The Nesting impose mode arranges print items according to the selected strategy. The arrangement depends on the size of the impose sheet, the margin to be taken into account, and the number and quantity of print items to be printed. This mode is used in particular to minimize substrate consumption while taking requirements of downstream processing steps in finishing into account as far as possible.

Nesting is the rule-based arrangement of print items of different or identical sizes on an imposition area in a way that saves substrate. To create a nesting for print items of the same size on an impose sheet, proceed as follows:

1. Open the Impose Editor and select the impose mode Nesting.
2. There are two ways to start the Impose Editor. You can either open it via Automation > Impose Editor and then select the impose mode Nesting, or open an existing Production Job and switch to the Impose tab [1]. Selecting the impose mode Nesting [2] in the Impose tab opens the Impose Editor directly in Nesting mode.

Figure 1: Impose tab showing the option to open the Impose Editor

3. If you started the Impose Editor via the Automation > Impose Editor menu item, you must add one or more print items to the production job, which is empty at first. The fastest way to do this is via the File Manager. If you started the Impose Editor via the Impose tab of a production job, the print items of this production job are already selected. Select the print items to be imposed in the Print Items setting area [6].
4. In the General tab [3], specify the size of the impose sheet by entering the Width [4] and Height [5]. If you have already selected an output configuration in the production job, both parameters are read from the substrate definition and used. Enabling the Trim option [7] reduces both the height and the width to the required size. If the imposition requires a greater height, the maximum height – 1,600 mm in this example – is used for the imposition. In this case, the trim function is therefore not applied.

Figure 2: General tab in the Impose Editor

5. In the Artboard tab [8], select desired parameters for the Nesting impose mode. You can find the parameters in the Settings, Nesting Options, and Bleed setting areas.

Settings

In this setting area, basic parameters and general settings of an impositions are being defined. The following options are available:

• Double-Sided Output [9] – enable this option if the print product is printed on both sides.
• Multipage Output [10] – enable this option if the imposition for output can consist of several pages. If the print items do not fit on one impose sheet, an additional imposition page is being created. If this option is enabled, sheet duplicates can be removed.
• Imposition based on [11] – defines whether the settings of the Nesting Options setting area are based on ImageBox or ImageBox + Bleed. ImageBox is usually selected in the label industry, while ImageBox + Bleed is used in large format production. If you want to create a shape nesting – an imposition based on irregular shapes – the Shape and Shape + Bleed options are also available in this selection.
• Sequence of Placement [12] – defines how print items are placed on the impose sheet. You can choose between a user-defined sorting, a grouping based on the information of the selected print items or place them according to their print item sequence.
• Auto Margin [13] – enable this option to automatically determine the required margin value. This ensures all marks and captions used are lying within the imposition area. Disable this option if you have already selected an impose sheet template in which the margin is defined.
• Consider Marks and Captions [14] – enable this option to add the required spacing between print items automatically. This ensures that marks or captions placed for the individual print items neither overlap the print items nor are positioned outside the artboard.

Nesting Options

In this setting area you define how print items are placed in the imposition area. The following options are available:

• Strategy [15] – defines the method used to arrange the print items during nesting. The following strategies are available:
  • Substrate Optimized – places print items as space-efficiently as possible on the impose sheet. This can result in an underproduction of individual print items. This strategy is only available for single-page impositions. It minimizes their substrate consumption.
  • Keep exact ratio of copies – places print items on the impose sheet relative to the ratio of copies to be produced. The aim of this strategy is an imposition without overproduction or underproduction. Print items that no longer fit on the impose sheet are not imposed. This strategy is only available for single-page and multipage impositions. If all print items of the production job are to be imposed, select this strategy in combination with Multipage Output.
  • Fill Impose Sheet – fills the entire available area of the impose sheet with print items – depending on the ratio of copies of the individual print items. This can result in overproduction of individual print items. This strategy is only available for single-page impositions. It fills single-page impositions with print items. This is economically useful – especially for lower-cost substrates. In addition, you can use this strategy to produce retention samples.
  • Force number of copies – places solely print items whose total number of copies fits onto the impose sheet. Print items whose total number of copies does not fit on the impose sheet are not placed. This strategy is only available for single-page impositions. Depending on the number of copies to be produced, it can lead to very poor utilization of an impose sheet. It is therefore recommended for lower-cost substrates.
  • Keep Print Items on page together – places the total amount of a print item on one impose sheet. If this is not possible for a print item, the remaining quantity is placed on the next sheet. Partial production of a print item on an impose sheet is therefore limited to a single print item. All other print items must be placed with their complete print run. This strategy is available for both single-page and multipage impositions. It is preferably used if the print items are to be kept together after cutting.
• Layout [16] – select whether the print items are arranged on the imposition by row or by column. Both options are available in the drop-down menu.
• Arrangement [17] – defines how print items that are produced multiple times are arranged on the imposition. The following options are available:
  • Keep Print Items together – the copies of the print items to be produced multiple times are kept together on one impose sheet and placed one after the other.
  • Consider Print Item sequence – the print items are placed one after the other according to their order in the Print Items tab.
  • Use only one Print Item per Column/Row – only the same print item is placed in each column or row.
• Rotation [18] – defines the orientation in which the print items are placed on the imposition. The following options are available:
  • Non-Uniform Rotation – all print items and copies of print items can have different orientations in the imposition, which can result in better utilization of the imposition.
  • Uniform Rotation – all print items and copies of print items have a uniform orientation in the imposition. The algorithm determines whether they are all rotated by 0° or 90°. The algorithm always tries to optimize utilization of impose sheets.
  • Rotated by 0° – all print items and copies of print items are imposed in their current orientation.
  • Rotated by 90° – all print items and copies of print items are imposed crosswise, that is, rotated by 90° clockwise.
  • Rotated by 180° – all print items and copies of print items are imposed and rotated by 180°.
  • Rotated by 270° – all print items are imposed and rotated by 270° clockwise.
  • Use from Print Item – the rotation is taken from the print item itself. You can define the corresponding value on the print item.
  • In Feeding Direction – all print items are imposed and rotated in print direction.
  • Across Feeding Direction – all print items are imposed and rotated against print direction.
• Additional Space [19] – enter the desired additional spacing for rotated objects, for example, to give marks the space they need.
• Guillotine Cut optimized [20] – enable this option to place the print items in a »cut-optimized« way for X-Y-cutting devices.
• Offcut optimized [21] – optimizes the nesting so that the largest possible contiguous offcut area is created, which can be reused after cutting. To achieve this, the print items are automatically placed from top to bottom, which creates a more usable remaining area. Note the information in the info text that enables the algorithm to work correctly.
• Pre-Angulation [22] – enter the desired degree of pre-angulation. The print item is rotated according to the pre-angulation to avoid straight cutting edges. This protects the cutting mat of the cutting device and distributes the drag force more evenly across the substrate width.
• Horizontal Spacing and Vertical Spacing [23] – define the horizontal and vertical spacing between the print items. Note that the spacing is applied relative to the option selected in Imposition based on.

