, Substrate, and Imposition is displayed in a separate section [29].
- Reset to Defaults [30] – clicking this option resets both the Grouping Options and the Output Settings to the system-wide default values.
- Display Options [31] – in addition to the Job Name, you can optionally add input fields for Comment or External ID to the Production Job. To do so, enable the desired input fields by selecting the corresponding checkboxes.
Figure 3: Left: The Production Job Parameters settings area; Right: The Add Output Configuration dialog
2.3. Create Impose
In addition to creating the Production Job, the Create Impose operation is available in the second settings area. Click the Impose [38] operation to select the corresponding settings area and configure it with the desired values. The following parameters are available in this area:
- Impose Mode [33] – select the desired Impose Mode. You can choose from the licensed modes Bound Product, Nesting, Step & Repeat, Tiling, and Die Cut.
- Impose Template [34] – select the desired Impose Template. Only Impose Templates belonging to the selected Impose mode are displayed. An Impose Template essentially stores all Impose settings that ultimately determine the Imposition Layout.
- Plate Template [35] – select the desired Plate Template. In practice, Plate Templates are used almost exclusively in combination with the Die Cut Impose Mode.
- Sheet Template [36] – select the desired Sheet Template. Among other things, the Sheet Template defines which margins are to be kept clear on the Imposition sheet and where placement of the print items on the Imposition sheet begins.
- Print Item Template [37] – select the desired Print Item Template. Print Item Templates are primarily used for double-sided Impositions.
- Reset to Defaults [39] – clicking the icon resets all currently entered values for the Impose operation to the defined default values.
- Display Options [40] – specify which selection fields should be displayed in the dialog. By default, the Plate Template, Sheet Template, and Print Item Template selection fields are hidden.
Figure 4: The Impose settings area
3. Creating a Production Job and Send to Printer
Once you have fully configured all settings, you can either start sending the data to the printer or simply create a Production Job. Proceed as follows:
- Click Create Production Job [2] (Figure 1) to start uploading and processing the print items and then create a Production Job.
- If you want to send the print data directly to the printer, click Send to Printer [Printer Name] [3] (Figure 1) instead.
- In both cases, the Quick Print dialog opens. Enter the desired job name [41] or define a name pattern based on placeholders for the job name. The dialog displays the number of print items [42] included as well as the total file size [43] of the uploaded data.
- Click Start Quick Print [44] to begin processing the uploaded print data.
Figure 5: The Quick Print dialog with the job name
What happens in the Background after Starting?
When processing a Quick Print job, individual Automation Jobs are created in the background for each print item. This allows you to track the progress of each print item and resolve any issues that may occur with the respective print item.
Quick Print Files are Processed as a Batch
Please note that all files in a Quick Print job are processed as a batch. The application therefore assumes that all files will ultimately be included in one or more production jobs, provided that all print items can be processed successfully.
If you want to use the Continuous Processing processing method, you must run a Batch Processing operation from the Automation menu. Both processing methods are supported there.
What is the Quick Print Name used for?
The name you define in the Quick Print dialog can be particularly useful in two situations during processing:
- Searching for Quick Print jobs in the "Quick Prints History" tab – for example, you can filter the "Quick Prints History" tab by the order number "202608132". This allows you to quickly view the processing status for this order number.
- Using it as the Production Job Name – use the placeholder
${factory_job_collection.name}for the order name in the Production Job operation. This inserts the name of the Quick Print job and uses it as the order name for the production job. - For the entry
${factory_job_collection.name} – ${production_job.consecutive_numbers_per_day}from the previous example, this would result in the production job name 202608132 – 23.08.2026 09:29 – 001.
- To monitor the progress, switch to the Quick Prints History [45] tab. Here you will find an overview of all current and completed Quick Print jobs.
- Enter a search term in Search [47] to quickly find the desired Quick Print job. You can also sort the entries by Created or Modified [46].
- Use the Quick Filters [48] to narrow down the search for the desired Quick Print job. The most recently started Quick Print job is displayed as the first entry [49] in the list.
- Select the Quick Print job you started previously to see which operations [50] have already been completed and which are still in progress. If an error occurs, it is also displayed in this list.
- Additional functions are available for each Automation Job:
- Go to Detail View [51] – opens the details view for the print item. This is particularly useful if you need to resolve an issue or view detailed information about the print item.
- Delete [52] – deletes the Automation Job for the print item. This reduces the batch size by one entry.
- Replace File [53] – if you determine during processing that the file in the Automation Job is incorrect, you can replace it with a file that has already been uploaded. When a file is replaced, the entire automation process is run again.
- Retry [54] – reprocesses an Automation Job that was aborted.
- Cancel [55] – cancels the Automation Job, causing the entire Quick Print job to be marked as failed.
- Click Go to Detail View [51] to go directly to the associated production job.
Figure 6: The Quick Prints History tab, showing a print item that needs to be split into individual pages
4. Possible Operations in an Automation Job
Depending on the selected options, up to four operations can be dynamically created in Automation Jobs in Quick Print. The following description provides an overview of how Automation Jobs can be structured.
4.1. Creating Production Jobs Only
If you only want to create production jobs with or without impositions of single-sided print items and then transfer them to the printer together, only two operations are required – Check-in Artwork and Normalize and Create Production Job. These two operations are required for all Quick Print jobs.
Figure 7: An Automation Job with two operations
4.2. Creating Production Jobs and Splitting Multipage Print Items
If you only want to create production jobs with or without impositions of multipage print items that must first be split, three operations are required – Check-in Artwork and Normalize, Split Print Item, and Create Production Job.
Figure 8: An Automation Job with three operations
4.3. Creating Production Jobs, Splitting Multipage Print Items, and Sending them to the Printer
If you want to create production jobs with or without impositions of multipage print items that must first be split, and then send them to the printer, four operations are required – Check-in Artwork and Normalize, Split Print Item, Create Production Job, and Send to Printer.
Figure 9: An Automation Job with four operations
5. Exercise Files
The corresponding print items – Pattern_01 through Pattern_05 – are available for download to reproduce the example described.
Article Update: $PRODUCT_NAME_WORKFLOW 2.3.0 – 08/2026