Alternative to Pitstop?

[kevinr]

Hey everyone,

We use Pitstop for correcting overprints, knockouts and rich black. Also use some action list items. Does anyone know of good alternatives to Pitstop for these tasks?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[mattbeals]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Yes. Enfocus Neo, PitStop's big brother.

 

[macphenom]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Yea, for $4500 without trapping and $7500 with trapping.

 

[Lammy]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

save as an eps and open in illustrator.

__________________
Lammy

EPP Manager • Brass City Printery
OSX 10.4.10 • RAMpage 9.4 • Dynastrip 4.2
EFI Colorproof XF • Avantra 30 • Epson 7600

 

[Gerhard]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Dear Kevin,
you might also look at OneVision Software at www.onevision.com

OneVision, Inc.; 15 Exchange Place, Suite 700; Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA
Phone: +1 201 938 0500, Fax +1 201 938 0250

Regards,
Gerhard

 

[Colorblind]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Whatever software you use to edit, the key is to test, test and test again to see if the results are what you expect. This rule applies even more if you want to go with automated solutions such as Pitstop Server or OneVision Asura. Some people think they can drop quality control because they use such systems but they are wrong. I could tell you good stories about that.

 

[Bobmorli]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

I'd like to hear some good stories if it helps us for future decisions.

We're also looking into other options that pitstop currently.

 

[kevinr]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Thanks everyone. Neo is a little steep for our wallets. I'm looking into the trial version of OneVisions stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Kevin

 

[rtwdwk]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

If you think Neo is out of your price-line, dont even bother to look at OneVision.

What are you trying to do?

 

[Colorblind]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Here is one to start with:

http://www.prepressforums.com/forum/acrobat/9801-pitstop-seeing-spot-colors-dont-exist-matt.html

I also experimented sending PDFs to various newspapers that use OneVision Asura that preflights incoming file, decomposes it and rebuilts it to your specs (as eps if I'm not mistaking). Even if these PDFs were built EXACTLY the same, following SNAP standards (beside their size), some newspapers would knock-out my overprints, some other would overprint black that was KO (black box with small reverse white type placed on a light blue image) some would convert trapped elements to a dark blend of CMYK thinking these trapped elements were spot colors (my PDFs contains ONLY CMYK) and some would just remove these trapping elements thinking they are spot colors. As I said, I know pressure is high in the graphic arts to automate as much as you can, there is no going back on that matter. But if you rely only on automation systems by thinking they are perfect, bypassing classic quality control steps such as comparing what was supplied to you and what you transformed it to, you'll end-up with big surprises.

 

[mattbeals]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

There simply is *nothing* that I have found that is a PitStop replacement between the PitStop price point and the Neo price point. If you want to spend more then there are alternatives. If you don't, there aren't. At least not that I have seen.

 

[kevinr]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

We're a pretty simple operation. We print newspapers. Most of our clients don't understand that black type should be made with black ink. (imaging that). We are a pdf shop. We make them, or the client sends them to us. Then we fix the built black, improper overprints/knockouts, etc. Pretty simple stuff. We also try to keep our costs down because we work mostly with universities and high schools. As with all printing, margins are small.

It sounds like I should stay with Pitstop. I'm okay with that. I love it, just checking to see if there is something better, cheaper, faster.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Greg_Firestone]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Hi Kevin,

Asura is OneVision's high end solution for publishers. They also have a product line called Speedflow which might be a better fit for your environment. You're more than welcome to send me some test files that I can process for you. I'm one of their System Engineers (i.e. not a sales guy)

Regards,
Greg

Systems Engineer
OneVision, Inc.

 

[stargate]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Callas software?

But It's more expensive than Pitstop! Neo has very nice interface but it's quite expensive and lacks some tools as others said.

 

[PrepressDog]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Just get pitstop....
You want Pitstop...do you need something cheaper??
Just get pitstop...use it all day...Everyday.

Or Illy...go get your fonts. Not as easy as pitstop for quick fixes in a PDF workflow.

 

[mattbeals]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

SpeedFlow and Oris PageTuner are both PDF editors but translate the page into a intermediate document format. Neo and PitStop are the only native PDF editors that I know of. No, Illustrator is not a g*d damned PDF or EPS editor.

Callas Software does not have an interactive editing tool. Their tools, pdfInspektor, pdfCorrect and pdfColorConvert (to name a few) are either plugins for Acrobat with a simple UI for building a "run list" if you will. That's not exactly the best description, but the interfaces allow you to pick from a list of items to take action based on. Callas tools, such as pdfInspektor, can be found in Acrobat Pro 6 and up as well as many OEM applications from Xerox and Heidelberg and also as command line driven tools.

For you Stargate I think that Callas makes more sense than PitStop Server. But we'll have to talk about that offline if you haven't already purchased.

 

[PrepressDog]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Okay....Pointy will prob. get on you about Illy pdf edit tool thing.

Last resort, Illy can be used. It's a pain I agree.

Again...just get pitstop. Stop the mess.

Let me dream again...
Adobe will buy pitstop or just combine the "on the fly tools needed" in the near future.

 

[mattbeals]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Prepress_dog, I think that is the most sane and direct response I've seen anywhere on this new forum.

Realistically PitStop Pro is about $650. What more do you expect from something so relatively inexpensive? Even at $650 you're getting away with highway robbery for the features and benefits PitStop brings to an operation.

 

[Cory Smith]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Pitstop was an easy sell here...

We don't get paid unless the cylinders are running, at $250 bucks an hour pitstop paid for itself in the first few weeks.

 

[stargate]

Re: Alternative to Pitstop?

Matt,

I did not buy it yet. I had other "more important" projects but I will come back to Pitstop. I like Pitstop Server price better. Callas is twice the money?

Why don't you email me quote for Callas and I will take a look at it. You know what I need.
D.