User Manual

Imposition in General

Updated on

In this article, you will learn

  • what is meant by Imposition,
  • what options are available for creating an Imposition,
  • what is meant by the File Manager, and
  • how the User Interface in the Impose Editor is structured.

1. General

An Imposition involves the process of arranging Print Items from a Production Job manually or based on rules on a previously defined Imposition Area, thereby enabling a combined output on the printing system.

The Imposition is performed in the Impose Editor, which can be opened either as a separate dialog or as a work step within a Production Job. After starting the Impose Editor, users first select the desired Impose Mode. This mode determines whether the Print Items are placed manually on the Imposition Area or arranged automatically based on predefined rules.

Within the Workflow, five different modes are available:

  • Manual Mode – allows free placement of Print Items on the Imposition Area – similar to a drawing board.
  • Nesting – arranges Print Items based on rule to maximize substrate usage efficiency.
  • Step Repeat – arranges Print Items in rows and columns according to rules.
  • Tiling – splits large Print Items into reproducible units according to rules.
  • Die Cut – places Print Items in the placeholders (One-Up) of the selected N-Up.
  • Bound Product – arranges multiple print pages according to rules for a bound product.

After selecting a rule-based mode, the arrangement is calculated based on the selected parameters. The calculation includes all Print Items available in the Production Job and their properties, including:

  • Print Item Size
  • Rotation instructions
  • Required quantities
  • Added Marks, Captions, and printing or technical lines
  • Optionally placed Variable Data

The final Imposition is saved by the Workflow as PDF and either transferred to the RIP for output or output as a PDF to the Destination.

2. File Manager

The File Manager is a separate area that provides users with direct and quick access to Articles and Print Items from the areas Articles, Orders and Production Job. It supports both targeted searches for existing Articles and Print Items, as well as uploading new print data from the section Articles into the Workflow. The available filter options in the File Manager may vary slightly depending on the selected mode.

2.1. User Interface

The File Manager is available in the Impose Editor on the left side and can be expanded. To access it, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the Impose Editor by selecting the menu item Automation > Impose Editor.
  2. If the File Manager is not displayed, click on the arrow [6] on the left-hand side of the Impose Editor.

The File Manager is divided into five areas:

  • Menu items (orange area) [1] – allows you to switch to the areas Articles, Orders or Production Jobs. Depending on the selected menu item, the subsequent areas may appear slightly differently.
  • Search (red area) [2] – allows you to search for Articles, Collections and Print Items – in the menu items Order and Production Job.
  • Navigation (green area) [3] – allows you to navigate through the list of Articles and Print Items and allows setting the number of records displayed.
  • Actions (magenta area) [4] – provides tools to modify the list view, select, delete, or add Articles and Print Items to the Impose, and influence the sorting of the Print Items in the list.
  • List (blue area) [5] – displays the currently found Articles or Print Items.

Figure 1: The File Manager with the menu item Articles selected

2.2. Functions

In the File Manager, three main functions are offered – uploading print data, searching for Articles, Collections or Print Items, and providing Print Items for the Impose Editor.

2.2.1. Uploading Print Data

Print data can be uploaded into the Workflow in various ways – Quick Print, Batch Processing, Hotfolder, or by creating a new Article, Order, or Production Job. Additional Articles can also be uploaded to the Workflow in the File Manager. To do this, proceed as follows:

  1. Open the File Manager in the Impose Editor.
  2. Select the menu item Article [7]. If the area for searching/selecting Articles is not displayed, first expand it by clicking on the arrow [10].
  3. If you want to assign the print data to be uploaded to a Collection, select an available Collection [8] from the dropdown menu. To create a new Collection, click the + Icon [9]. This opens the dialog Add Collection. Enter the Name for the Collection and confirm the dialog. The new Collection is then selected.
  4. Start uploading print data by clicking the + icon [11]. This opens the dialog Open File of your operating system. Select the desired print files and start the upload process.
  5. After a short time, the print data you just uploaded will be displayed as Articles in the list.

Figure 2: The area for uploading and searching Articles in the File Manager

2.2.2. Search for Print Data

The search for print data differs slightly accross the three menu items – Article, Order, and Production Job.

