Not as good as Micropress but better than a driver?

[CathieH]

We got a KM C6501 to replace our C500 (what a huge improvement, but I digress), and still have our KM 1050 for our books, etc. When this transition happened, we had our Micropress removed and now I run the 6501 through a Creo and the 1050 solely through the driver.

The problem I'm having is working with the driver for the 1050. Yeah, it has functionality, but I'm really missing the capabilities of the Micropress, such as being able to preview the job, working with tabs, cleaning up the pages, etc.

Does anyone out there know if there's something in between the two that can be purchased to give me a little more flexibility and hands-on with the jobs I run on the 1050? I'm very happy with the Creo, but pretty disappointed and frustrated working with just the print driver now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do have Acrobat X Pro and PitStop Pro, but they don't do what I'm wanting, of course.

Thanks all,
Cathie

PS Know this: if you have a Micropress and get it taken away, you're gonna hurt.

 

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Cathie, I don't think there are too many products out there that'll do what Micropress and Digipath will do but take a look at Alto Image Arranger & Ultra Print;

Imaging

It's not cheap but certainly not as expensive as Micropress. I've supported Alto in multiple installs and people seem to like it, especially former Digipath users. Alto's a small company but the software's pretty powerful and they're very responsive to customer feedback.

 

[CathieH]

Hey Deck

Hey Deck

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have any idea what the cost is for the Ultra software?

I'm really looking for something that can work with my 1050 driver to more easily create tabs and despeckle scans.

Right now, I have to built each tab out of a blank page, which means I have to be sure to delete the copy the client placed on the tab page, then retype it in, and using a 5-bank tab, must create blank pages at the end to make sure it ends on the last of the tabs as there's no way to automatically have the driver spit out the extra tabs that aren't used.

Does UltraPrint or Arranger do this? And again, I can't seem to find what the cost is on this software, but am wondering if there's something out there that can work with my driver to simplify these two functions.

Thanks again,
Cathie

 

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Interactive Demo

Interactive Demo

CathieH,

Here's a link to an interactive demo on the product, including tab creation.

Imaging

Image Arranger provides high speed, high volume, image capture, manipulation and
sophisticated make-ready functionality and retails for around $5K.

UltraPrint manages high volume printing using a familiar explorer-like
interface for easy assembly and output of even the most complex print job and retails for around $7500.

So in other words Arranger is for page-level editing while UltraPrint is for job-level assembly and printing.

I work for Ricoh and we do market Alto but you can deal with them directly as well.

 

[PrinterMatt]

I have been running my 1050 since we got it without a Micropress. I recommend downloading all 3 drivers PCL, PS plugin and PS Visual because for some reason when you cannot get a job to run on one it will usually run on the other and the KM Techs are no help with this issue. One of the other Limitations I have not having a Micropress is subset finishing. To get around this I use Print shop mail for my Variable data and send each record as separate job if I need to create booklets or staple records individually

 

[CathieH]

Pricing - will never happen

Pricing - will never happen

Hey Deck. The pricing on the Alto items will definitely be a big no-way. For that amount, we might have been able to just upgrade our previous Micropress. I'd love to put this to my supervisor, but I already know the answer. Way too expensive.

I could probably get them to approve something in the 1-2k range, but anything, and I mean ANYTHING, over that is never going to fly, at least not this year and probably not next. I'd need to have one heck of a good reason, meaning dollar an time savings, to get something like this approved.

I really thank you for letting me know, though. It's a nice to have, not a need to have in the eyes of my company, and myself really.

Matt, I'll look into the drivers and plug-ins you've mentioned. I don't have a problem with my current driver, it just isn't very friendly when it comes to despeckling and handling tabs.

Thanks again, guys.
Cathie

 

[[email protected]]

Tabs alternative

Tabs alternative

That's what I figured would be the case. Companies are usually reluctant to make expensive software purchases when they can't roll it in with a machine lease.

If you have Fiery you may find the tab insert feature found in the media/mixed media useful.

Maybe someone else has a line on an inexpensive document scan and makeready software product?