FlexProof/E

User Guide

FlexProof/E

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Contents

1. Copyright Notice.......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. What is FlexProof/E?................................................................................................................................................................. 5

2.1 The FlexProof/E Workflow..............................................................................................................................................5

2.2 Verification............................................................................................................................................................................ 5

3. Installation....................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Requirements.......................................................................................................................................................................7

3.2 New Installation / Upgrade............................................................................................................................................ 7

4. Configuration..................................................................................................................................................................................8

4.1 Making a Workflow in Esko Proof Client................................................................................................................. 8

4.2 Linearizing your Device................................................................................................................................................ 10

4.3 Configuring Automation Engine................................................................................................................................ 10

5. Proofing a Job............................................................................................................................................................................13

5.1 Sending a Job from Automation Engine............................................................................................................... 13

5.1.1 Choosing a Configuration...............................................................................................................................16

5.1.2 Color Managing your Job from Automation Engine.............................................................................16

5.1.3 Setting Verification Options in Automation Engine............................................................................... 17

5.2 Feedback in Automation Engine...............................................................................................................................21

5.3 Verifying your Job...........................................................................................................................................................21

5.4 Re-proofing Jobs............................................................................................................................................................ 23

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1. Copyright Notice

© Copyright 2012 Esko Software BVBA, Gent, Belgium

All rights reserved. This material, information and instructions for use contained herein are theproperty of Esko Software BVBA. The material, information and instructions are provided on an AS ISbasis without warranty of any kind. There are no warranties granted or extended by this document.Furthermore Esko Software BVBA does not warrant, guarantee or make any representationsregarding the use, or the results of the use of the software or the information contained herein. EskoSoftware BVBA shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages arisingout of the use or inability to use the software or the information contained herein.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Revisions may be issued fromtime to time to advise of such changes and/or additions.

No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a data base or retrieval system, or published,in any form or in any way, electronically, mechanically, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any othermeans without prior written permission from Esko Software BVBA.

This document supersedes all previous dated versions.

PANTONE®, PantoneLIVE and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC. All othertrademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Pantone is a whollyowned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated. © Pantone LLC, 2012. All rights reserved.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

Portions of this software are copyright © 1996-2002 The FreeType Project (www.freetype.org). Allrights reserved.

Portions of this software are copyright 2006 Feeling Software, copyright 2005-2006 Autodesk MediaEntertainment.

Portions of this software are copyright ©1998-2003 Daniel Veillard. All rights reserved.

Portions of this software are copyright ©1999-2006 The Botan Project. All rights reserved.

Part of the software embedded in this product is gSOAP software. Portions created by gSOAP areCopyright ©2001-2004 Robert A. van Engelen, Genivia inc. All rights reserved.

Portions of this software are copyright ©1998-2008 The OpenSSL Project and ©1995-1998 EricYoung (eay@cryptsoft.com). All rights reserved.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).

This product includes JBOSS, which is distributed under the LGPL license. For more information seewww.jboss.org and www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-license.php.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, Adobe Creative Suite, Illustrator, InDesign, PDF,Photoshop, PostScript, XMP and the Powered by XMP logo are either registered trademarks ortrademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the UnitedStates and other countries.

SolidWorks is a registered trademark of SolidWorks Corporation.

Portions of this software are owned by Spatial Corp. 1986 2003. All Rights Reserved.

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JDF and the JDF logo are trademarks of the CIP4 Organisation. Copyright 2001 The InternationalCooperation for the Integration of Processes in Prepress, Press and Postpress (CIP4). All rightsreserved.

The Esko software contains the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm.

Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunMicrosystems in the U.S. and other countries.

Part of this software uses technology by BestTM Color Technology (EFI). EFI and Bestcolor areregistered trademarks of Electronics For Imaging GmbH in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Contains PowerNest library Copyrighted and Licensed by Alma, 2005 – 2007.

All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Correspondence regarding this publication should be forwarded to:

Esko Software BVBA

Kortrijksesteenweg 1095

B – 9051 Gent

info.eur@esko.com

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2. What is FlexProof/E?

