I have seen the future....

[kaiserwilhelm]

I have been in prepress since 1990. I started out proofing on a Fuji Color Art. (Best dang proofer ever made btw....too bad you need film to produce one!). But, I digress. I moved to Macs, prepress, et al. About 3 years ago I saw that our data processing department was expanding while prepress was where it had always been...no new challenges since evil Quark 4! As the Prepress manager I knew of self preservation from the days of film and stripping. I asked to be the manager of DP as well.
I now have started working in GMC Print Net T. To my fellow Prepress buddies, I make the subtle suggestion to have a look. GMC is quickly moving to be the software of choice for us. As our digital press fleet grows, it becomes necessary to look past the TrueFlow and Creo's of the past.
Within the next six months I fully anticipate going from PDF on a Mac straight in to GMC and out as a digital file to a digital press.
The challenge to me is to either move Prepress to PCs (perish the thought), or embrace GMC on the Mac platform.
I might be in the wrong forum here. If so, please move. I am simply sending a clarion call to those that might listen. I have seen the light. Print Net T is moving everyday toward becoming my digital prepress software of choice. (No, I do not work for them at all).

 

[LisaMorris]

What a potential. Nice.

 

[prepressguru]

Thanks for the info, and motivation! Maybe your true calling is not in printing.

p

 

[JayDA]

Um.....ok then....good luck with all that.

 

[medialounge]

Kaiser, so what did you pay for Print Net T?

 

[kaiserwilhelm]

Uhm....a LOT! But, it keeps many a laser going. The license is ongoing as I understand it. IE, not a one time buy. I am not trying to be flippant, I really just do not get into that stuff. I will be in the next 45 days though....

 

[aarvan]

Hello Kaiser,

Your story sounds familiar. I started in the bindrey in 1984, and moved into pre-press in 87 (didn't want to be a human fork lift for the rest of my life). I've gone from hand registering MatchPrints, dot etching film for color corrections, to drum scanning, to color system operator. Once Macs hit, the bar dropped quite a bit. No more $500,000 systems to color correct and page layout.

I just joined a company and started using PrintNetT 4 months ago, after using PlanetPress and XMPie for the last 5 years. Not that steep of a learning curve if you've been using VDP software for a while, but I think the bar may be raising back up a little. Very powerful tool if you have the industry background to know how to utilize it's capabilities. If not, there's alot of beartraps waiting...

 

[kaiserwilhelm]

Fully agreed. What I like is that they are willing to listen. Maybe I am right. Maybe I am wrong. Here is how I see the future. Large companies are not buying big iron anymore. They are and will soon be buying digital presses. These are not photo copiers. These are digital presses. The require a modified prepress and dp. Prepress does not know enough to make it work. DP can make lasers sing, but they do not have the expertise in INDD and color to make the digital press sing. Give me (or educate me) a few on both??? NOW, we are talking.
GMC has so far been willing to listen to my arguments that they need to start thinking press thoughts. Color bars, marks, marks...did I say marks??

 

[motormount]

What kind of expertise in dp do they need?

 

[kaiserwilhelm]

All depends upon the level of expertise you need. If we are past the mail sort phase and just in the layout phase, then GMC is quite the program. Similar to INDD. IE, weak enough for a novice, strong enough for a professional. One could literally pick up the program and through messing around (as I learned INDD and Quark), learn 75 percent of it. Some of the more powerful tools require someone showing you one or two times.
I just love the power. Like having a Cobra in the garage. I can take it out everyday and cruise the town at 40mph, or, I can take it out when needed and hit 160.
Example. I created a 77,000 page variable layout just for fun. Not one pixel of any page was the same. Variable page pulls all over the place. (4/c Hi res btw). I told it to make me a pdf of the 77,000 pages. I expected to go to lunch and return before it finished....however, through proper caching of the images, it took 80 seconds on my machine.

 

[motormount]

I'm not familiar with VDP.

I thought the layout is done in InDesign,and the data is provided by the customer,then back to indie for data merge.

(Come to think of it,indie might needed a little more time to export a 77.000 pages pdf...)

But i still don't understand what level of expertise in dp is needed,do you need to write code,script or something?

Do you have to merge/rearrange excel lists?

Thank's in advance!

 

[kaiserwilhelm]

Many options in "T" as we call it (Print Net T). Import a PDF as is. Import a PDF and it will pick it apart into its elements. Quite cool. IE, purple bar, white text, CMYK pic, etc, etc.
Or, export a "T" job out of INDD.
Once in T, you stay in T. You select the text, "XXX dogs will die this year". You tell the XXX to link to a field. The field is what comes in from Excel or a DBF.
(You name the fields ahead of time in a module).
At any point you can hit F6 and see what it does when it pulls in the variable. Say that you want a pink purse brought in for female and a blue toolbox brought in for male. Once you have your data where it knows who is male and female, you tell it to pull the pic based upon that field.
Now, go further. Say that you want it to pull a toolbox pic for males that have given XXX in the past year. (a better toolbox pic for giggles). That requires a bit of programming. However, to be honest with you, I learned basic on a C-64. I have found that that level of programming is a lot of what you need...if / then conditional. Also, you can always copy and paste from programming of others in your building or on the web. Amazing what you can find.
Other programs work inside of INDD. All depends upon what you need. If you are pulling mail lists, probably too much of a program for that. If you are looking at direct mail...worth its weight in gold.
If you go to Print in September they usually have a booth.