callas software has introduced a major update for its pdfToolbox product line – pdfToolbox 9. The new version enhances the power of variables and integrates completely new technologies for the large format printing, label and packaging markets. In addition it has support for CxF color data in PDF and integrates usability improvements for zooming and wireframe viewing.
“pdfToolbox has earned its credit in the most demanding preflight and correction phases of workflows,” explains Dietrich von Seggern, managing director of callas software. “However, in the last few yearsit is more and more used as a job preparation tool, a full prepress in-a-box. With pdfToolbox 9 it now extends its functionality towards the different finishing operationsthat are necessary to prepare a PDF before it heads off to the RIP. Many of the new features enhance the possibilities of pdfToolbox for the large format printing, label and packaging marketsfor example.”
CxF-based workflows
While PDF files contain enough information about spot colors to show a good screen preview, more complex operations such as correct color proofing or accurately converting spot colors to CMYK are more challenging. By storing CxF (color exchange format, ISO 17972-4) data in the PDF file, much better results can be obtained. pdfToolbox 9 implements a better zooming function and allows to show files in wireframe mode. Filtering out different object types is built in; this allows you to hide images and see if there are any objects behind them for example.
Large format finishing features
pdfToolbox Desktop 9 nowfeatures a dedicated large format printsection exactly for this. White space and bleed can be added to the PDF file, additional finishing layerssuch as opaquewhite or varnish inks can be added acrossthe whole file or only in certain areas, grommet marks can be distributed around the trim box and for very large jobs, tiling (the creation of a number of smaller, printable, pieces) issupported as well. With pdfToolbox Server all these tasks can be automated.
PDF files that match the right output standard are not always ready for production. They might be missing an undercover white, a varnish or a die-line. Often these elements need to be manually added by a prepress operator. In pdfToolbox 9, the new shapes feature allows one to detect vector or bitmap elements and turn them into separate ‘shapes.’
In pdfToolbox 9 any function in a Process Plan can now be controlled and made dynamic using variables. But it doesn’t stop just there. Now pdfToolbox also allows for building even more powerful workflows by integrating Javascript support into variables. And because variables can refer to other variables used in a profile, more intelligent profiles can be built. In large format printing for example, customers can build a profile that has the viewing distance of a job as input and then calculates all necessary limits for text sizes and resolution minima automatically.