  • Search in the menu item Article [14] – the list of Articles can be searched by Collections [12] and/or Article Name [13]. If a Collection is selected first and the Article Name is entered afterward, the search for the Article Name is limited to that Collection.
  • Search in the menu item Order [17] – the list can only be searched by Order Name [18]. The Orders [15] are displayed on the first level of the list. Clicking the arrow [19] opens the second level, which displays all Print Items [16] of the order.
  • Search in the menu item Production Job [23] – the list can only be searched by the Name of a Production Job [22]. The Production Jobs are displayed on the first level [20] of the list; and the Print Items [21] of the Production Job are displayed by expanding the list below.

Figure 3: The search areas of the menu items Article, Order, and Production Job

2.2.3. Add Print Data to the Imposition

Once the desired Articles or Print Items have been found, they are available for selection in the Print Item list. The display of the entries is controlled via the options Large Thumbnails [24] and Small Thumbnails [25]. When large thumbnails are enabled, additional Article information is displayed – however, due to the expanded display, fewer entries can be shown in the list at the same time.

The order of the entries can be determined by selecting Sort by ID [32] or Sort by Name [33]. If no selection is made, the entries are sorted by default according to their internal sequential ID.

Within the list, individual or multiple entries can be selected. The number of currently selected items is diplayed in the field Quantity [26].

Figure 4: The Actions area and the list of the menu item Article

The following additional Actions can be performed on selected list entries:

  • Add selected Entries to Imposition [27] – clicking the "+" icon adds the selected Print Items to the Imposition. Alternatively, the Print Items can be dragged and dropped onto the Imposition Area of the Impose Editor. Whether Print Items/Articles that have already been added should remain visible in the list can be determined by enabling the option Hide used Print Items [30].
  • Edit [28] (available for Articles only) – this function allows Articles to be renamed [34], removed from a Collection [35], or added to a Collection.
  • Delete [29] (available for Articles only) – this option permanently deletes Articles.
  • Refresh [31] – this option reloads and updates the list.

Figure 5: The dialog Edit Article of the File Manager

3. Impose Editor

The Impose Editor is a standalone application that can be opened either via Automation > Impositions or via the tab Impose within a Production Job. The range of functions is the same in both cases. However, if the Impose Editor is started as a separate application, a separate menu bar is also available.

3.1. User Interface

The user interface of the Impose Editor is structured into six areas (including File Manager).

  • Menu Bar (magenta area) [36] – this area provides menu commands required for working with the Impose Editor, such as Impose, Save and Close.
    • Impose New – creates a new Impose.
    • Impose Open – opens an existing Production Job in the Impose Editor, allowing the current Imposition to be modified.
    • Impose Save as – saves the current Imposition as a new Production Job.
    • Save – saves the changes made to the Imposition for the current Production Job.
    • Close – closes the current Imposition. If there are unsaved changes, you will be prompted either to discard the changes or to save them to the current Imposition in the Production Job.
    • Display [40] – provides options for displaying various frames (e.g., ImageBox, ImageBox + Bleed, Margin) as well as options to improve the display quality.
    • Zoom – allows the selection of the zoom level to enlarge or reduce the view.
    • Information [41] – displays existing errors and warnings in a dialog. Additional information includes, among other things, the number of copies to be printed and the number of Print Items places on the sheet.
  • File Manager (yellow area) [37] – allows print data to be uploaded and enables searching for Articles and Print Items in the sections Article, Order and Production Job in order to add selected Print Items to the Imposition.
  • Toolbar (red area) [38] – provides tools for editing the Imposition.
  • Imposition Area (green area) [39] – displays the Imposition Area, where the actual Imposition is created.
  • Settings Area (blue area) [42] – this area provides all settings and functions required to configure an Imposition – grouped into five tabs General, Artboard, Print Items, Marks and Finishing. Here, users select the desired Impose Mode, definde an Impose Template (rule set definition), and configure the Impose Sheet. In addition, information about the effective size of the Impose Sheet, the resulting Total Area, and the degree of utilization between printed and unprinted areas is displayed.

Figure 6: The user interface of the Impose Editor

While the Menu Bar is self-explanatory, the Action Bar is described in the sectiont Performing an Imposition, and the File Manager has already been explained in detail earlier, the advanced functions of the remaining areas are covered in the following sections.

