Agfa has updated its venerable Apogee workflow with the introduction of v12, bringing new approval and imposition capabilities, an update to its StoreFront web-to-print and branded portals for regular print buyers.

The software’s heritage is in prepress for offset printing and the new imposition capabilities support this, with Cut ‘n Assemble allowing multiple fold sheets to be placed on one press sheet for improved efficiency in finishing. Apogee does have cut-sheet toner and wide-format digital press options, though the formats of the former are likely to be too small to benefit from this capability, and the products made with the latter don’t usually require it.

Apogee Web Approval now has a ‘multi-tenant’ option for regular customers, presenting each with a branded interface. Different versions of files may be compared and extended logging provides a more in-depth quality assurance trail.

WebFlow is a browser-based interface to Apogee Cloud that gives customer service representatives the ability to add, view and manage jobs, including proofing and plate-making. Automation is also boosted with the ability to define production paths based on file type, end product and content; these rules can be set up via the Apogee interface, or more IT-literate staff can write scripts.

In tandem with the Apogee update, Agfa has announced version 5.6 of its StoreFront web-to-print software, with additional functionality for approvals. This includes  a new soft-proof sign-off option for customisable products or variable data printing (the Chili Publish engine is used to create these), plus multi-step review and approval for clients with long approval loops, especially where legal or regulatory checks are needed.

Agfa also says it is reviewing its subscription model for the Cloud-based service, with a view to pricing based on the volume of data processed rather than the functionality offered. This would allow costs to vary to match activity levels at customer sites and should make a potential move to Apogee from a different workflow a more appealing option.