Pitstop Professional v. Pitstop Extreme

[paulc]

Anyone able to critique the advantages of Pitstop Extreme over Pitstop Professional?

 

[the_brain]

Anyone able to critique the advantages of Pitstop Extreme over Pitstop Professional?

Hi Paulc,

First of all, PitStop Extreme is developed to handle large production files and is normally not installed in prepress, but serves as a RIP saviour.

Let me highlight the top 5

- Standalone app, so no need to have Acrobat installed
- Very fast document navigation: Zoom, pan, select to object
- High internal resolution, so there is no zoom limit
- Several interesting view options (ink coverage, separations, transparencies, overprints, page boxes)
- Advanced text editing (paragraph editing, text linking)
- Ability to use Enfocus Action Lists and PDF Profile (compatible with PitStop Pro 08)
- Enfocus Certified PDF technology inside
- Edit shadings and patterns with just a mouse-click
- ...

Well that more than 5, sorry

Free 30 day trial right here: http://www.enfocus.com/download.php?id=4355

Cheers,
Bert

 

[Smitty]

How does Pitstop compare with OneVision's Speedflow or Asura product?

 

[the_brain]

How does Pitstop compare with OneVision's Speedflow or Asura product?

Smitty,

as far as I understand Speedflow and Asura are workflow products that want to reduce manual processes, so there is not much to compare with Pitstop Extreme (being a PDF editor).

So in that interest you could compare it with Switch product line.

Information can be found here:
FullSwitch: Enfocus - Enfocus FullSwitch
PowerSwitch: Enfocus - Enfocus PowerSwitch

cheers,
Bert

 

[toronar]

Speedflow Edit and Asura Solvero are the respective PDF-Editors from Onevision.

As I have only worked with SF Edit so far, I can only comment on that. But Solvero should be no different, as it only outputs some more formats where Edit is confined to PDF as output.

SF Edit can do everything that PitStop Extreme can do (and some things more), but does not have a trapping as an addon-feature. SF Edit has another benefit: it will write the complete PDF using its own engine, which produces quite "trouble-free" PDFs.
For example, I have several PDFs that the latest Adobe PDF Print Engine does not rip correctly; after I just open and save (without changing anything) in SF Edit, APPE will rip them correctly.

SF Edit does not have something sophisticated like PitStop's Action Lists or Profiles, but rather rudemantary search/change features.

I find changing and editing in a PDF using SF Edit much easier and faster than using PitStop Extreme. It is a bit like using Illustrator to edit PDFs, but without Illustrator's risks
PitStop Extreme's look and feel and how you use it just feels really dated and cumbersome in comparison.

Both are capable PDF editors, of course.
You can get a demoversion of both and decide for yourself, though.

 

[the_brain]

Speedflow Edit and Asura Solvero are the respective PDF-Editors from Onevision.

As I have only worked with SF Edit so far, I can only comment on that. But Solvero should be no different, as it only outputs some more formats where Edit is confined to PDF as output.

SF Edit can do everything that PitStop Extreme can do (and some things more), but does not have a trapping as an addon-feature. SF Edit has another benefit: it will write the complete PDF using its own engine, which produces quite "trouble-free" PDFs.
For example, I have several PDFs that the latest Adobe PDF Print Engine does not rip correctly; after I just open and save (without changing anything) in SF Edit, APPE will rip them correctly.

SF Edit does not have something sophisticated like PitStop's Action Lists or Profiles, but rather rudemantary search/change features.

I find changing and editing in a PDF using SF Edit much easier and faster than using PitStop Extreme. It is a bit like using Illustrator to edit PDFs, but without Illustrator's risks
PitStop Extreme's look and feel and how you use it just feels really dated and cumbersome in comparison.

Both are capable PDF editors, of course.
You can get a demoversion of both and decide for yourself, though.

Toronar,

Apparently I did look far enough... my apologies.

I've learned something today

Cheers,
Bert

 

[the_brain]

SF Edit can do everything that PitStop Extreme can do (and some things more), but does not have a trapping as an addon-feature.

I have to correct you on this. PitStop Extreme doesn't have a trapping module as add-on. For this feature I kindly direct you to the EskoArtwork Neo product:
Neo - EskoArtwork

SF Edit has another benefit: it will write the complete PDF using its own engine, which produces quite "trouble-free" PDFs.
For example, I have several PDFs that the latest Adobe PDF Print Engine does not rip correctly; after I just open and save (without changing anything) in SF Edit, APPE will rip them correctly.

PitStop Extreme does not use the Adobe PDF Print Engine, but the Enfocus PDF Library. If it does correct the mistakes a test will provide that result.

I find changing and editing in a PDF using SF Edit much easier and faster than using PitStop Extreme. It is a bit like using Illustrator to edit PDFs, but without Illustrator's risks

I can't talk about SF Edit, but the feeling you're talking is also what you have with PitStop Exteme. It is a PDF editor, so indeed no risks like illustrator.

