The new release from EFI includes JDF-based job ticketing and visual job-ticket wizards that let users customize even the most complex jobs for print production.After a development period that lasted almost eight months, EFI has released Digital Storefront 2.5 with new job ticketing features and enhanced remote print center functions, all targeted at streamlining digital print workflows for users.
The product release was first previewed at the EFI Connect conference last month in Miami.
Chuck Gehman, director of product marketing at Foster City, Calif.-based EFI (Electronics For Imaging Inc.), said one of the key features in the release is the customization now available to customers, with the addition of JDF-based job tickets and visual job ticket wizard features.
"In the previous system, the tickets were really basic: one file per ticket per job. The choices available were basically drop-downs and proprietary to Digital Storefront. Customization, and workflow integration capabilities were limited," Gehman said. "Most importantly, the customer could not express the full job intent with the previous system."
Digital StoreFront 2.5 gives users the ability to submit digital files, view proofs and customize their job specifications for production and finishing, with much more flexibility and versatility than in previous releases, Gehman said.
"Now users can define multiple content sections within one job. Users can upload content with the PDF generators or native files, Quark or other documents. The users then upload all the files to the print site in a distinct My Files folder. All the products are graphically depicted and defined as the print jobs for a specific customer, and each customer display has their specific products," Gehman said.
Citing the example of a three-ring binder customer notebook for print, Gehman said with the new JDF functionality, a customer can define all of the print attributes for each singular piece of the product. In the case of a customer three-ring notebook, a customer could select just the cover to print and define all of the print attributes of that singular piece.
"Using the notebook example, the job ticket is the wizard that walks them through each section to define the print specifications, for each part of the product and graphically displays the defined choices, even down to where the staples will go on the binder," Gehman said.
With the advent of the JDF-based job ticketing and visual job ticket wizards, the estimation process in some cases can be eliminated completely and the prepress time reduced significantly. The job tickets don't require any setup, and they're automatically introduced into the print workflow.
The Digital StoreFront 2.5 release also features enhancements to the EFI PrintMessenger PDF generating drivers for improved PDF conversion and a smoother file-upload process.
Gehman said this release also lays the groundwork for enhancing the JDF functionality in future releases.
"We want to continue to leverage the power of JDF because the choices that drive the ticketing are all based on the JDF schema. So, we architected tickets around JDF because in the future releases, we'll be able to bring JDF from other compatible products, like the latest Acrobat release.
"Our goal is to keep introducing more JDF functionality with every release, and we want each version to be easier to use than the previous one," Gehman said.
The English version of Digital Storefront 2.5 is available now, and the company expects to ship French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch and Norwegian versions in the third quarter.
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