Xitron Support

Version 

Release version – Sierra Workflow V7.5.0.0 

Release date – September 2021 

Purpose of this release 

This is a 64-bit release of the workflow. It will not run on 32 bit platforms. 

Release incorporates Adobe APPE V5.5, PDF Library V18.0 and Enfocus V19.0. It provides support for macOS 14.0 (Sonoma). 

Supported OS: Windows 10 Pro, 11 Pro, or 2019/2016 Server. 

This release contains a number of enhancements as described below. This release can be used as a new installation or as an upgrade. 

If a 32-bit platform is required, for example to support direct connection to a CTP device, then a Master – Slave configuration should be used, with the Slave PC connected to the CTP running V7.1.1.0. 

Information 

Any information which is new to version 7.5.0.0 is written in blue 

The workflow client will run on hardware powered by the mac M1 processor. It does not run natively but will utilise Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation layer. Rosetta will be installed, if required, when the mac Client is installed for the first time. 

Fixes: 

Ref Assistance Request XGUSADXS9X: If multiple files with the same layer names are added to a job, the job is configured using data from the first file. The layer settings from subsequent files are ignored. Fixed such all PDF layer data is now honoured. 

Ref Assistance Request XGUSBN7KH3: Lines are being added to the second signature in the spine by turning on "Align the marks to the outermost signature when setting the creep" and "Signature Centre Register Marks." Fixed so that marks do not extend into spine. 

Enhancements 

Ref Assistance Request XGUSACQTX7: User can configure the text output as ‘Side’ slug line data. (Default remains as ‘Front’ and ‘Back’) 

Improved mechanism for cleaning up temporary files generated by ‘Raster PDF’ processing. 

Mac Client can be used when system is set to run in ‘Dark Mode’. 

Installation 

The installation program (setup.exe) should be “Run as Administrator” 

Currently you cannot place multiple Preflight Services on a PC box. 

The configuration tool allows spaces before the double back slashes in the Proofer UNC addresses. This causes an engine initialization error when using the device. 

Upgrade 

Before upgrading the Server software, users should restart the Server PC. 

When upgrading a multi-platform workflow system, any standard configuration items that have been deleted from the Master box will be re-added. This is to enable a secure method of restoring a known configuration. Users are advised to check the configuration after upgrading multi-box systems. 

Action Lists 

The workflow supports Action Lists created with Enfocus PitStop Version 19.0. Action lists from newer versions of PitStop will be imported into the workflow but may not execute correctly. If upgrading, any custom Action Lists should be recreated. 

Calibration Manager 

When creating Linearisation Curves in Calibration Manager, the values for 0 and 100% should not be changed from their default (i.e. 0 and 100). Changing these values will cause errors within the software. 

General 

Running the Client ‘As Administrator’ on PC can cause issues where it is not possible to create a job by dragging and dropping a PDF onto the desktop/queue. Issues reported when using Windows 10 but may affect other platforms. 

A transparent object made in Illustrator RGB mode is displayed differently in the workflow. Use “transparency splitting” in Illustrator to fix this. 

A PDF that allows ‘Printing only’ will not have previews displayed either as thumbnails or in the viewer. 

Jobs containing no CMYK Process colours are automatically output to Plate, regardless of having no data on them. ‘Don’t Output Blank Separations’ should be selected in order to avoid this situation. 

When using the Force Overprint: Always Knockout control in the overprint settings, any Dieline inks within a job will knockout any image below in the rendered result. Care should be used when attempting to force overprint settings in jobs that contain Dieline separations. 

In the case of the 32bit CMYK image for the RIP Proof, ‘Print as Process colour’ should be selected if you need to output the spot colour exactly the same value with its alternative colour. If you choose ‘Print As Spot’, the workflow calculates the output CMYK value using the spot colour’s neutral density, and the value will be not same as the alternative CMYK value as the result. 

Imposition 

The standard template “Imported Layout Centred Pages” which is used for centring pages within page slots from Preps, cannot be incorporated within a Job Template. The work around is create a new Layout template. In the Imposition pane under the Layout Page Adjustment settings, ensure that the Enable page adjustment check box is selected. When this Layout template is used to send the Preps jobs to, the pages will be automatically centred. 

Using Creep with Custom Imposition Patterns. Custom Imposition Patterns are always assumed to be Left Binding when created. If a user creates a custom imposition pattern for Right Binding then creep will be applied assuming that it is Left Binding and so incorrectly. The work - around is to create the custom imposition pattern for Left Binding and then, when using this in the job changing the work style to Right Binding. Creep will then be applied correctly. 

When the imposition size is the same as the maximum plate size for an engine then the renderer calculates that it will not fit on the media. This is due to the fact that it is not possible to image to the maximum plate size of an engine. This can be avoided by not attempting to create images at the limit of the imageable area of the engine. 

