A leading manufacturer and exporter of electronic Pre-press equipment had the daunting task of meeting an aggressive time-to-market schedule for a new version of its popular Pre- press workflow solution while simultaneously working on a totally new product line. Celstream, with its vast experience and Print and Publishing domain expertise was required to develop a cost-effective, easily installable and multi-platform
(Windows® and Apple Mac®) plug-in for Trapping, a vital element of the Pre-press workflow. |
|
 |
| |
Highlights |
|
- Built a team with unique Pre-press industry specific skills
- Helped the customer to focus on new product
- Cross-platform (Mac and Windows) solution and platform independent GUI
- Used reusable code in the design architecture
|
 |
|
Celstream was required to build a team that included experts in both Mac and Windows, who also brought strong domain knowledge in Adobe SDKs and Pre-Press workflows to the table.
Given a very stringent project schedule and tight timelines, our team had to enhance their knowledge and apply it effectively in a short span of time.
Celstream was also entrusted with the design and creation of UIs for this plug-in. The UI had to have the capability to allow the user to mark and define corrections on the document. Other considerations while designing it were that the UI had to:
- Be defined from a Pre-press Industry perspective
- Define features based on specialty ink used by printers
|
Celstream developed an architecture that leveraged Adobe's ADM technologies. This ensured that a bulk of the code could be re-used between Mac and Windows.
- Our solution to Trapping was implemented as a plug-in to
Adobe® Acrobat® Professional.
- The plug-in collects the information required from the user and the information is embedded into the PDF file as a job ticket.
- The PDF file is then processed by Adobe's RIP component to get the actual Trapping applied on to the PDF file.
Celstream's design for the Trapping plug-in UI ensured that the user has the ability to perform Trapping at page level or on specific zones definable through drawing tools.
These Trappings can be applied to a PDF at the following levels:
- Page Trapping: Where each page can be selected for trapping with different trapping parameters.
- Trapping selected area (Trap Zones): Multiple zones can be selected using the rectangle and polygon drawing tools.
- Ink Styles: Ink styles used in the document can be modified for Neutral Density and Colorant Type.
The User Interface was implemented using ADM (Adobe® Dialog Manger) to ensure a platform independent GUI. |
|
|
| |
Benefits |
|
| |
Celstream worked independently and ramped up to meet the demands of the unique skill required to design and develop the solution.
Our expertise in Pre-press workflow ensured that the client could focus on developing the new product while we took full responsibility for this solution. |
|
|
|
| |
While developing this solution, Celstream used:
- Operating Systems: Windows® and Mac®
- Microsoft® Foundation Classes (MFC),
- Carbon®
- Adobe® SDK
- Adobe® Acrobat® Professional
C++
|
|
|