2.1 The FlexProof/E Workflow

FlexProof/E is a proofing software suite that enables you to proof your jobs on the most commonlyused proofers in the market, using the proofers’ native language.

FlexProof/E is integrated with Automation Engine, so you can send a job through your proofingworkflow to the proofer without having to leave the Automation Engine Pilot.

On top of that, FlexProof/E ensures color accuracy:

• Proofer linearization will profile your proofer taking into account all the elements influencing theproof output quality (paper type, ink limits, type of ink and its behavior, using light inks in theright place...).

• Color management will ensure color matching throughout your workflow, thanks to Esko’s ColorEngine Pilot color management engine.

• Verification will allow you to print a color strip and, if you have a Verification license (optional), toverify the color quality using a measuring device and the Esko Verification software.

2.2 Verification

Verification consists of two parts:

• printing a verification strip with your job (this doesn’t require any additional license),

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• measuring this verification strip using a measuring device and the Esko Verification application(this requires an additional Verification license).

Printing the strip

• If your job is color managed, you can print your verification strip with or without colormanagement.

• If your job isn’t color managed, you can only your strip without color management.

Verifying the strip

• If your job was color managed, you can verify your strip whether it was printed with or withoutcolor management.

• If your job wasn’t color managed, you cannot verify your strip.

Verification goals

print your strip with to

color management and verification verify your job’s colors

color management but no verification leave the verification for later

no color management but verification • monitor the proofer’s stability over time• compare the output of different proofers of

the same model

Note: You will have to manually enter thefirst proofer’s values as reference in EskoVerification when measuring the otherproofers’ output.

For more information about verification, see the Esko Verification documentation.

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3. Installation

Servers

You can install the Automation Engine Server and the Esko Proof Server on either the same ordifferent Windows machines.

Alternatively, you can install the Esko Proof Server on your RIP server.

Clients

You can use Windows or Mac client machines for Automation Engine Client, the Esko Proof Clientand the Esko Proof Monitor.

See New Installation / Upgrade for more details.

3.1 Requirements

Hardware Requirements

You will find the list of hardware requirements on the Esko website.

Software Requirements

To install FlexProof/E, you will need the Suite 12 Engines DVD and the Suite 12 Engines PrerequisiteComponents DVD.

License Requirement

You will need new product keys (for a new installation) or an updated license file (for an upgrade).

3.2 New Installation / Upgrade

The procedure for a new installation or an upgrade is the same.

Note: The licenses you own will determine the software that will be automatically installed from theEsko Suite 12 DVDs.

1. On your Proof Server machine, run the installer of the Suite 12 Engines Prerequisite ComponentsDVD.

2. On your Automation Engine Server machine, run the installer of the Suite 12 Engines DVD.

3. On your client machines:

a) Install the Esko Proof Client and/or the Esko Proof Monitor using the Suite 12 EnginesPrerequisite Components DVD.

b) Install the Automation Engine Client using the Suite 12 Engines DVD.

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4. Configuration

4.1 Making a Workflow in Esko Proof Client

From Suite 10, you don’t create “E-printer” configurations with FlexProof Setup as with previousFlexproof/E versions, but instead you create proofing workflows in the Esko Proof Client.

1.

Double-click the Esko Proof Client’s program icon .

2. If the Proof Client is not installed on the same machine as the Esko Proof Server, log in to theProof Server as described in the Proof Client documentation (Setting Up chapter).

3. The Setup Wizard pops up automatically the first time you use the Client. Click Continue.

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If you need to, you can reopen the Setup Wizard later through System > Setup Wizard.

4. In the Workflow step, choose Esko Proofing in Template.

5. In the Output Device step:

a) choose Create a new output device in the Select a device list,b) select your device type in the Device type list.

6. In the Device Connection step, connect your device to your workflow as described in the ProofClient documentation.

7. Fill in the options in the Media type and a Media size steps as described in the Proof Clientdocumentation.

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8. After clicking Finish, connect users to your workflow as described in the Proof Clientdocumentation.

Attention: If you create another Proof Client workflow for FlexProof/E without starting from the EskoProofing workflow, make sure that it is connected to a proofing device.

