Equios vs Trueflow 7

[Jason_CTP]

We recently made the switch from 3 to TF7/Equios. This was quite a jump from 3. We were very happy with 3 but realized it would hit a roadblock someday on one of the complex jobs we are seeing. The improved impo would also be a plus. Currently we are stuck in the middle of the transition. After the install there were issues with the training. Finally the head guy gave us some brief training for a partial change over. This was a week ago and have not been able to resume training. Phone calls and e-mail have not been returned. Hopefully this will change and we will be able to benefit from this upgrade.

[kantblue]

Your experiences with Screen pretty much mirrors ours - I don't know what is happening with their support and training lately, they used to be excellent, but recently I get the impression that they don't have enough people there any more?

I'm not sure if they are downsizing and getting rid of staff but especially with a major change like Equios they need to get the training sorted.

The Trueflow forum on the Screen.co.uk page has been saying 'Under Maintenance' for many months now - for what it's worth they really should take it off the web page.

kant

[DavidSW]

Hi all.

I agree with ansoft, I'm not at all sure why they made such a radical change. I suspect some of this is something to do with Screen and Flatworker. I'm not sure but isn't Flatworker supplied by another company?

TF5 to 7 has a nice logical interface and the ability to store pre-configured flatworker files in folders is a HUGE plus for us, we have well over a thousand stored imposition grids. I would hate to scroll though a list that long

The ability to change one spot to another or to a cmyk channel also seems a step backwards in this version as you have to manually enter the new colour name, in TF7 you could just select re-input and change it there.

Still looking into it, but some of the logic seems really strange to us?

Then again it wouldn't be the first time Screen have completely changed the user interface, anyone remember TF2 - we purchased it specifically because it was web-based and then Screen went and changed it to a software client !

Kantblue

FlatWorker is Screen's own software. New Equios Pre4m was CIP 4 driven and is so much more flexible than Flatworker that the number of base masters can be significantly less. Learning to love it the more I use it

[DavidSW]

We recently made the switch from 3 to TF7/Equios. This was quite a jump from 3. We were very happy with 3 but realized it would hit a roadblock someday on one of the complex jobs we are seeing. The improved impo would also be a plus. Currently we are stuck in the middle of the transition. After the install there were issues with the training. Finally the head guy gave us some brief training for a partial change over. This was a week ago and have not been able to resume training. Phone calls and e-mail have not been returned. Hopefully this will change and we will be able to benefit from this upgrade.

Who were you contacting to get Training from? Despite Kant blue comments I can't imagine that no returned phone calls and emails were from a Screen Japan subsidiary?

[DavidSW]

Dear Sean,
I use the latest patches -TF220 I think. I don't know why Screen stopped to develop Equios as a standalone product. I have some experience in the workflows and for me TF is one of the most clear and user friendly workflows.

Certainly you are not on the latest patches. Do you use this or are you an industry consultant as your records suggest.

Equios is trueflow apart from the very flexible new Pre4m which is the result of many customers comments and requests

[ansoft]

Dear DavidSW,
At the time of my post, TF220 was the latest patch.
Anyway, nobody says that Equios has any problems, people just say their feeling about the workflow compared to TF.
I do not understand why you are so aggressive.
Best Regards and take it easy

[DavidSW]

Dear DavidSW,
At the time of my post, TF220 was the latest patch.
Anyway, nobody says that Equios has any problems, people just say their feeling about the workflow compared to TF.
I do not understand why you are so aggressive.
Best Regards and take it easy

Hi wasn't intending to be aggressive, just saw you had commented on a thread asking about using Equios in the workplace, and wondered if you were using it or not?
At the time of your post I had already had TF 228.

[ansoft]

TF228 is from 09.09.2011, at the time of my post the current patch was TF223 (May 2011). I does not matter at all. Just to be precise!

[DavidSW]

Subject : TrueflowSE 7.20 TF225
Create Date : 2011/03/28 22:36

[DavidSW]

Eq is new and most of all it is different when it comes to imposition. But if you start using it I'm pretty sure that you will find it more user friendly. I do agree that the imposition library in Eq is not as good as Flatworker/TF but on the other hand you don't need so many different imposition forms as you used to since changing the size of the page/sheet/plate is so much more easy that there is no need for all the folds you used to have.
Also I could almost guarantee that once you get the hang of it, you can do a whole imposition from scratch faster than you can put page numbers in place in Flatworker. You just need to give it a chance. There is no need to fully go to Equios at once as they both work at the same time and you can even see jobs submitted from TF in Eq client and vice versa abd even edit them in some extent.
Also several things that you were not able to do in Flatworker can now be done in Eq Client. Remember that everything is in the client, no need to log in with remote desktop to your TF server or step away from your workstation to go to the server in order to create a new imposition with Flatworker.

I could not agree more. New and different, but it does seem better every time I go on to it