Imposition Upgrade or New Imposition

[Lutzie32]

My company is in the crossroads of upgrading the whole prepress department. We upgraded to RAMpage V12. We are also looking into upgrading my main workstation to the new 12-core Mac Pro. The only thing left to look into is upgrading my Imposition Software. Currently I am running Preps V4.2.3 on a separate G4 Mac running OS9. My questions is should I look into upgrading to the newest Preps (which is V6 I think) or should I look into a whole new imposition program. I am looking on running it on my computer and possibly my iMac also. Any Suggestions?

 

[Al Ferrari]

Preps V4.2.3 on a G4 Mac running OS9? Wow! I don't think that version had smart marks, which are like mana from heaven if you frequently make new templates.

I run Preps 5.3.3 on OSX 10.5.8 and love it. But with the current outlook for Kodak, Preps 6 may not be a good investment.

Good luck,

Al

 

[Lutzie32]

This is a good point with the current state of kodak. Is there a way to maybe find Preps V5 cheaper? Or would other programs are similar to preps or good to run?

 

[akalaray]

Heidelberg Signa Station is my choice, I have worked with preps, although a long time ago. We have two Macs running Signa ver 10, It doesn't get any better.

 

[WiseGuy]

My company is in the crossroads of upgrading the whole prepress department. We upgraded to RAMpage V12. We are also looking into upgrading my main workstation to the new 12-core Mac Pro. The only thing left to look into is upgrading my Imposition Software. Currently I am running Preps V4.2.3 on a separate G4 Mac running OS9. My questions is should I look into upgrading to the newest Preps (which is V6 I think) or should I look into a whole new imposition program. I am looking on running it on my computer and possibly my iMac also. Any Suggestions?

One that you might consider is Dynastrip. It works well with Rampage and keeps the old metaphore found in earlier Preps you'd be use to.

Of course, there are other options from Ultimate, Quite software, and even a lower cost alternative from Dynagram (inpO2). It really depends on the type of work you do and what you're most comfortable with.

BTW... I did use to work for Dynagram, just so you know.

Michael

 

[margadri]

Preps 5.3.3 won't work with OSX 10.7
Only PPC, and no more Rosetta on new Macs
Preps 6 I personally hate it.
Not happy with Kodak upgrades lately.
But that is me

 

[jay12345]

I have recently upgraded to Rampage V12 as well and i am using dynastrip for imposition. I dont hate it. I dont love it. It does what its supposed to and it was very easy to learn. It wasnt even my choice at the time as Fuji pretty much gave it to us when we bought Rampage new. Ive upgraded it along the way to version 6.5. it is pretty cheap. around $2k i think about $400 to upgrade from time to time. Version 7 is out but i havent upgraded yet as i dont really see anything in there that excites me. We use it on 2 stations and just past the dongle back and forth. to lazy to buy another licensee. Just curious why you would spend all that money on a 12 core mac pro? we have 4 imac 27 inchers with the i7's in them and i have never had an issue. They run great.

 

[amybest222]

The company i work for Recently upgraded (5) stations to to Prinergy 5.2 with Preps 5.3.3 AND Preps 6 (you can run both) .. Still using 5.3. althought Preps 6 has alot to offer- especially if you print alot of book binding- but depending on what workflow you have I am almost certain you need to have a PDF workflow. (Not links and pages like older versions of Nexus)... the only reason we are not using Preps 6 is that all our eps marks have to be converted to pdf marks(preps 6 only uses smark marks) (no biggie- but we have over 300 custom marks with 5 presses-) and havnt sat down to do it. but i am looking forward to V6.. But MYSELF I dont feel to concerned about KODAKS prepress devision.. I know that the next version on Prinergy and Preps 7 are allready being tested by KODAK.. but alas we are consumers also...

 

[Stephen Marsh]

... the only reason we are not using Preps 6 is that all our eps marks have to be converted to pdf marks(preps 6 only uses smark marks) (no biggie- but we have over 300 custom marks with 5 presses-) and havnt sat down to do it. but i am looking forward to V6.

