Product Reviews

PDF-based workflows help close the gap between layout and press, but you can still fall into a hole when it comes to checking and sending your PDFs. Various subscription-based services and high-end workflow management solutions have tried to fill it, but PrintSure aims to do so with rather less fuss.

Marketed to bureaux and printers, it centres on a server application written in Java. This can be run on just about any platform, although Linux is recommended by the developer, Dev Zero G, which is keen on open source. The administrator sets up a workflow for each user (normally an offsite client such as a magazine), with a preflight profile - dictating the specific criteria that PDFs must conform to - and a destination folder for files from that user.

An email is then automatically generated to the user, giving a URL to download a customised version of the client software. This is a small application activated by one or more PDFs being dragged and dropped onto its icon. It then contacts the server, fetches any updates, and loads the current preflight profile for that user. A preflight report is generated, detailing the page number and nature of any errors, and if passed, the PDF is automatically uploaded without the user having to deal with email or FTP settings.

You can choose whether a given error causes a warning or a fail; for example, images lower than 150dpi might prevent upload, while any between 150 and 300dpi would just be listed. Users who prefer not to use a local application can log in and submit files via a browser, which is slightly more fiddly, but works fine.

What you don't get is the functionality of a dedicated preflighting package. Enfocus PitStop Professional (Reviews, 20 February 2004, p28), for example, not only spots errors but can automatically correct many of them, and allows extensive editing of PDFs. For some users this would be a godsend. Then again, if your Quark or InDesign layouts are regularly repurposed, there's little to be gained by fiddling with PDFs while leaving the native files

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uncorrected.

If you don't need PDF editing, the PrintSure client is reassuringly foolproof: individual users can't mess up the settings or select the wrong profile. And while a full-blown preflighter costs several hundred pounds per desk, PrintSure is free, as the server installation includes unlimited clients.

The product has been developed in conjunction with a small number of early adopters - and it shows. Rather than being packed with features in search of a purpose, it's honed to do what's needed as invisibly as possible. On the minus side, its features so far cater for typical existing workflows rather than trends in best practice.

We were provided with a profile labelled 'Pass4Press', referring to the PPA (Periodical Publishers' Association) standard for magazine production, but PrintSure is not yet accredited by the PPA, and it doesn't yet support PDF/X and related standards, which are increasingly favoured. Developers are working towards a version with PDF/X and accredited Pass4Press version 4 compliance.

Although it doesn't take long to set up a profile using PrintSure's pick lists, it would be useful to be able to exchange job specs with Distiller, and this is also being worked on. Explorer 5.x is the only browser officially supported, which is clearly going to have to change given Microsoft's withdrawal from Mac browser development.

Such a niche product is never going to be cheap, but £10,000 for a turnkey package, including installation, server hardware and a year's support, seems very reasonable. There are no subscription fees, and the simplicity of the client software should avoid any extra customer support costs.

In practice, installers will often be more likely to get the best from PrintSure by working with Dev Zero G to integrate with existing back and front-end systems, and this is something the company is willing and able to do. PrintSure is also compatible with Xinet's WebNative service, if you want independent central storage.

Of the alternatives for PDF preflighting and delivery, most are centrally hosted by the vendor, including the PPA's own basic preflight/upload solution. One of the best known offerings, Extensis' PrintReady, is now being wound down, which doesn't help the credibility of this model.

It's hard to judge a product definitively in such an immature market. PrintSure is an extremely promising solution that could provide the missing link in many workflows. Perhaps its most important achievement is to demonstrate that preflight/upload solutions don't have to be bloated and unintuitive. We hope it attracts plenty of competitors.