Bleed

Top, Bottom, Left, Right [24] – define how much of the print item's existing bleed is printed. Note that you can only set these values when ImageBox or Shape is selected in the Imposition based on option.

Figure 3: Setting area of Artboard tab in Nesting mode

6. After creating the imposition according to your requirements, you can add marks, captions, lines, or grommets required for production.
7. To do this, switch to the Marks tab [25]. There you can add the marks, lines, grommets, and captions required for production. The following options are available:
   • Marks [26] – select desired mark shape and define position, size and color of the mark. The position of the mark usually depends on the downstream cutting device. In nesting, crop marks are usually added so you can still see where to cut – especially for print items with partly white edges.
   • Captions [27] – select desired caption and define the position and form in which it is applied to the impose sheet or the print item. In nesting, the job number and the name of the print item or the quantity to be printed are often very helpful as a reference in finishing to identify the individual print items on the print plate.
   • Lines [28] – select desired lines and define their position, size and color. In nesting, additionally printed lines are usually required if cutting lines for print items are to be printed on a 5-meter-wide roll so that the print items can be cut out manually.
   • Grommets [29] – select desired grommet and define the position, number, size and color. If grommets have not already been integrated into the print item in prepress, you can add grommets dynamically during imposition. This is possible particularly in tiling and partly also in nesting.

Figure 4: Marks tab with useful settings for nesting

8. If required, select Create Dieline > Standard [31] in the Finishing tab [30]. This creates a dieline on the ImageBox for each individual print item. The following further options are available:
   • Position [32] – select ImageBox + Bleed when the dieline is to be set on the expected bleed. The ImageBox entry is selected by default and is usually the right choice.
   • Origin [40] – select whether a dieline is created Per Print Item or for all print items.
   • Corner Type [33] – depending on the used cutting device, define whether the corners are beveled or rounded. If a corner is to be cut, enter the value 0 mm for the radius.
   • Radius [41] – specify radius used to create a bevel or a rounded dieline in the corners.
   • Stroke Width [32] – define width of the cutting contour.
   • Edge [42] – define edge on which dieline is created.
   • Offset [35] – define desired offset of selected line and position.
   • Include Captions [36] – If a dieline already exists around the caption and overlaps the dieline of the print item, you can merge the two dielines. This turns the caption into a flap.
   • Add Perforation [37] – enable this option to insert a perforated cutting line for the flap between the caption and the print item.
   • Technical Color [38] – select a spot color defined system-wide. If the desired technical spot color is not displayed, create it first via the Color > Spot Colors menu item.
   • Overprint [39] – technical spot colors usually always have to overprint the printed image. Therefore, clear this checkbox only in exceptional cases.

Figure 5: Dielines settings in Finishing tab

9. If you have adjusted the settings and now want to use them for another job, it is recommended to save the settings as an impose template.
10. Finally, save the imposition.
    • If you have opened the Impose Editor via Impose tab under production job, save the imposition by clicking Save in the action bar. The Save Imposition dialog is not displayed because all required parameters for the production job are already known.
    • If you have opened the Impose Editor via the Automation > Impose Editor menu item, save the imposition by selecting Save or Save as in the action bar. Saving the imposition creates a new production job.
11. When you save the imposition, the Save Imposition dialog opens. In this dialog, you can make the following entries and settings:
    • Job Name [43] – enter the desired job name for the production job. Optionally, add a comment.
    • Remove Reference [44] – if the production job was created from the Articles or Orders menu item or from the File Manager, this checkbox is displayed for all print items that originate from this source. Selecting the checkbox duplicates the print item when the production job is created and copies it into the production job. This removes the direct 1:1 reference to the article or to the print item in an order.
12. Click Save to complete the imposition process.

Figure 6: Save Imposition dialog

The following description explains functions and effects of individual options in detail.

Specific functions are available for the Nesting impose mode that you can use depending on the requirements of the respective industry.