4.2 Linearizing your Device

Before you can proof jobs with your new workflow, you need to either:

• choose a default linearization file (provided with Esko Proof),• linearize your proofing device.

This will ensure more accurate and consistent results.

For more information on linearization, see the LinTool chapter in the Proof Client documentation.

4.3 Configuring Automation Engine

To send jobs to your proofing workflow using Automation Engine Pilot, you need to first connect yourFlexRipProof Dispatcher to your Automation Engine Pilot.

1. In Automation Engine Pilot, go to Tools > Configure.

2. Select FlexRip - Proofer Output and go to File > New.

This creates a Proofer Output1 configuration and shows three tabs with settings in the right panel.

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3. In the General tab:

a) enter the name of the computer where the Dispatcher is installed in Rip Node,b) enter the EskoLink port number used by the Dispatcher in EskoLink Portnr.

Note: You can find that port number by going to Info > Ports in the Dispatcher.

c) click the Synchronize with Rip button.

After a few seconds, the Dispatcher is connected to Automation Engine, and you can see itsname in the Type field.

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4. If needed, change the settings in the Queue and Proof tabs (see the Automation Engine manualfor more information).

5. Go to File > Save to save the connection.

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5. Proofing a Job

5.1 Sending a Job from Automation Engine

Make sure that the following software is running:

• Esko Proof Server,• FlexRipProof Dispatcher,• Automation Engine Server and Pilot.

Note: The settings you make in the Automation Engine Pilot override the corresponding defaultsettings in your Proof Client workflow.

1. In the Automation Engine Pilot, right-click the job you want to proof and select More Tickets....

Note: You can send Normalized PDFs to your proofing workflow, but no GRS files.

2. In the Select Ticket dialog, select Proof (FlexProof) and click OK.

3. If you get a warning saying that there is no device specified in the ticket, click OK.

Note: To avoid that warning popping up in the future, save the ticket as a custom ticket afterfilling in all the settings then use that custom ticket.

4. In the New Task dialog that opens, make sure that the FlexRip Proofer Output you added inConfigure is selected in Device.

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5. Fill in the General, Inks, Advanced and Pre-Rip tabs as you normally would in Automation Engine.

6. In the Output tab:

a) Choose the workflow you have created in the Proof Client (see Making a Workflow in EskoProof Client) in Configuration Set.

For more information about workflows / the configuration set, see Choosing a Configuration.

Note: Click the icon to see information about your proofing workflow.

b) Fill in the Output Type, Output Color and Anti-aliasing options as appropriate for your job.

Note: You can’t specify an Output Folder, as the shared ProofFolder on the Proof Servermachine (created during the installation) is used for output.

c) Enter the Number of Copies you want.d) Check Keep job files for relaunch purposes to be able to proof jobs a second time without

having to rip them again (see Re-proofing Jobs).e) If you are proofing to an Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 proofer, you can set a White Coloring

option to customize the extra white ink you use to print on transparent or metallic foil. Thisoption is not visible for other proofers.

See the Automation Engine Reference Guide for more information.

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7. In the Color tab:

• if you want to make a layout proof, leave Manage Color unchecked,• if you want to make a contract proof, check Manage Color and fill in the other color

management options.

For more information about color management for contract proofs, see Color Managing your Jobfrom Automation Engine.

8. In the Verification tab, check Verification Strip if you want to print a strip of color patches on yourproof, and set the other verification options if applicable.

For more information about the verification options, see Setting Verification Options in AutomationEngine.

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9. When you are finished filling in the settings, click the Launch button to send your job to the ProofServer.

5.1.1 Choosing a Configuration

The Configuration Set

The Configuration Set list you see in the Output tab of the Automation Engine ticket contains:

• all the workflows you created in the Esko Proof Client (except the default Esko Linearizationworkflow),

• all your other FlexProof configurations (including configurations created in previous FlexProof/Eversions), if you have any.

Choosing a Workflow in the Configuration Set

For FlexProof/E, we recommend that you select a workflow created from the default Esko Proofingworkflow in the Proof Client.

