Need help learning Rampage

[jeffv145]

I recently started a job (training) with a print company that uses Rampage, and I can't find any instructional resources. This is the first time I've used any Rip software. Is anyone aware of a tutorial website or video of any kind? It's been very intimidating to try and work with, I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I need help in addition to what I get at work. Thanks!

 

[mwc]

Check the website/vids at : Videos
Note that RAMPage was 'acquired' by fujifilm a few years back...and are letting it die (still a great/productive system if you use it properly)
Find out what version you have (v13 is the latest) then find your manuals. Rampage usually sent a nice/printed binder for the user guide. (and included it on the install CD's) If you can't find it, PM me and I'll send you some of the PDF's I have. Hopefully you have someone there to give you at least a little cursory training?

 

[jeffv145]

Thanks for the vids, I'm surprised I didn't bump into those already. I have the manual, but it's miles above my head at this point. We are running version 12. I'm trying to learn what all the buttons/options do. It's the most commercial program I've ever used. What do you mean by use it properly? Is it optimal for specific types of printing compared to other rips?

 

[mwc]

I guess the word 'properly' depends on the type of work you are doing already...are you flying solo, or do you have any resource/person at your shop to train you?.
You could be using the system one of a hundred ways.....
Are you using the ROOM or NORM workflow?
Are you using EPS FPO's, PDF FPO's, or nothing at all?
What do you use for imposition? (Preps?) ---JDF or EPS?
Do you rip EPS or PDF? Do you use the PDF Trap Engine?

The basic thing here is to determine what profiles are setup that your company uses....look at the setting for these profiles and look up the info in the manual.
Look for a 'guide' of how a typical job progresses through your workflow.

i.e. - my shop (v13)
current 'typical' workflow. (we use JDF imposition at this point, as opposed to the EPS/FPO imposition method)
-Register PDFs or single page EPS to Prescan, Trap, Rip, FPO, and Monitor Proof profiles.
-Register JDF of imposition and allow it to place pages from the previous step.
-Produce Proofs, Create InkZone (CIP3/4 Data), Plot

 

[jeffv145]

I work for a bigger company that primarily manufactures books (offset/big quantities). I have a graphic communications degree and two years experience with basic layout and binding from Fedex Office. I share a prepress office with three other people, who are very helpful when they have time, but they are very busy. Most of the day I sit here and try to figure things out for myself. I didn't even know what a JDF was until last week. I'm scrolling through the Rampage jobs (from the Rampage System Manager on my Mac) and most of the documents are .pdf and .rjf ---I'm pretty sure that we use the Norm workflow. Any essential tit bits or layman terms advice/basics would help a ton. I'm still trying to get a grasp of what this software actually does, haha.

 

[mwc]

I would make a 'test' job from the Rampage client, one that copies your default profiles used by your company. Then you have a perfect sandbox to rip/trap/process files and test out what the setting do. Of course, your coworkers are key to explaining why and how they use the setting and profiles that they do. Don't worry, the software doesn't actually do anything productive, it was just a scam to get people to buy consumables (computers, film, plates, proofers, imagesetters, platesetters, chemicals...) Come to think of it, printing was invented so that paper companies could sell more than just toilet paper and napkins

 

[jeffv145]

Training has been going better by the day, but I'm pretty nervous for Preps 5. I like Adobe Acrobat, but they have me learning pitstop, which I'm not too crazy about. Actually, I really hated pitstop at first because I couldn't get certain objects selected without making unwanted selections. Neo was a lot better, specifically for selecting a bar code. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon....

 

[DCurry]

As for the Pitstop selecting too much, hold down the Alt key (Option on Mac) to only select objects that are entirely within the area you drag around. There is a setting in Pitstop Preferences that controls this (under the Edit section) - you may need to change its setting to "Select objects that are completely selected" instead of "partially selected."

Preps 5 isn't too bad, but then once you learn it they'll upgrade you to 6 or 7 and those are completely different beasts.

 

[jeffv145]

Okay, here are a couple (probably easy) pitstop questions.
What is the difference between overprinting and knocking out?
What is the difference between cropbox, artbox, trimbox, and bleed box?
More soon I'm sure..

 

[DCurry]

You'll get more complete answers to those questions just by Googling them, but in short the difference between Overprint and Knockout is in how an object affects whatever graphics are beneath it. Overprint will make the object "print over" what is underneath without changing what is underneath, while Knockout will remove the ink from what is underneath.

The page boxes are the underlying skeletal structure of a PDF - artbox is the dimensions of all the art; trimbox is the page trim size, bleed box is the size of the trim+bleed, and crop box is how the PDF might be cropped to show or hide more or less of the document.

 

[kansasquaker]

Okay, here are a couple (probably easy) pitstop questions.
What is the difference between overprinting and knocking out?
What is the difference between cropbox, artbox, trimbox, and bleed box?
More soon I'm sure..

You should probably start with a community college course or lynda.com subscription if you're asking about the difference between crop, art, bleed and trim boxes. Those terms aren't unique to Rampage or Pitstop - neither are the concepts of overprinting and knocking out (hint you should read about the related terms choke and spread too).

 

[jeffv145]

You should probably start with a community college course or lynda.com subscription if you're asking about the difference between crop, art, bleed and trim boxes. Those terms aren't unique to Rampage or Pitstop - neither are the concepts of overprinting and knocking out (hint you should read about the related terms choke and spread too).

What makes more sense in 2015, going back to college to refresh rudimentary information, or asking a forum community?
I have a one year graphic communication degree, from seven years ago, but obviously forgot some stuff. I prefer to consult forums like this than do google searches. The bleed box questions can go unanswered, because I found a nifty pocket reference manual with all the terms. Cool; I'll be back with higher level questions soon!

 

[DCurry]

The problem with being unwilling to do Google searches is that you will miss out on a lot of information that would answer your question in much more detail. Even though it seems your 2 questions are pretty simple on the surface, they can be hard to describe clearly off the cuff. Pictures and videos are worth 1000 words, and people will be more willing to help you if you are willing to dig a little yourself first.

I do disagree with the community college suggestion - they won't know the answers to these questions anyway. Lynda.com is a great resource.