3.1.1. Imposition Area with Toolbar

The Imposition Area represents the gray workspace. Objects that extend beyond the Imposition Area will be cropped accordingly in the output. The toolbar is displayed in every Impose Mode. Depending on the Mode, the toolbar may differ in both the number of available tools and the access to those tools. The following tools are available in the Impose Editor:

  • Select Tool [43] – used in Manual Mode to select individual Print Items on the Impose Sheet in order to reduce size, enlarge size, move, or simply select them. Click on an empty area of the Impose Sheet to deselect any currently selected objects.
  • Object Creation Tools [44] – provides tools for creating Imposition Objects such as Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, Path and Text, as well as a tool for selecting these objects.
  • Crop Tool [45] – a utility for cropping selected Print Items on the Impose Sheet in the Manual Mode.
  • Grid Tool [46] – used in Manual Mode to generate regular placeholders.
  • Measure Tool [47] – can be used to measure distances on the Imposition Area.
  • Hand Tool [48] – used to move the displayed section in the Impose Editor.
  • Zoom Tool [49] – used to zoom in and zoom out of the displayed area. Zooming in and out is also possible via keyboard shortcuts.
  • Fit to Width and Fit to Height [50] – used to adjust the view to fit the Impose Sheet either by Width or Height.

Figure 7: The Toolbar of the Impose Editor

3.1.2. Settings Area

On the right side of the Impose Editor, there is a panel that provides various settings depending on the chosen Impose Mode. The panel is divided into five tabs – General, Artboard, Print Items, Marks and Finishing.

Tab "General"

The tab General contains the most important parameters – Plate Template, Sheet Template, Impose Mode, and Imposition, as well as the specification of the Impose Sheet Size – which are used for calculating the Imposition.

Figure 8: The settings area of the tab General in the Impose Mode Nesting

Tab "Artboard"

In the tab Artboard, the layout parameters and placement settings for the Artboard are available, organized thematically into separate settings panels.

The number of visible panels depends on the selected Impose Mode. Detailed descriptions of the individual parameters are provided in the dedicated Articles for each Impose Mode in the section Impose. Settings panels can be expanded or collapsed by clicking the arrow [51] in the header of the respective panel.

Figure 9: The settings area of the tab Artboard in the Impose Mode Nesting

Tab "Print Items"

In the tab Print Items, all Print Items currently included in the Production Job are displayed. The following functions are available in this tab:

  • Reorder Print Items – the order of Print Items in the list can be changed by simply dragging a Print Item. Depending on the selected Impose Mode, this may affect the final result of the Imposition.
  • Select Print Items – as in the list of Articles in the File Manager, individual or multiple Print Items can be selected. You can select all Print Items in once [58] or clear the current selection [58]. The number of currently selected Print Items is displayed in the field Information [59].
  • Select Print Items outside Sheet [52] – this function is only available in the Mode Manual.
  • Edit selected Print Items [56] – clicking the tool opens the dialog Edit selected Print Items, where the number of Copies, Scaling, and the Visibility can be adjusted for a single Print Item or all selected Print Items.
  • Delete selected Print Items [57] – deletes the Print Item from the Imposition and thus from the Production Job. The Print Item is not removed from the Workflow and remains available either as an Article or Print Item in the Workflow.
  • Add selected Print Items to the Imposition [55] (available in the Impose Mode Manual only) – clicking this tool adds the selected Print Item to the Imposition according to the specified number of Copies of the Imposition. Alternatively, Print Items can be added by dragging and dropping them onto the Imposition Area. In rule-based Imposition Mode, all Print Items are automatically used in the Imposition; manual addition is not required.
  • Rotate Print Items [53] (available in the Impose Mode Manual only) – this function is available only in Manual Mode. By selecting a rotation, the Print Items are automatically rotated when placed. In the rule-based Imposition Mode, rotation parameters area defnied in the settings area Options.
  • Technical Color [54] – the presence of this icon indicates to the user that one or more Technical Colors are present in the Print Item. Clicking the icon displays which colors are included.
  • Replace Print Item [60] (available in the Impose Mode Manual only) – this allows a selected Print Item in the Imposition to be replaced with another Print Item from the list.

Figure 10: The tab Print Items of the Impose Mode Manual

Tab "Marks"

In the tab Marks, auxliary objects are available that are required in various Imposition Situations. These auxiliary objects can be used in all Impose Modes and include:

  • Marks – enable the addition of various print marks that are required on the Imposition for cutting processes or for determining the position during Imposition.
  • Captions – provide information on the sheet in the form of text or encoded as a barcode, facilitating the identification and assignment of printed Print Items during Finishing.
  • Lines – add printable lines at defined page margins that serve as cutting edges in Finishing.
  • Grommets – allow the placement of grommets on selected edges of a Print Item, including configurable size, edge offsets, and spacing between grommets.
  • Sheet ID – adds a barcode or QR code to the sheet containing unique information identifying the printed sheet. The Sheet ID must be generated dynamically on the sheet by the printing sytem.

