Apogee 6 vs. Prinergy...

[jschlatter]

We are in the final stages of reviewing both Apogee 6 and Prinergy as a replacement for our current workflow system.

The information I have gathered through demos thus far leads me to believe that while these systems do things in very different ways, they are not dramatically different in overall capabilities. There is a significant price difference between the two systems so that makes me question my previous statement.

I am looking for any input on differences between the two systems and if one stands out over the other in the realms of usability, capability, and support from the companies.

[SteveAgfa]

J:

It's important that respondants understand some of the new features of Apogee 6.0:

Some of the new components in the :Apogee Suite 6.0 include:

:Apogee Preflight - a deeply integrated processing component that tunes the PDF. This is not by means of using a standard preflight profile, but instead by anticipating all the processing steps that are required to get to the final end product

:Apogee Portal - a new, single-dashboard user interface using Adobe® Flex technology that offers ultimate interactivity and ties print buyers right into the production system

:Apogee Digital Print Link - using the enhanced :Apogee DPL will allow users to drive and control digital presses, including the Canon imagePRESS digital color press family.

Thank you for your continued interest.

[dj]

Oh man, just remember if you chose :Apogee, then you will looking at the : :for :the :next :five :years f :your :life.

Think about it. Could drive you crazy.

But seriously, if you are choosing a workflow: Which Prepress Workflow to Choose? The Ultimate List | Prepress Pilgrim

(thassa my blog)

[alarson]

- Performance under heavy job load, or large press plate sizes
- True Web integration with Oracle
- Intelligent automation (non-linear, non-fixed tickets)
- Digital Press integration (Nexpress, Creo, HP, Xerox, KM and Kodak.
- Viewing of raster preview is standard
- Cost of upgrades is low
- PDF traps on mature logic
- Integrated Preps allows dynamic editing and floating license centralized templates
- Web based job tracking and information system Dashboard
- 1.7 PDF layered PDF support for versioning
- JDF certification to 8 vendors

Plus, DJ used to touch Prinergy, so it must be cool.
AL

[gastonpresente]

Originally Posted by alarson

- Performance under heavy job load, or large press plate sizes
- True Web integration with Oracle
- Intelligent automation (non-linear, non-fixed tickets)
- Digital Press integration (Nexpress, Creo, HP, Xerox, KM and Kodak.
- Viewing of raster preview is standard
- Cost of upgrades is low
- PDF traps on mature logic
- Integrated Preps allows dynamic editing and floating license centralized templates
- Web based job tracking and information system Dashboard
- 1.7 PDF layered PDF support for versioning
- JDF certification to 8 vendors

Plus, DJ used to touch Prinergy, so it must be cool.
AL

Exists the posibility to use Prinergy with AGFA´s CTPs?

[KW4848]

Basically, I could not recommend prinergy due to poor support. Heidelberg did an excellent job of developing prinergy with Creo. Unfortunately, Kodak (after acquiring Creo) has not improved support:

How to activate the output tiff in Creo Trendsetter 800II?

BTW, mentioning that its a recurring problem and support gets worse!
Kodak support...are you kidding me?

Preps/Prinergy techs 'work' on the problem for over 3 months:
Dongle Problem - Page 2 - GUA Forums

Creo CTP support left 2 of 4 presses printing:
CTP problem no-one in the World can fix. Any takers?

Originally Posted by Julio

I agree with documenting problems, its come in handy a few times for us. We have a different model Canon and have excellent support from our Canon dealer - the technicians, service managers and sales rep. We also have a Xerox and have excellent support from their technicians, service managers and sales rep.

Currently we have poor support for our Prinergy and Trendsetter. Although Kodak bought Creo a few years ago they have done nothing to improve support. Their technicians have a lot of trouble resolving problems for known hardware issues. Too many managers are completely ineffective and some could care less........down time just doesn't matter.

[DCurry]

Both are good systems. Having used the most recent versions of both workflows at different shops over the past year, I would choose Prinergy. To me it just seems easier to set up and more flexible than Apogee, and Prinergy's Trapper is awesome. Prinergy seems more intuitive to me.

Used Kodak (formerly Creo) products for a long time and never had any bad experience with support. My current shop just installed a complete Agfa system and it was very smooth with excellent support as well.

Also, both systems are modular so you can cobble together the components that you need and add functionality later if you see a need.

edit:
I should also add here that when I was leaving my old shop that had recently switched to Prinergy, I was training my replacement who came from an Apogee shop. He prefers Apogee, even after using Prinergy for several months now. Just goes to show that different people have very different opinions, so it is best to see both in action. Don't just rely on the demos from the vendor - try to get into a shop that is using one or the other in the real world and pester the operators with questions.