As described in the article Creating a Production Configuration, you can add multiple Operations to a Production Configuration. This article explains the prerequisites and the options available in the Operation Export Print Item in detail.

In some cases, users may want to transfer a Print Item to an external system to make it available for an activity that is not supported within the application. In many cases, however, system administrators also want to archive Print Items within the application once they have reached the status "Ready for Print", so that the prepared file can be used for a reprint at a later time.

The Operation Export Print Item can be used in Production Configurations that cover an entire Workflow – from uploading the print data into the Workflow to output – but it can also be applied when executing Production Configurations on selected Articles or Print Items.

The Operation Export Print Item can – except for the exceptions listed below – be added flexibly and multiple times within a single Production Configuration. The following Operations cannot be used before the Operation Export Print Item:

• Create Impose – as this Operation only generates a Production Job from the Imposition.
• Create Impose with Auto Nesting – as this Operation only generates a Production Job from the Imposition.
• Create Production Job – as this Operation can only be used to send the Production Job to the printer.
• Create Production Job for Tracks – as this Operation can only be used to send the Production Job to the printer.
• Create Production Job from Imposition – as this Operation can only be used to send the Production Job to the printer.
• Send to Printer – as no further Operations can be applied to rendered data.
• Export Imposition Report – as this Operation is only used to create and export an Imposition Report after a Production Job has been created.

The primary function of the Operation Export Print Item is to export a file to a Destination (target directory) in order to archive it for documentation purposes. Prior to exporting, the Print Item can be adjusted using a Fixup.

The purpose of this step is to automatically export Print Items to a local folder with a predefined, dynamically generated folder structure.

Before you can automatically export a Print Item, you must create a Share of type Other Server under Administration > File Management. For more information, refer to the section Setting Up the File Management of the article Setting Up External Systems.

The following options are available for configuring the Operation:

Export Print Item – the following options are available in this section:

• Destination [1] – select the Destination where the Print Items should be saved. Please note that the corresponding directory must first be released under Administration > File Management.
• Hierarchical Archiving [2] – by entering a "/", you can define the folder hierarchy for the directoriees to be created in the file system. Example: ${contact.display_name}/${print_order.order_number} creates a folder named "Customer Name" in the selected Destination and a subfolder with the "Order Name" inside it. Add a placeholder for the folder to be created by clicking Add Placeholder [3].
• Filename after Export [4] – enter the desired file name that the Print Item should have after the export. Add a placeholder by clicking Add Placeholder [5] to dynamically generate the name based on the metadata of the Print Item.

Apply Fixup(s) to the Print Item during Export – the following options are available in this section:

• Add Fixup and select Template [6] – select one or more Fixups to be applied to the Print Item before export. Please note that the Fixups are applied only to the Print Item during export, and not to the Print Item within the application.

In the following example, print data will be processed in the Workflow via Automation > Batch Processing, the Print Items will be stored as Articles in a collection, and then exported to a Destination.

To achieve this, a Production Configuration must be created with two Operations in the specified order – Check-in Artwork and Normalize, followed by Export Print Item.

Proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu item Automation > Batch Processing.
2. Create a new Production Configuration by clicking Add [7].

Figure 3: The area Batch Processing at the start

3. The Operations Check-In Artwort and Normalize, followed by Create Production Job, are already selected. Assign a descriptive Name [8] for the Production Configuration and optionally enter a Comment [9].
4. Select the Operation Check-In Artwort and Normalize and choose a Check-in Preflight and Fixup-Template [10].
5. Enable the option Create Article [12] and configure the desired settings. Specify the following options:
   • Substrate Category [13] – select the desired Substrate Category if you want to limit the options in the subsequent Substrate selection list.
   • Substrate [14] – select the desired Substrate if you want to limit the options in the subsequent Color Policy selection list.
   • Color Policy [15] – select the desired Color Policy. Selecting a Color Policy automatically assigned the corresponding Substrate Category and Substrate.
   • Customer [16] – optionally select a Customer from the list available customers and add a new Customer [17].
   • Select Collection – select and existing collection [19] in the application, or alternatively click the button Create Collection [18] to dynamically create a Collection based on placeholders.
6. Remove the Operation Create Production Job from the list of processing steps by clicking Remove [11], as no Production Job is required for this use case.

Figure 4: The dialog Batch Processing Production Configuration with the two Operations that are inserted by default

7. Click Add [20] to insert the Operation Export Print Item at the position shown.
8. Select at least the Destination [21] where the Print Item should be stored.
9. If you want to store the Print Items in the subfolders within the selected Destination, define the folder structure under Hierarchical Archiving [22]. Use static text and placeholders, and insert a / whenever a subfolder should be created for the subsequent placeholder.
10. Then, define the Print Item Name by adding placeholders under Filename after Export [23].
11. After configuring the final step, save the Production Configuration settings by clicking Save.

Figure 5: The dialog Batch Processing Production Configuration with the Operation Export Print Item selected

12. In the tab Execute Batch Processing [24], add the desired files from your local computer by clicking Choose Files [25]. Enter the required numbber of copies for all Print Items under Global Changes in the field Quantity [27] ein.
13. Make sure that the previously created Production Configuration [26] is selected in the dropdown list of the Production Configuration.
14. Click Start [28] to begin the Operation Batch Processing.

Figure 6: The dialog Batch Processing with the selected Production Configuration Export Print Item

15. In the dialog Batch Processing that opens, review the settings once again.
16. Click Start Batch Processing [29] to start the Operation.

Figure 7: The dialog Batch Processing for confirming the execution

17. You can monitor the progress of the individual Automation Jobs either in the tab Batch Processing History under the menu item Automation > Batch Processing or via Automation > Automation Jobs.
18. After the Job has completed, navigate to the defined Destination.
19. The exported Print Items [30] are stores there – in this example, four files.

Figure 8: The Destination containing the Print Items

20. Navigate to Articles > Collections.
21. The desired Print Items are available in the respective Collection [31].

Figure 9: The Collections with the created Collection