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Workflow has become a very generic word for the printing industry, covering a wide range of services. The term has been around for years and for most people, it probably still means what it used to, namely the automation of the pre-press activities. Workflow came to the fore in the 1990s when different elements of software came together to allow a cohesive automated process to take place.

The real start of pre-press workflow came with the first automated imposition system that, if I remember correctly, came from Ultimate. The process began with a hot folder into which pages from a page creation package such as QuarkXPress would be dropped. The imposition package would then take these pages and order them into imposed sections. With the development of the CIP3 structure for sending data to the press control system to set up ink keys, workflow developed with the imposition package producing the imposed files for output to film or plate, in addition to the settings for the press ink keys.

At this time, a number of the pre-press suppliers offered their own full workflows. There were essentially two approaches. The text-based suppliers worked their solutions around PostScript, whereas the colour suppliers such as Scitex, with its Brisque system, had image-based solutions using what was known as CT (colour images) and line work (text and line images converted to a line work image). These systems did not link up to printers MIS systems and never went beyond ink key press set up.

New format
When the PDF format arrived, suppliers of workflow started to consider it for handling page input and ongoing processing within the workflow. At this time, most of the page creation work was done by specialised suppliers or within the workflow. This created the problem of variable quality of the PDF files being supplied by customers, which generated a new and major function: pre-flighting. This rapidly became one of the most important elements of workflow to ensure customer-supplied data could be easily used within the system.

This is a short history of what many people consider workflow to be and it brings us to a time of change, namely what workflow is becoming.

I was recently criticised after a comment I made at Drupa when I stated that I felt Heidelberg’s Prinect was “the most comprehensive workflow on the market”. I made this comment because I feel workflow has moved on and it encompasses the total operation of the print shop, not just pre-press activities. JDF has enabled MIS systems to become major controlling elements of the process.

Working together
The major suppliers all offer comprehensive workflows and make use of JDF, where appropriate, to extend the scope of their workflows into other areas such as the pressroom and bindery. There is also an interesting new approach within the Crossroads community to allow a range of suppliers to work together to create a total workflow system.

Today, the internet is an important element of the system for working with customers or partners. MISs are an integral part of the workflow for order processing as well as set up and management of the workflow.

Workflow has changed drastically from when we first used the term in the 1980s. In those days it was seen as a limited pre-press operation. Today the process is the driving force of a printing business. Without a good workflow a printer cannot be competitive and cannot develop its service. A printing business without a proper workflow strategy will soon become a printer without a business.

Andrew Tribute is a journalist and consultant in digital pre-press and pre-media technology. Visit: www.attributes.co.uk

30-SECOND BRIEFING ON... WORKFLOW EVOLUTION

• The term ‘workflow’ has been around for years, and means the automation of pre-press activities. It began with an automated pre-press imposition system from Ultimate

• Workflow began with a hot folder into which pages from a page creation package would be dropped. The imposition package would then take these pages and order them into imposed sections

• A number of the pre-press suppliers offered their own full workflows. There were essentially two approaches. The text-based suppliers worked their solutions around PostScript, whereas the colour suppliers had image-based solutions

• When PDFs arrived, suppliers of workflow started to consider it for handling page input and ongoing processing within the workflow. This created the problem of variable quality of the PDF files being supplied by customers, which generated a new function: pre-flighting

• Today, workflow has moved on
and encompasses the total operation of the print shop, not just pre-press activities. JDF has enabled MIS systems to become major controlling elements of the printing process

• Today, the internet is an integral part of the system for working with customers or partners. MIS systems are a crucial part of the workflow for order processing, set up and management of the process

• Workflow is now the driving force of a printing operation. A printing company without a good workflow system will soon find itself out of business