Some comment/opinion on different imposition software

[color_prepress]

1)DynaStrip
2)Preps
3)Signastation

Need some comment on these 3 imposition software based on
i)price (are these 3 have a big different on price? which 1 the expensive and which is the cheaper?)

ii)ease of used (which is more easily to use compare with other?)

iii)support format for input and output (which only support PDF as input? any of these can support PS and other format?)

iv)stable? got lot of problem such as after impose, the rip reject the file?

[Eyetech]

Those are all strong packages, and thus $$$$ are required plus a certain level of expertise.

For solid entry level QXP / InDesign solution you won't find any thing better than ALAPs' Imposer Pro - good feature set, saveable impo's, the ID version can Create a new document based on the impo for extra control or RIP issues. 2up,3up,4up & 8up + 3 & 4up consecutive ie across the sheet. Best of all, imposition virgins (myself included!) can be imposing in minutes! My first job was a 96pp - impo'd in seconds!

FYI the same team that designed the interface went on to create InPosition (now Dynastrip) so many of the features are familiar, should you feel the need to spend more or need a little more versatility, that would be my choice.

Each working environment will demand its own solution, so you need to demo all of them. Here's a link for www.alap.com 30 day fully functioning.

FYFI our kit...
3 Mac 1.25ghz DP 1gb ram workstations, Mac os X Panther, mainly IDCS software, jobs run to BestColor XL/Epson 7000 for proofing then to Harlequin v5.3.r4 RIP on G4 450mhz DP Mac 1gb ram driving ECRM 56. Inhouse jobs, never, ever fail to RIP. The occasional Corel eps (2.5gb!) can slow it down a bit tho!

BTW if you or anyone else knows of a better package for the money (sub $400us) I'd like to know. :wink:

[Bart]

Quite Imposing comes in at a very afordable price I believe. Haven't used it personally but I've never heard of any complaints and Aandi Inston - the boss - is one of my heros.

www.quite.com

[Eyetech]

Yes I know it, but it relies on creating PDF's first whereas Imposer just takes your native file and, well imposes it!

BTW the original file is left untouched, it's only the print stream info that gets imposed.

[DCurry]

I only have experience with Preps, but it is awesome! It can handle many input file types: PS, EPS, TIFF, PDF, DCS or any combination of them. It will also handle a true PDF workflow, where it doesn't convert your source PDF to postscript but instead just passes straight through to an imposed PDF. It can output seps directly to an imagesetter, or create a composite or separated PS or PDF to send to your rip. Also supports JDF and Brisque workflows. It is very flexible - you can easily scale, rotate and rearrange pages to your heart's content. Custom bleeds, shingling, creep, bottling are all adjustable.

There are 3 versions, at 3 different price points: XL, Plus and Pro. Check their site for differences/prices.

It does take some getting used to in the beginning to set job templates up, and it is not always the most intuitive application, but once you get used to it that's no problem. I think the newest version helps out in that respect, but I haven't upgraded. As for stability and reliability, the only time a file won't rip is when there is a problem with the original source file.

I couldn't live (or work, actually) without it!

[Mark]

We use Preps Plus in a brisque workflow. Our version is old (v3) but I think it's a great program. We'll be getting the latest version next month when we go CTP, so I can give a more up to date review then.
We used to use InPosition Lite (v2.0), Quark xtension, a long time ago but it was also a good program.