Attention:

If you have heavily modified this workflow / are not sure anymore which workflow you created from theEsko Proofing workflow, you need to make sure that the workflow you select in Automation Engine:

• has been created in the Esko Proof Client,• is connected to a proofing device in the Proof Client.

5.1.2 Color Managing your Job from Automation Engine

When making a contract proof, you need to set the following options in the Color tab of your Proof(FlexProof) ticket:

1. Select Manage Color to make all the settings of the Color tab available.

2. In the list next to Manage Color, make sure that for Normal Proof is selected.

3. Either:

• select Color Strategy if you have created a Color Strategy in Color Engine Pilot and want touse it for your color management.

Note: A Color Strategy contains several types of color management settings, like input andoutput color spaces, process colors conversion, substrate rendering, ink order... For moreinformation, see the Color Engine Pilot documentation.

• deselect Color Strategy if you want to use profiles to do your color management.

4. If you selected Color Strategy, choose the Color Strategy you want to use in the drop-down list.

5. If you chose to use profiles, do the following:

a) select a Source Profile,b) if you want to use your document’s profile (when there is one), select Use the Document Profile

as Source Profile if Available,c) select a Destination Profile,

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d) select a Rendering Intent,e) choose to use Black Mapping or not.

Note: You need to select a Destination Profile before you can select a Rendering Intent andchoose Black Mapping or not.

For more information, see the Automation Engine documentation.

5.1.3 Setting Verification Options in Automation Engine

Depending on whether you have a Verification license or not, and whether you are using colormanagement or not, you will be able to set a different number of options in the Verification tab ofthe Automation Engine Proof ticket.

1. Select Print Verification Strip.

This makes the options below available.

2. In the Strip Preset list, select either:

• a strip preset from your color database (see Strip Presets for more information).

This will fill (some of) the options below automatically. Options automatically set by a strip

preset are marked by a small flag .

• Custom if you want to set the options yourself.

Tip: You can also start from a preset and change the other options as desired (the Strip Presetlist will then show Custom).

3. Choose the Strip Type to use (see Strips on page 19 for more details about the available strips).

4. If you selected Manage Color in the Color tab, the Apply color management to strip option isavailable. Select it if you want to color manage your strip.

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5. If you have a Verification license and you are color managing your job, the Verify strip (withVerification tool) option is available. To verify your strip:

a) select Verify strip (with Verification tool),b) In the Reference list, choose either:

• Manually load reference values if you want to verify the color managed strip against astandard (e.g. Ugra/Fogra) or a previous measurement.

You will need to load this standard manually in Esko Verification.• Automatically load reference values from source profile if you want to verify the color

managed strip against the source ICC profile (set in the Color Strategy used or defined inthe Color tab).

6. Choose the dE Formula (Delta E formula) to use when verifying your strip.

Delta E is the distance between two colors in the CIE Lab color space.

You can select between dE CIE76, dE CMC, dE 94 and dE 2000. If your company is already usingone of those standards, we recommend that you choose the same one. If not, you may want touse dE CIE76, which is used by the ISO standard.

7. Click Edit... near Tolerances to set the tolerances to use when verifying your strip.

The verification will pass if the color differences are within the tolerances, or fail if they are bigger.

You can fill in:

General dE Limits The Delta E tolerances for the color patches and thepaper white.

Fill in a tolerance value for Average Outer GamutPatches if you are using a validation chart containingout-of-gamut patches.

The Maximum for 95% of Patches tolerance excludesthe worst 5% patches from the calculation.

Primary color dE Limits The Delta E tolerances for the CMYK patches only.

Hue difference ToleranceLimits

The Delta H tolerances for the CMYK, CMYKRGB andGray patches.

Delta H is the difference in Hue between two colors.

The generally accepted Delta H tolerances are amaximum of 1.5 for gray areas, and of 2.5 for primarycolors.

Tone Value Tolerance Limits The Delta T tolerance for the CMYK patches.

Delta T is the colorimetric dot gain for primary colors.

The general Delta T tolerance is a -5% to +5% tonevalue difference.

Chromaticness ToleranceLimits

The Delta F tolerance for the color patches.

Delta F is the difference in Saturation between twocolors.

