As described in the article Creating a Production Configuration, you can add various Operations to a Production Configuration. This article provides a detailed description of the prerequisites and options offered by the Operation Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain.

When processing Print Items, it may be necessary to check the print data and – depending on the Preflight Results – apply Fixups. The Operation Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain performs exactly this task. Print Items are checked against defined criteria within the structure of the print file and, depening on the result, are either corrected automatically or assigned to a specific Action.

The Operation Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain is used in Production Configurations that represent an entire process – from uploading the print data into the Workflow through to output – but it can also be used when applying Production Configurations to selected Articles or Print Items.

Which content is checked depends on the Preflight options available in the Workflow. Examples of Checks and resulting Actions or Fixups include:

• You want to check the Size of a Print Item and, depending on the Preflight result, apply a Fixup Chain – for example, calculating different distortions while generating Bleed and Dielines – or perform another Action.
• You want to check whether the Print Item is a Multipage Print Item and, depending on the Preflight result, apply a Fixup Chain – for example, splitting the Multipage Print Item, reorder it, and add a Dieline and Bleed – or perform another Action.
• You want to check the Availability of a Spot Color in the Print Item, and depending on the Preflight result, apply a desired Fixup Chain – for example, reducing the Spot Color channel and renaming it – or perform another Action.
• You want to check the Availabllity of PageBoxes in the Print Item, and depending on the Preflight result, apply a Fixup Chain – for example, synchronizing PageBoxes across all pages and set the TrimBox to the Dieline – or perform another Action.
• You want to check the Number of Pages of the Print Item, and depending on the Preflight result, apply a desired Fixup Chain – for example, add missing pages to a multiple of four and then create the odd and even pages as a double page – or perform another Action.
• You want to check whether all pages in the Print Item have the same size and, depending on the Preflight result, apply a Fixup Chain – for example, transferring the size of the TrimBox of the first page to all pages, to set a Dieline to the TrimBox and generate the required Bleed – or perform another Action.
• You want to check the Image Resolution within the Print Item and, depending on the Preflight result, apply one or more Fixups – for example, upscaling image resolution and trimming previously overlapping image content – or perform another Action.
• If you want to check whether Bleed is required for the Print Item or whether it is incomplete and, depending on the Preflight result, apply the desired Fixup Chain – for example, mirroring content behind or along the existing Bleed – or perform another Action.

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

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

The primary function of the Operation Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain is to check Print Items in the Workflow against defined quality criteria and, depending on the Preflight results, apply the corresponding Fixup Chain and initiate a further Action.

The purpose of this Operation is to ensure that Print Items are optimally prepared for the next processing steps – for example, by scaling, converting or adjusting Print Item properties when deviations are detected. The specific check and the applied Fixup Chain ensure that the Print Item meets the requirements for subsequent steps and can be processed smoothly.

In the following example, print data will be uploaded into the Workflow via Automation > Batch Processing, and all Print Items  will be checked for their image resolution. If the resolution is greater than 150 dpi, no Action is requird. If the resolution is less then 150 dpi, a Fixup Chain – consisting of the Fixup Upscale Image Resolution – will be applied. This ensures that all images less than 151 dpi are upscaled to 300 dpi. Finally, the Print Items will be combined into a Production Job.

To implement this process, a Production Configuration must be created with three Operations in the specified order – Check-in Artwork and Normalize, followed by Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain, and finally Create Production Job. Proceed as follows:

1. Select the menu item Automation > Production Configurations.
2. Create a new Production Configuration. Instructions on how to do this, can be found in the article Creating a Production Configuration.
3. In the tab General [8], assign a Name to the Production Configuration and then switch to the tab Operations [7].
4. First, add the Operation Check-in Artwort and Normalize [9] to the Production Configuration. Select the desired Check-in Preflight and Fixup Template. In this example, the Template Workflow Default Preflight was used. No changes were made to the default Operation settings.
5. Next, add the Operation Check Print Item and Apply Fixup Chain [10] and select the check Check Image Resolution [12].
6. Click Edit [15] and configure the check so that it triggers when a resolution less than or equal to 150 dpi is found.
7. Save the new Template, add a detailed description and click Apply.
8. If the check is not successful, the resolution is greater than 150 dpi. Therefore, no Fixup Chain should be applied for Does not match check. In the Action dropdown, select the entry Skip and continure with the next step [16].
9. If the check matches, the resolution must be upscaled. In the Action dropdown, select the entry Perform Operation [13].
10. Then, select the previously created Fixup Chain from the dropdown menu [14].
11. Finally, add the Operation Create Production Job [11]. No changes were made to the default Operation settings here either.
12. To complete the Operation, save the Production Configuration by clicking Save.

Figure 2: The dialog Edit Production Configuration with the Operations required for this example

13. Navigate to Automation > Batch Processing.
14. In the tab Execute Batch Processing [17], add the desired files from your local computer by clicking Choose Files [18]. In this examlple, the Print Items Dolomiten_01 and Dolomiten_02 have a resolution of 300 dpi, Dolomiten_03 has a resolution of 72 dpi.
15. Enter the desired number of copies for each Print Item in the field Quantity [20].
16. Next, select the previously created Production Configuration from the dropdown list of the Production Configuration [19].
17. Click Start [21] to begin the Batch Processing Operation.

Figure 3: The settings area of the menu item Batch Processing

18. In the dialog Batch Processing that opens, review the settings once again.
19. Click Start Batch Production [22] to start the process.

Figure 4: The dialog Batch Processing for confirming the execution

20. After some time – processing duration may vary depending on the computer system and the current Workflow load – navigate to Automation > Automation Jobs.
21. You can monitor the progress of individual Automation Jobs either in the tab Batch Processing History under the menu item Automation > Batch Processing or via Automation > Automation Jobs.
22. The created Production Job is displayed in the list of Production Jobs. All three Print Items now have a resolution of 300 dpi or higher.

Figure 5: The detailed view of the created Production Job