As the workflow is a total PDF/JDF solution, PS/EPS objects cannot be used as imposition marks. 

Input 

Input File Name Templates are NOT case sensitive. For example it is not possible to use an uppercase letter ‘P’ as a delimiter if there is another instance of a lowercase ‘p’ previously in the file name. 

Postscript files with missing headers may successfully distil in Acrobat, but will need the ‘Force unknown formats to PS’ in order to be successfully handled by the workflow Page Preparation processes. 

If files of unknown type are submitted to drop folders using file name templates, the job log may report that it attempted to convert the file type from Tiff. This only affects files that the workflow does not recognise as valid file types. 

Normaliser may exit or fail if there are more than 255 ICC profiles in the Windows system ICC profile store of the PC running the workflow server. Reducing this number of profiles may also make Normaliser initialize faster. 

The page number is not recognized for the mapping rule using “ * “, and it is not likely to be able to map it correctly. Please set the rule that the position of the page number becomes clear. (E.g. add a fixed character just before page number in the rule.) 

TIFF Export 

From V6.6, the byte sequence for the tiff files is controlled by an entry in the Global.cml file. The default value forces the tiffs to be written in Intel, (little endian), sequence. 

sOutputLib.TIFFIntelByteOrder=1 

To force the byte sequence to be Motorola, (big endian), the entry should be changed to: 

sOutputLib.TIFFIntelByteOrder=0 

If upgrading the system and this value is not present, it can be added to the .cml file using a text editor. 

The delay between the output of tiff files can be controlled by an entry in the sOutputTIFF.cml file: 

output_file_delay_time=x 

where x indicates the delay between files in seconds. (Default is 0). Changing this value can be useful in ensuring that the separation data arrives at a TIFF Catcher in the required order. 

Note: After changing values in .cml files, a server restart is required. 

PDF Export 

Exported PDF documents containing layers and all Raster PDF files, must be viewed in an application that supports overprint preview to guarantee that all layers will be correctly displayed. Opaque layers may otherwise hide lower layers. 

PDF Export cannot create files over 2GB in size. 

ROOM Proof 

Compound and dual screens cannot be ROOM proofed accurately as the de-screening processes use only a single screen. 

ROOM Proof only does pattern avoidance for the specifically selected screen selected. To ensure this takes place, the ‘Use selected screen set only check box’ must be checked. 

Viewer 

The dot percentage values displayed in the Rendered view are of the Tiff images sent to the platesetter and include applied characterisation and linearisation. As linearisation curves allow for dot growth when exposing and processing, these values will not necessarily be the same as the dot values measured on the finished plate. 

Tiff Bypass 

In the job template for the TIFF Bypass job, the location offset value for the image can be set as both positive and negative values. But in the actual job, the workflow uses the positive value only when the plate size is bigger than the image size, and uses negative value only when the plate size is smaller than the image size. 

When the input image size and the plate size are different, the workflow re-creates the tiff file at the size of the plate for the TIFF Bypass. 

Archiver 

Online and Offline status is only updated after scheduled archives. If archives are moved between these events, the online status may be inaccurate. 

Multi-box Installations 

If an APPE is running on a Slave PC which has been configured using UNC paths, and a slug line contains “Characterisation Curve”, the data is printed as “None”. This is caused by a timing issue which is NOT seen when “mapped drive” paths are used when configuring the multi-box installation. 

3DProof 

When the same page is assigned to more than one Plates products, 3D proofer cannot specify which rendered page should be displayed, so it displays the first page found. 

Opening .jar files on the Mac requires V6 Java to be installed. 

APPE 

On very few occasions processing complex PDF files or those with lots of transparent objects, job may experience an “AMM Exhausted” or ”Error during transparency atomic region processing” failure. In these cases increasing the workflow virtual memory in the APPE setting of the Configuration Tool may allow the file to process successfully. We recommend that for 32-bit systems with 2GB RAM fitted, this value should be 1536 MB, on all other 32-bit systems, (4GB RAM and above), it should be set to the maximum of 3072MB. (Systems with multiple APPE should have sufficient RAM to support 3072MB per instance). 

For 64-bit systems running V7.0.0.0 or higher, the maximum limit of 3072MB is no longer applicable. Evaluation of the system resources should be made when setting this value. Recommend minimum value of 4096 MB per APPE. 

When a PDF contains layers for versioning, finished PDF should not be used. 

When PDFs that contain objects which fall outside the page are rendered, Plates or RIP Proof may fail with error “Unexpected APPE error: 1, ‘Unknown Bravo Error’” in Job Log. 

For a Slave PC to run an instance of the APPE, the installation path on the Slave must be EXACTLY the same as the installation path on the Master. If the paths are not the same, the instance of the APPE (displayed as RIP-0-xxxxxx) on the Slave Server window will show as ‘Disabled’ and the process will not run. 

Specifications