New to Heidelberg Prepress environment

[raylax]

I come from a mostly Rampage background but have experience with Scitex, Artpro, Nexus, etc. RIPs and workflows. I am now in a situation where I am going to most likely work with a Heidelberg CTP system. I don't know the details, but it's not the newer imposition station, it's the previous one. I am looking for information on the differences, plus and minuses in using this system. For instance, today somebody told me that with this workflow jobs are not worked off a server, but are instead stored on the individual mac hard drives and printed to the RIP "server" and that is how most if not all companies using Heidelberg work. Is this true? Do Heidelberg shops usually not utilize a job server? I haven't seen any workflow that does this in 20 some years with the exception of a small mom and pop type printer with one computer and am having trouble just accepting and believing this.

[marktonk]

raylax,

Our workflow covers the gamete from small to large depending on the client needs. If a ripcentric workflow, it can be that the files are store on the workstations and not a server or it can be scaled to where a server is used to the point that is is serving not only Prepress but also Press and Post Press or anywhere in between.

Actually, if you go back in time, servers were used for centralized storage but the file transfer took a long time so OPI was used. With gigabit and PDF's, file transfer is no longer an issue and not many people using OPI anymore. So do you need a server or not? Depends on your needs.

Imposition is the Signa Station. This launched in the early 1990's, I think 1993, went up to version 9 and then was rewritten for JDF as a version 1.0. This is now at version 4.5. Signa is one of the most powerful imposition station out but it is hard to say depending on what version you are on.

Regards,

Mark