Acrobat (and PitStop) User Interface

[Lukas Engqvist]

Is Ink aliasing what you are looking for? It is under the InkManager

 

[selectset]

No, that only works if you print from acrobat.

We take our pdf files and drop them into a Nexus hotfolder workflow. In the past we were able to convert different pms colors to a single pms.

 

[Joe]

No, that only works if you print from acrobat.

We take our pdf files and drop them into a Nexus hotfolder workflow. In the past we were able to convert different pms colors to a single pms.

If you click the "Ink Manager" button at the bottom left hand corner of the "Convert Colors" dialog box you can remap them and then apply "Convert Colors" and it will make the changes to the PDF.

 

[selectset]

Thanks, that worked.

 

[leonardr]

Does Acrobat 9 have the ability to convert one spot color to another?

Yes. You can do this either with the "Convert Colors" feature or with a Preflight fixup. Preflight even has full support of the standard Adobe swatch libraries so you can pick your favorite...

In Acrobat 8, we would use the convert colors and select one pms and use the convert to another pms that is in the document. I have gone through Acrobat 9 and i can not find this option under the convert colors.

To use Convert Colors, you click "Ink manager" and then the Alias feature.

 

[prepressguru]

Vee

You have hit the nail on the head with your comments.

We all are beta testers in the software industry world. No product is final there are still bugs that never get fixed but we'll release a new product and say's it's better. But hold on we'll reinvent the wheel while we are at it and make it new!

Microsoft Apple, Adobe all do it. Ms Office 08 for Mac is terrible. Apple releases OS updates every other month it's nuts!

Acrobat is a case in these points. I don't understand the interface improvements in version 8 and like most have returned back to 7. 9 Is out but why bother.

We need some standards in this industry to protect us from these innovations and have these products perfected not re-engineered each time.

I think working in the construction business is very appealing Hammers work like hammers year to year. So do nails, brick and cement.

Good luck to us all.

I think we are addressing the issue of not just software & updates, but software & updates in the printing world... being that this site is focused on printing. I could care less how often a web app or email client is updated, but software to be used for production is another story. Same for OS updates.

No, we may not be "forced" to update when a new version is crammed down our throats by the big sw companies. But those little guys called customers are hard to say no to. It makes for a difficult position, when they have version 85 of said program, and the printer has only updated to version 83!

FWIW, Acrobat 8 is such a piece I haven't even considered 9.

Vee

 

[Purple Cat]

We all are beta testers in the software industry world. No product is final there are still bugs that never get fixed but we'll release a new product and say's it's better. But hold on we'll reinvent the wheel while we are at it and make it new!
Microsoft Apple, Adobe all do it. Ms Office 08 for Mac is terrible. Apple releases OS updates every other month it's nuts!

I obviously come from a different part of the world, working at Enfocus and - once a long time ago - having been the developer who started the PitStop product. I understand your concerns and I understand where you are coming from. But I refuse to see it as black and white as you state it to be honest.

Yes, software companies have economic pressure to come up with innovations and make money. And that forces us to make choices and search a balance. But let's not overlook the fact that making software is not an easy thing either. Making software that pleases everyone it is sold to is an impossible feat altogether.

So the solution is to "perfect" what is there and not come up with innovations? I have a very hard time buying into statements like that. Are you seriously saying that we would be better of with a version of Ms-Dos that was perfected? Or a version of Mac OS Classic where all the bugs were fixed?

The bottom line is that your world changes. We started with a PDF editor in 1997 when people went "Huh?" when you talked about PDF, but when it slowly started to make its way into graphic arts workflows. Due to the changes in the graphic arts reality, software needed to change as well. Perhaps we software developers should return the favor and ask you not to change the way you work? Hey, if Gutenberg could work with little lead characters, why not just perfect that?

So we software developers always loose (poor sods). If we implement new things, there are things that don't work properly and the software doesn't do what we think it should be doing. If we don't implement new things, there's an outrage about not listening and responding to our users.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that software vendors often need to do a better job. I'm frankly amazed at how bad some applications or features in applications are. Yet at the same time I know first hand how difficult it is to get it "right". I can extend a heartfelt invitation to everyone in the printing industry to come and enjoy a couple of days in our quality testing or support department.

