Thrown into RIP/Platesetter world.. looking for help

[Krista]

Hello! I am typically Digital pre-press, but as our company is changing, I've suddenly become responsible for the Platesetting/RIP side.. The person previously in charge of this is no longer with the company and did not keep documentation. I'm hoping someone here could shed some light on what I'm dealing with:

I have 2 Printware PlateStreams - one of them is a "Color +" the other is not
They EACH have a Navigator Harlequin RIP on them, version 7.2r1 (both I think...)

I have an Avantra 30 OLP
It has a Raster Blaster Version 3.7

I ALSO have a Xitron Xenith (Not Sierra) version 6.13 That all jobs are sent to.

Basically what I'm finding is that I can't understand why ... Why do I have 4 rips? Can't one rip to all? Right now we send to Xenith, rip the file, and then I don't know if it rips again.

This department was not previously staffed with people who .. how do I say it.. question things? So I'm not sure we NEED all this stuff cluttering up the process and creating extra steps and systems to maintain. But maybe (and probably) there is some part of this plate world I'm just not understanding properly.

Any insight? I'd be very greatful for anything anyone has to offer!

Edit for typo's and I'm sure I missed some...

 

[DCurry]

I'm not familiar with the PlateStream piece, but I was in a similar situation when I came to this shop. They had Xenith and RasterBlaster. Basically how it worked was you printed from your layout app to the Xenith, which RIPped single pages and provided FPO EPS files that then got placed into the Preps (imposition software) run list. Then they printed the imposed Preps layout back to Xenith, which swapped out the FPO EPS files for the hi-res RIPped data.

Then it was sent through RasterBlaster, which converted the Xenith files into 1-bit screened TIFFs that the platesetter could read (in my case, a Presstek Dimension.)

It was a very slow, tedious and cumbersome workflow, but part of that might have just been how the previous guys set it up. When I came in the they were already shopping around for a new platesetter and we got a new PDF workflow with the deal, so it is much more integrated (and faster) now.

I've noticed over the years that if the operators don't really have a good understanding of how all the pieces fit together in a workflow (and what is actually occurring at each step), that they tend to just bolt on new parts here and there and no one ever looks at the big picture of how it is supposed to flow. There tends to be a "because that's the way we've always done it and I'm afraid to change it" mentality.

 

[Krista]

OH! They used to use preps, I know that much!! Maybe that's why. We impose via custom software before it gets to my department now.

From what I'm gathering, couldn't ONE of the Navigators drive all three of my plate output devices?

I'm actually having trouble with Xenith and would love it if I didn't need it anymore.

We also used to make many more plates than we do today, and perhaps that played a role?

 

[DCurry]

Yes, making more plates back in the day might be a reason why, especially if no one thought to question the status quo when devices were added as you are now.

Theoretically, yes, one Navigator could probably drive all 3 devices. It is possible that you might need RasterBaster (which is not a RIP) to do the conversion from the RIP to each platesetter (I think you can set up hotfolders for this). I would think you'd need to buy additional an additional license for each platesetter that you want the one rip to drive. I would also think that you could only drive one at a time (another reason to split apart is speed.)

 

[mattbeals]

Best bet, call Xitron and tell them what's going on and see what it would take to get the Xitron to run all three devices. You will probably have to upgrade the the most current version and buy new hardware. But with that you should be able to buy licenses for each output device. Along the lines of what Dan said, your hardware may not support outputting to multiple devices at the same time. You may have to get an upgraded server to allow for that. Or, you may need "tiff catchers" in front of each device so that the Xitron can feed jobs to the TIFF catcher which then sends the job(s) to the respective output devices. That free's up the RIP to RIP and lets the TIFF catchers image the jobs as needed.

But! If you're not looking to spend money on new hardware/software you can try to see if the Xitron can export jobs that the other RIP's can process. Standardize all the RIPping on one box, have it feed the others.

 

[NJservice]

Those Rips are all Harlequin RIPs with different vendor names, each of which can rip a job and then control an output device to image the file. In the case of the Raster Blaster, it's just the second part of that functioning, it only send data to an imagesetter it control, but that data (a 1 bit tiff) was created by some other RIP. Something like a Raster Blaster is also known as a 'shooter'.
I think all the versions of your Harlequin RIPs are capable of acting as just a shooter if you wanted. So you could have one of the RIPs (the newest version?) on a high power PC with a lot of RAM, and a quick network connection, and that one RIP can create the 1 bit tiffs for all the others. All the page setups would be done on that one RIP, including calibration curves.
Advantages? You can use the newest version RIP, without upgrading all the others. If you bought some of the expensive options, like Trapping, etc, you only need to buy it once.
Disadvantage? If the one PC died, all your machines are down. I would have another new PC with all the software and your machine calibrations and settings, and network settings, as an emergency replacement.
So, as someone said you might need Tiff Catchers in front of each machine, I believe you already have them.

 

[Krista]

You guys are wonderful, all of you. Thank you so much! I finally feel like I may be understanding the tip of this iceburg.

Now - could I (with license upgrades etc..) use my one RasterBlaster for a shooter of all devices, and one Navigator for all? Speed is not an issue.

I'm shying away from dealing with the xenith simply because I don't believe it can be upgraded any further without crossing over to Sierra and they (my company) wont do that. Am I right? I'd have to upgrade to Sierra?

Matt ~ I've called and emailed Xitron and never heard back. As I said before I'm taking over from someone else, and I'm not sure what kind of relationship they had (as in I may be a thorn in their side and I don't even know it) I know the Navigator is another xitron product, but we license that through a 3rd party so I'm going to try them too. Only with our Xenith did we go directly through Xitron.

 

[mattbeals]

Krista, if you can give me a call and we can discuss this. I have one or two contacts at Xitron that should be able to shed some light on this for you.

The other choice you have is to use Lucid Dream's I-PDF which will let you trap and RIP a file on one HQ RIP and send it to another for output. It's a great system and modestly priced for what you get.