Belgian software developer Enfocus has announced the availability of 2019 updates to its PitStop suite of PDF workflow quality control tools PitStop Pro, PitStop Server and PitStop Library SDK (software development kit), bringing new features based on customer feedback.
Of particular interest to digital printers will be a specific pre-flight profile for digital presses that optimises and reports the number of ‘clicks’ that each page in a job will generate. This automatically handles objects that appear black and ensures that they only create one ‘click’ when printed. According to Enfocus, customers who have beta-tested this facility over the last six months report that it saves time in prepress and reduces digital print costs.
New features that enable users to solve bottlenecks in PDF-based production workflows include selective rasterisation. This is the ability to select specific elements of a page, such as very complex vector art, and pre-rasterise them for faster RIP output without entailing a side-trip to Photoshop to rasterise the whole page and creating potential quality problems for small, fine typefaces, outlined text or delicate graphics. If multiple page objects are rasterised, the software is designed to ensure that the visual result is maintained.
Another much-requested addition is an object browser. This simplifies the process of selecting objects within the PDF that may overlap, be separated by other objects or entirely obscured, via a ‘tree’ view. Selected elements can then be processed using any of the PitStop functions.
The 2019 versions are available now. The PitStop Pro and Server versions are chargeable upgrades from their 2018 versions.