I'm not even being sarcastic - I would love the feedback. I talk to end-users frequently, at shows like GraphExpo and Drupa for example. Many of them talk about problems to me and in many cases they haven't reported them to support. I understand that - it's not your job to be a beta tester. But at the same time, if you don't tell us that something is broken or isn't doing what you need, it's very hard for us to fix it.

Many of our users do report problems and submit great ideas for features that would save them a lot of time. Products like PitStop Professional and Switch actually contain many of such features. The result of the graphic arts professionals and the software professionals working together. That's how you get things done.

This obviously is a subject that is kind of dear to me, so you'll have to forgive my rant. And don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying I can't stand criticism. Far from. But there are those software vendors who try to work with their users to solve problems and make their software better. Please work with us. It would be much appreciated.

 

[Vee]

#1Perhaps we software developers should return the favor and ask you not to change the way you work?

#2This obviously is a subject that is kind of dear to me, so you'll have to forgive my rant. And don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying I can't stand criticism. Far from.

#1 please do, that's exactly what we are asking for. we have to change the way we operate based on the innovation we are "blessed" with from the sw companies. not to mention the cost we eat because there is a new and improved version of the same ole broke a*s program with a new GUI!

#2Ditto.

 

[Purple Cat]

#1 please do, that's exactly what we are asking for. we have to change the way we operate based on the innovation we are "blessed" with from the sw companies. not to mention the cost we eat because there is a new and improved version of the same ole broke a*s program with a new GUI!
#2Ditto.

I'm not about to start a flame war, but I will answer this. In a pleasant tone I might add.

1) I would hope you often change your work because of the fact that you want to do a better job and want to fundamentally improve the quality of the service you deliver to your customers.

2) I suspect heavily that often changes in your work are caused by changing demands of your customers and our society.

In my opinion, both of these reasons will be more important "forces of change" than software updates.

To answer the second part of your nice message - if the software is so broken and bad to begin with... why do you use it?

 

[mattbeals]

I love it!

 

[rich apollo]

I can extend a heartfelt invitation to everyone in the printing industry to come and enjoy a couple of days in our quality testing or support department.

Sign me up. I want very much to contribute to the directions in which software packages develop. I don't want to bitch, I wanna' contribute.

 

[Purple Cat]

Sign me up. I want very much to contribute to the directions in which software packages develop. I don't want to bitch, I wanna' contribute.

Sounds perfect If you could drop me a note at davidvd at enfocus dot com that would be great. (Anyone else who would like to give feedback and participate is more than welcome to do the same).

In the mean time, for you and anyone else who wants to give feedback on our software and your experiences, here's another way: Enfocus

Regards,
David.

 

[prepressguru]

Hey Purple Cat

Thanks for honest reply, no worries on the rant. I know the world is not black and white and I'm sure software is very challenging to produce. But it becomes very frustrating to pick up a new release of software and find out the new features are not all that impressive and existing features have changed for no good reason. More so when you do not have a choice and are basically required to update to stay current with clients.

I know this is my point of view and other people may have no problem with it.

Honestly if the software and hardware was perfected then I would like it. I could focus on my work knowing my tools are reliable and not worrying about bugs and workarounds.

Just think of all the software you use each day and say if each one of these packages has a bug or two. Not only do you spend the time learning them but also figuring out what doesn't work and for different versions.

I would gladly help by giving some feedback. I recently submitted a survey for your product. We recently upgraded to the latest version, which we are quite happy with. Though I would have to say it takes a few clicks longer to do some of the same actions.


Thanks

 

[Purple Cat]

Heey guru

Thanks for filling out the survey, much appreciated! Feedback is always greatly appreciated, don't hesitate to send me email, I read all of it. And I'm intrigued by the "takes a few clicks longer" because that shouldn't be. The intention of the release was to remove clicks - can you elaborate where the software slows you down? If it's possible we'll try to optimize that.

Take care,
David.

I would gladly help by giving some feedback. I recently submitted a survey for your product. We recently upgraded to the latest version, which we are quite happy with. Though I would have to say it takes a few clicks longer to do some of the same actions.Thanks

 

[smatros]

one of the things i lack is the abilitiy to EASILY set up new page boxes, especially media/bleed and crop box, maybe as simple as dragging a guideline from the edge of page. We use imposing a lot and receive a lot of files that have inccorect definitions, and always have problems in correcting them.