Career direction advice needed

[Saulius]

What could be good and worth career development direction for person with solid experience in a prepress and as Java developer ? I'm finished training course lead by Java champion and got good package of knowledge to start as Java programmer (core Java, SWING, iTEXT, Applets, Generics, Streams, Serialization, Multithreading, Sockets, JDBC, Annotations, RMI, Servlets, JSP, introduction to JMS, MOM, EJB). Most of technologies I've taught are oriented to the WEB development and are the total U turn in my work and it means the throwing out my experience in a prepress area, as I think. How could I implement my Java skills "staying in same shoes" ? May be there is some programming technologies, frameworks related to printing and prepress where I could dig deeper with hope of the better career perspective.

Any advices are very appreciated.

Saulius Stonys

 

[Al Ferrari]

That's an impressive list of training. Did you actually go through all that training without asking this question until now?

Al

 

[Saulius]

Actually yes. I bought that intensive training led by excellent trainer just to try myself as programmer and to get more self confidence in the job market. It was amazing to realize that I can understand almost all stuff and begin develop small utilities for our prepress department (a utility for Kodak Preps templates, some automation for Prinergy and the utility to generate custom labels with barcodes for our sales managers). But now it seams I reached ceiling of our small printing company and I look for broader implementation of my skills.

 

[Al Ferrari]

What does your utility for Kodak Preps templates do?

Al

 

[Saulius]

What does your utility for Kodak Preps templates do?

Al

we are pocket book printer. Our impositions for book covers almost remains same just a book spine varies. I looked for possibility in the Preps to make easer way to imposition of covers. Neither Ganging nor Auto Ganging couldn't help us. Internal gutters between pages must be set precisely for our binding machine and we can't relay on any auto ganging. So, I've extended Preps functionality for this purpose with my utility by making new templates based on pre-templates. Now our process are very quick. To create new template I choose pre-template (could be called mega template) and enter the cover width.
Also this utility can read data from the Excel file provided by our customer and automate processes in the our Prinergy server. Last thing, our prepress people can check correctness of covers spine in a more elegant way than manually. All this stuff currently is made by Apple Script Studio, but I'm in a half way to rewrite it with Java (just for Java practice). See my attachments.

ss

 

[John Clifford]

Some Options?

Some Options?

All of this experience in programming should be able to be used to get a variety of jobs in the printing industry. A couple to think about:

MIS Systems: using your programming skills to integrate JDF to business systems.

VDP: Again, using programming and database skills to facilitate variable data in someone's prepress department.

Web2Print: Yet again, using your programming skills to help implement systems for automating workflows through a web2print system--at the lower level, supporting such an existing system.

Again just a few options off the top of my head. I only wish my students (design students) would understand that developing computer skills can help them in our rapidly changing trade.

 

[Saulius]

Thank you both, Al and John, for response. I thought few days on this topic and googled for open source prepress developing projects (JDF etc.). Also I asked colleagues for their opinion. Finally I decided not to strengthen my self in a prepress as a developer. A large and middle printing business is not a cheap pleasure, it requires a large amount of investments and it's not affordable for individual specialist. Living and working in a deep Eastern Europe, in a country with number of population as population of Brooklyn I saw how difficult and slow grows demand for "brains" in our local printing shops. Even working for foreign investors (you should agree that Norwegians are not poor), I see that a general advantage of investing here isn't demand for skilled workers, but for cheap hands. In such conditions it's very easy become over-skilled witch in some times is same as not skilled. Being beginner in a new area in my age (I'm 41 years old) the perspective to pick up a local employer in the printing business with the demand of such skills is very vague. My intention of this post was isn't there people working on some open source projects I could join to as helper. Of course it shouldn't be such as CIP4 which I would catch up after years of studying alone on weekends and without seeing real implementation on real metal machines, real MIS on real workflows. My decision is not to tie my self on business with expensive systems and machinery and it's better for me to move to a more lightweight area (Android as example) where all what is need are a table, a chair, a notebook and had had a good sleep head.
Thank you any way. You really helped me.

ss

 

[chevalier]

I think that Java will be diminishing in the future and the demise will happen much faster than expected. Microsoft nor Apple ship their flagship operating systems with Java anymore. The only exception to this is Google's Android which doesn't seem to be all that important to Google in the long run (Google CEO says Android important, not critical). Not to mention that Oracle bought SunMicrosystems and is now trying to sue Google Android into oblivion. Larry Ellison (Oracle CEO - and almost as wealthy as both Google founders combined) was buddy-buddy with Steve Jobs and they both went for the jugular on Android. Ellison seems to be carrying the torch in this crusade since Jobs' passing.

The upside is that Java syntax is built on C and C++ is still a very relevant language. My advice? Seek out employment at a vendor in a position that works as a rendezvous/bridge between your vendor and other software partners. Your practical prepress knowledge and programming abilities should handsomely intertwine in an environment like that.

 

[Saulius]

chevalier, I wouldn't be surprised about Java destiny seeing how Adobe treated with Flex SDK leaving it as open source project under Apache.