Before you leave at the end of the day, or before you take a lunch break - setup a Distiller "watched folder" (also make sure Distiller is loaded with the correct settings). Copy your 300+ custom marks to the watched folder and walk away (always test batch operations with a small amount of files first). Or one could simply select all of the files and drag them onto the Distiller icon. If you can benefit from v6, then converting all these marks should not be a roadblock.


Stephen Marsh

 

[Davo]

... should I look into upgrading to the newest Preps (which is V6 I think) or should I look into a whole new imposition program. I am looking on running it on my computer and possibly my iMac also. Any Suggestions?

Upgrade or switch? A great question. We've seen a good many Rampage users move from Preps to Metrix over the last few years. In fact, about 40% of the Metrix user base is comprised of Rampage users, and 95% of all Metrix users were former Preps users. Give Rampage a call and ask how well Metrix works with their workflow.

Reading these forums it's hard to ignore the comments of people who've struggled to move to the Preps 6 platform - it's an entirely different application in so many ways, and very few are happy with it. In contrast, we've got a strong and rapidly growing user base (over 1100 seats), and we get constant feedback of how much further Metrix takes them.

Admittedly I'm coming from a very biased perspective (being the Metrix Project Manager), so I encourage you to read the stories of companies who've switched. Many of the stories on our website are from customers who were die-hard Preps users. I worked for many years at ScenicSoft, Creo and Kodak so I understand how strongly some people hold onto an aging but still useful tool. But I have to say, I think it's best days are behind it.
Metrix Customer Success

In case you find it interesting, a few months ago Jim McBride (lead engineer on Preps for the past 20 years) left Kodak and is now one of our primary engineers. The other day we were talking about his rich history with Preps and his future now with Metrix and he said 'history doesn't create a future'. Well put. We're excited watching his skill and enthusiasm accelerate the development of Metrix.

If I can answer any questions, or you'd like a demonstration of Metrix, please let me know.


Davo Laninga
metrixsoftware.com
928.257.3286

 

[TJ-421]

I briefly used Preps in school, spent a year doing production imposition in Metrix a couple years after that, and have now been imposing in Signastation for a little over a year, with a year's break doing other work in between. That is to say, I can't offer a direct comparison, but felt I had the best experience working in Metrix. I occasionally find Signa to be a little too "helpful" about populating my press sheet when I'm supposed to run x-up of a piece with specific gutters but the sheet will accommodate y-up instead: I wind up either backing out and restarting the imposition as a montage, or building a custom layout scheme that gets used once and then gets forgotten about even if it winds up becoming useful again down the road. The one issue we had with Metrix (circa 2009?) was with rotating 1-ups to different angles for certain specific envelope layouts we used, and I think this was on their radar even at that time.

Hope this helps,
-TJ

 

[JulieWatson]

These are all potential valuable solutions to replace your current imposition software, but my question to you is what type of integration do you need and what level of automation do you want? Are you looking for a planning tool or a production tool? These questions will guide you to make the right choice for your organization.

Besides trying a demo of all the available solutions my suggestion to you is first determine your needs, and then see how the different vendors can meet your needs.

You have to think differently about imposition today, it's more than just imposing pages, you must think about automation and how your imposition package will allow you to drive results today, and grow with you in your future projects.

Julie
Ultimate
imposition.com

 

[pcmodem]

I would also recommend looking at Metrix. The company I was working at before was using Preps 5 and was working on switching to Metrix. We had looked at Preps 6 and realized it was going to take relearning the software so decided to look for alternatives. What we found with Metrix was more than just an imposition tool. It is true job planning software. It takes Preps and Upfront (Job Planning software from Kodak) merges them together and makes a better product in the end.

 

[margadri]

I would also recommend looking at Metrix. The company I was working at before was using Preps 5 and was working on switching to Metrix. We had looked at Preps 6 and realized it was going to take relearning the software so decided to look for alternatives. What we found with Metrix was more than just an imposition tool. It is true job planning software. It takes Preps and Upfront (Job Planning software from Kodak) merges them together and makes a better product in the end.

I think that putting Preps and Upfront together was the original idea with Preps 6.
IMHO I think it backfired!

 

[ajr]

Dynastrip is probably the best if you are just doing normal impos not automated stuff works well with Rampage. Not the best but I used to use an old version may have got better now. Get a demo give it a go!