K2 has Client applications for both Windows and Mac. They can run on Macs or Windows PCs on the same network as the Server application.
A walk through the K2 Client application
Client overview
Below is what you will see when you open the Windows client. Looking at the window it's divided into 3 sections with a 4th section being the button bar across the top.
The left section is the list of predefined workflows.
The top right section shows the workflow diagram of the selected workflow.
The bottom right section shows the list of jobs that are currently in that workflow. Those jobs will all be at some status; paused between workflow steps, errored, completed, processing, canceled, etcetera.
Here is the simplest workflow you can build. It is comprised of three steps; hotfolder, RIP, and output. There is an (optional) pause between RIP and output so you can preview the plate data prior to making plates.
How do you go about making this workflow? Follow along with the link below.
Menus
Walking through the menus from left to right we will start with the "File" menu.
File
New Job... brings you to the file selection dialog box so you can choose a PDF file to bring into the system.
Log in is available if you are not logged into a Server. Choose that to log in to a Server on your network.
Log out is available if you are logged into a Server. Choose that to log out (if you have more than one Server and want to log into another)
User Info will tell you who is logged in.
Preferences... lets you change some parameters.
Exit quits the program
View
All jobs lets you see every job that is in the system all at once, as opposed to looking only at the jobs in a selected workflow.
The button on the top left also does this for you:
System Logs brings you to this window:
Jobs
Jobs is where the bulk of system operation happens. Most of these controls are also available as contextual menus that pop up when you right-click a specific job.
See an example of that contextual menu below. Compare with the Jobs menu, above.
These controls are mostly discussed in other chapters. Start here for more information.
A Jobs menu item that is not discussed elsewhere, is Column Headings, and will therefore be covered here.
This is where you control which columns show up in the clients job list.
That is to say, here; in red.
You can click on the heading to sort on that column.
Workflows
Find out how to create a new workflow or to edit a workflow.
Help
Button bar
The button bar is for quick access to important functions. There are always multiple paths to the important functions of the application. Some of the button bar functions are also accessible via the contextual menu that is available when you right-click a job.
When buttons are unavailable (perhaps they are for acting on a job and you don't have a job selected, then the buttons will be turned off, like this:
Or this:
From right to left these buttons are:
Show all jobs in system
Enter or Exit workflow editor mode
release a paused job or pause a processing job
restart processing a job
copy a job to another workflow
Delete a job
Edit separations, merge inks, set screen angles
Imposition
Trapping
Job information
Preview RIP data (examine your plates before printing them)
Job Submission and job planning
Looking at the contextual menu you can see that some of these are also available from here. Use whichever method works best for you.
A look at the Job Info screen
Get to this screen from here
Or from the contextual menu, here:
For more about K2 Client and other related topics, please return to the start page.