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Note: If you selected a Strip Preset, the tolerances may be automatically defined.

8. Choose a Strip Layout to go with your measuring device (for example, choose Eye One if youwant to verify the strip with an Eye One device).

The strip layouts available depend on what you chose in Strip Type (see Strips on page 19for more information).

9. If you are using an online measuring device (like SpectroProofer or HP ZX100), you can chooseto print a verification report.

In Print Inline Report, select either:

• Never to never print any report,• Always to print a report whether the verification succeeds or fails,• When verification passes to only print a report when the verification succeeds.

Strips

Strip Type

You can choose between several types of strips:

• EskoStrips contain the following CMYK patches:

• patches of C, M and Y at 100%, 70% and 40%,• overprints of C and M at 100%, 70% and 40%,• overprints of C and Y at 100%, 70% and 40%,• overprints of Y and M at 100%, 70% and 40%,• an overprint of CMYK at respectively 100%, 40%, 40% and 20%,• an overprint of CMYK at respectively 40%, 100%, 40% and 20%,• an overprint of CMYK at respectively 40%, 40%, 100%, 20%,• patches of K at 0%, 20%, 40%, 70% and 100%.

• Esko + Solid Color Strips contain the same patches as the EskoStrips, plus a 100% patch forevery spot color present in the job.

Note: You can only use Esko + Solid Color Strips if you are color managing your job.

• EFI Color Verifier Charts can be used with Esko Verification.• proprietary strips (IDEAlliance, Ugra-Fogra...).

Strip Layout

For each strip type, several strip layouts are available, each layout being designed for a type ofmeasuring device (Eye-One, IO, etc.).

For example, for the EskoStrip type, you have the following layouts:

DTP41

SpectroProofer

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IO

HPZx100

Eye-One

SPECTROSCAN

Strip Presets

Strip Presets are predefined verification options that come with your color database. They cancontain information about the strip and the measurement device to use, the tolerances in colordifference, etc.

Esko provides strip presets for the most commonly used verification standard, the ISO Norm forProofing Verification.

You can choose either:

• ISO 12647-7 Contract Proof 'Chart' if you want to print a whole verification chart,

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• ISO 12647-7 Contract Proof 'Media Wedge' if you just want to print a verification strip (the FograMedia Wedge).

These strip presets contain color difference tolerances, and can be used with any proofing andverification device that you can use with FlexProof.

5.2 Feedback in Automation Engine

After launching the task, you can see its processing status in the Files and Tasks views.

The main task, Proof (FlexProof), has two subtasks:

• FlexRip/Proof, that rips the job for proofing,• Submit to Proof Server, that sends the (ripped and color managed) job to the Esko Proof Server

workflow that will output it on your proofer.

The main task has a success status once the two subtasks have been completed successfully.

5.3 Verifying your Job

If you selected Verify strip (with Verification tool) in the ticket’s Verify tab, you will see “Job xx canbe verified” in the Pilot after your job is printed.

1.

Launch the Esko Verification application .

2. Use a measuring device to verify your job’s color strip (see the Esko Verification documentationfor details).

Note: Make sure to use the right measuring device for the color strip you chose.

3. After you are done measuring, use the Send button in Esko Verification to send the results toAutomation Engine.

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You can now see the verification results in Automation Engine’s Files and Tasks views, and seedetails of the verification in the Submit to Proof Server task’s log file.

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5.4 Re-proofing Jobs

If you selected the Keep job files for relaunch purposes option in the Proof (FlexProof) ticket, youcan proof jobs a second time without having to rip them again.

Note:

When using this option, the files created for the proof (and the proof job on the Esko Proof Client)will not be automatically cleaned up.

You will have to delete them manually.

1. Double-click the Submit to Proof Server task that was run on the job you want to reuse.

This opens the ticket with a limited number of settings.

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2. Change the Number of copies if necessary.

3. Use the Reading buttons to either keep the job as it is or flip it.

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4. Click the Launch button.

Note: If you didn’t select the Keep job files for relaunch purposes option when proofing the job thefirst time, you will see “The job can not be reprinted as the files from the jobwere not kept” when double-clicking the Submit to Proof Server task.