PitStop Extreme's look and feel and how you use it just feels really dated and cumbersome in comparison.

What would you like to see different related to UI?

Cheers,
Bert

 

[Vee]

I have to say, I'm running the demo for Extreme and I really like this app. I love the standalone aspect, it's very fast, capable of all the edits I'm looking for - including a real text editor if needed. Good color tools, and can work with gradients no problem. Here's a look at some of the windows and info/options in Extreme.

 

[michaelejahn]

Image adjustments ?

Image adjustments ?

I have to say, I'm running the demo for Extreme and I really like this app. I love the standalone aspect, it's very fast, capable of all the edits I'm looking for - including a real text editor if needed. Good color tools, and can work with gradients no problem. Here's a look at some of the windows and info/options in Extreme.

If a picture in a PDF is too dark or too flat, is there a way to lighten or add contrast to an image ?

I think something like Levels or Curves would be sweet !

 

[the_brain]

If a picture in a PDF is too dark or too flat, is there a way to lighten or add contrast to an image ?

I think something like Levels or Curves would be sweet !

Michael,

There is a very close relationship between PitStop Extreme and your image editor of choice. In the PEX preferences you link the image editor you want to use.

Then you select the image which is too dark and double click the preview on the fill paint window. The image will open automatically in the image editor...

Just a fast way of doing some last minute editing...

Cheers,
Bert

 

[Dave Thornton]

I'm still a little confused on the product lineup and the genealogy of these products... Is there a feature comparison between Pit Stop Pro, Extreme and Neo?

Do I have this correct? Enfocus developed Pit Stop and Neo, then Artwork Systems bought Enfocus. Artwork Systems 'merged' with Esko to become EskoArtwork, and is selling Neo as an EskoArtwork-branded product, while Enfocus is still marketing the Pit Stop products under its own name. Pit Stop Extreme seems very similar to Neo except that Neo includes trapping capabilities, correct?

 

[michaelejahn]

Michael,

There is a very close relationship between PitStop Extreme and your image editor of choice. In the PEX preferences you link the image editor you want to use.

Then you select the image which is too dark and double click the preview on the fill paint window. The image will open automatically in the image editor...

Just a fast way of doing some last minute editing...

Cheers,
Bert

Hi Bert - I can do THAT in off the shelf Acrobat using the TouchUp tool - what I was hoping to hear was that PitStop Extreme had some image editing tools - but I heard from Enfocus that it does not.

 

[the_brain]

Hi Bert - I can do THAT in off the shelf Acrobat using the TouchUp tool

MichaelJahn,

Agreed, you can do it with the TouchUp tool, but it takes a number of clicks to get there, though. You have to admit to double clicking the preview in PitStop Extreme is quite faster.

what I was hoping to hear was that PitStop Extreme had some image editing tools - but I heard from Enfocus that it does not.

Well, there's still room for improvement.

All joking apart, expect for swapping channels, making channels negative and using channels as opacity masks, PitStop Extreme 08 doesn't have real image editing skills. This why it works closely together with the image editor.

Cheers,
Bert

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

What about the PDFlib 9.0 font issue? How would Pitstop extreeme display the fonts, like Acrobat 8 or like acrobat 9 (refering to the Null character that you get when placing a PDFlib 8 in a CS4 document and exporting to a PDF other than PDF/X-4:2008).
Can this problem be detected / fixed ? Preferably by a dropfolder?

 

[the_brain]

What about the PDFlib 9.0 font issue? How would Pitstop extreeme display the fonts, like Acrobat 8 or like acrobat 9 (refering to the Null character that you get when placing a PDFlib 8 in a CS4 document and exporting to a PDF other than PDF/X-4:2008).
Can this problem be detected / fixed ? Preferably by a dropfolder?

Hi Lukas,

I'm guess would be Acrobat 8 behavior, because PitStop Extreme is compatible with PDF version 1.7.

cheers,
Bert

 

[abc]

Just to say that you can edit images directly in Speedflow Edit without the need to link to a third party product

 

[michaelejahn]

@ abc

Speedflow Edit - as far as i can find - "pricing is based on configuration and individual requirements" - the only reference to the price I could find is £6300. Less hefty than PitStop Extreme at £9100 - but that I read in July 2006 !

 

[the_brain]

@ abc

Speedflow Edit - as far as i can find - "pricing is based on configuration and individual requirements" - the only reference to the price I could find is £6300. Less hefty than PitStop Extreme at £9100 - but that I read in July 2006 !

MichaelJahn,

I'm not sure where you got your pricing, but the suggested end-user price for PitStop Extreme is USD 3499. If my calculations are right, that's not near the price you're talking about.

Cheers,
Bert