Figure 11: The tab Marks without any additional auxiliary objects

Tab "Finishing"

In the tab Finishing, functions are available that relate to downstream proccesses in production. This include, in particular, the automatic generation of Dielines, which can then be transferred to the selected cutter device.

To automatically generate a Dieline for the Print Items, select the option Default from the dropdown menu Add [61]. The parameters provided allow you to define the Position with Offset, Corner Type, Stroke Width, Color and the Overprint State of the Dieline.

To transfer the generated Dieline to a connected cutter device, select the desired Cutter Devices [62] and – if available – the Substrate Settings of the Device [63]. Adjustments to Registration Marks [64] or Barcodes [65] for the cutter device can be made by expanding the correspondig settings section.

Figure 12: The tab Finishing

4. Performing an Imposition

After familiarizing yourself with the user interface of the File Manager and the Impose Editor, you can start creating an Imposition. Follow the instructions below. The description refers to a newly created Imposition, which is ultimately saved as a Production Job.

  1. Open the Impose Editor by selecting the menu Automation > Impose Editor. Select + Create a new Imposition.
  2. In the dialog New Imposition, define the basic parameters for your Imposition. You may use an existing Template [66] or define the requested parameters manually. These include Printer [67] and Print Configuration [68], based on which the Substrate, Substrate Definition, Color Policy and Destination are selected.
  3. Using the option Impose Sheet Size, you can either select Use Substrate Definition or specify the Width and Height [69] of the Impose Sheet manually via Custom.
  4. Select the desired Impose Mode [70] and, if an Impose Template has already been created, choose the appropriate [71].
  5. Click Create [72].

Figure 13: The dialog New Imposition of the Impose Editor for the Impose Mode Step & Repeat

  1. You are redirected to the Impose Editor with an empty gray Artboard. Additional settings can be configured in the panel on the right-hand side of the Editor.
  2. To define, for example, Marks or Margins for the Impose Sheet, click the icon Edit Sheet Configuration [74] in the tab General [73]. This opens the dialog Sheet Configuration, where you can define the desired settings for the Sheet Size, Margins, and Marks for the Sheet. Additional settings are available for General, Captions, Color Bars, Media Wedges & Marks, and the Sheet ID.
  3. Select the option Trim [76] for both the Height and Width if the Impose Sheet should be automatically reduced to the minimum output size. Note, however, that the utilization rate is always calculated based on the trimmed format.

Figure 14: The dialog Sheet Configuration

  1. Complete the configuration of the Impose Sheet by clicking Save Template [77]. You have now made all necessary preparations so that the calculation can determine the target size for the Imposition.
  2. Open the File Manager on the left side of the Impose Editor. Upload the desired print data into the Workflow or locate the Articles or Print Items to be processed.
  3. Select the Print Items in the File Manager and add them to the Imposition – or to the unsaved Production Job – by drag and drop. When added, the Print Items are immediately arranged on the Impose Sheet according to the entered number of copies and the defined parameters.
  4. If you want to make changes to the number of copies or the scaling of the Print Items, open the tab Print Items on the right side of the Impose Editor and select the Print Items you want to modify. Click the tool Edit and enter the desired Quantity and Scaling to be used in the Imposition.
  5. Confirming the entry causes the Imposition to be recalculated according to the new parameters.
  6. Once the number, quantity, and size of the Print Items to be imposed are known, select the tab Artboard. Choose the desired values for your Impose Mode. The Imposition is recalculated and adjusted according to the inputs. If errors occur during Imposition, the number [41] (Figure 6) of errors and warnings is displayed in the Action Bar.
  7. Next, add the desired Marks, Lines, Captions and Grommets in the tab Marks and generate the Dieline for the Print Items in the tab Finishing.
  8. If the settings you have configured are repeatedly used in production, save them as an Impose Template in the respective settings sections by clicking Save [75] (Figure 14).

Figure 15: The completed Impose

  1. Create a Production Job with the Print Items and the Imposition by clicking Save [78] in the menu bar.
  2. In the dialog Save Imposition, simply enter the Job Name [79] for the Production Job and click Save. Alternatively, you can choose to unlink the reference to the Article or Print Item [80], which ensures that changes made to Print Items in the Production Job do not affect the original Production Job or Print Item in your Job.

Figure 16: The dialog Save Imposition

Article Update: Workflow 1.21.2 – 12/2025

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