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Package Central 1.5 Workflow User Guide
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www.zevrix.com
[email protected]
Package Central 1.5 Workflow User Guide Installation & Components Description 2 System Requirements 3 Working with Different Versions of InDesign
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Main Components and Functions 4 THE OUTPUT STATION Package Central Settings 5 Workflow Setup 7 Controls and Tables 11 USER STATIONS Sending Job to Package Central 12 Support 13
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Installation and Description of the Workflow Components The Output Station Package Central
Applications
Package Central is intended to run on a dedicated machine which should not be used for any other tasks when Package Central is running. Package Central performs all its tasks automatically and can run absolutely unattended. Package Central is a standalone application and doesn’t require any special InDesign plug-ins.
The User Stations Use the User Components Installer on the Package Central disk image to install all the required components on the Mac user stations.
The installed components are listed below. They help users to submit files to Package Central. You can also install them on the Package Central station for evaluation purposes, but it’s not required.
Submit to Package Central This plug-in application provides users with a single interface to submit jobs to Package Central hotfolders from InDesign. Users call it instead of using the Package command. The plug-in automatically generates job folder in the selected hotfolders, and collects the active InDesign document and its fonts into the job folder. For more info, see Sending Job to Package Central. Launching:
InDesign CS3 and later: Via Zevrix->Submit to Package Central menu (see screenshot, right). Users can also assign keyboard shortcuts to the menu. Location:
InDesign CS5 and later:
/Plug-Ins/Zevrix InDesign CS3/CS4: /Scripts/Zevrix
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System Requirements
Adobe InDesign CS4 and later Mac OS X 10.6 and later
For the most up to date system requirements, visit http://zevrix.com/PackageCentral.php
Working with Different Versions of Adobe InDesign Running multiple versions of InDesign at the same time is not supported. Only one version of InDesign should be running during processing with Package Central.
For example, if you need to use InDesign CS3 or CS4 on the machine where InDesign CS5 is also installed: - Quit InDesign and Package Central.
- Launch the desired version of InDesign. - Launch Package Central.
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Main Components and Functions Package Central Package Central runs on a dedicated machine and watches hotfolders assigned to its workflows.
Workflows Workflow is a group of settings applied to a hotfolder. Jobs in the hotfolder will be processed with the workflow settings. more info >
Hotfolders A hotfolder is assigned to each workflow. The InDesign files in hotfolders will be automatically packaged with the settings of the linked workflows.
Each hotfolder contains the following folders (which are created automatically once you choose the hotfolder): Processing - Contains the InDesign file which is currently being processed. The file is moved into the folder by Package Central automatically. After the file is processed, it’s moved automatically to either Done of Errors folder. Users should never put anything into the Processing folders, or move files from there when Package Central is working. Done - Contains successfully processed InDesign files.
Errors - Contains InDesign files that have been skipped due to errors.
Out - This is the default output folder. The final packages are placed there, unless a different package location is specified in the workflow settings.
E-mail Notifications Package Central can send automatic e-mail notifications during processing. In each workflow you specify whether to send the notifications or not, and which E-mail Template to use. You create E-mail Templates in the E-mail Setup tab of the Package Central Settings. And in the E-mail Rules tab, you specify the events to trigger the notifications. more info >
Automatic Font Activation Package Central can automatically activate fonts submitted with the InDesign file to a hotfolder. For the font activation to work, the job should be collected into a Job Folder which contains the InDesign file and its fonts in the Fonts folder. Package Central can activate both Mac and PC fonts. more info >
XMP Variables Package Central can compose variable output file names based on the InDesign document XMP metadata. This powerful feature is enabled through XMP Variables, where you define which XMP tags to use for variable values. more info >
Logs and History All the Package Central activity is logged into the process History. You can instantly view the activity History for each file in the History palette. The general daily logs of all activity are also created in this folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Zevrix/Package Central/Logs more info >
Remote Monitoring To monitor and control Package Central remotely from users stations, please use the VNC technology (we recommend the Chicken of the VNC application).
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Package Central Settings Most of Package Central settings are self-explanatory. There are detailed descriptions for several settings in the Settings window. Most of the Package Central controls also have tool tips assigned - hover mouse over controls to view the tool tips. This User Guide covers the controls and settings that require additional explanation.
Font Activation Package Central can automatically activate fonts submitted with the InDesign file to a Hotfolder. For the font activation to work, the job should be collected into a Job Folder which contains the InDesign file and its fonts in the Fonts folder. Package Central can activate both Mac and PC fonts. All fonts in the Fonts folder will be activated for the InDesign file located in the same Job Folder. The fonts will be deactivated once the file is processed.
NOTE: Package Central will not activate fonts if the above job folder structure doesn’t exist. Package Central must run from an admin account for font activation to work.
An example of folder hierarchy required for the automatic font activation
Submit to Package Central Plug-in Package Central is shipped with the “Submit to Package Central” plug-in application which creates the job folders with fonts automatically inside the selected hotfolders (Mac only). more info > Creating Job Folders from PC Stations On PC stations, use InDesign’s Package command to create the job folder with fonts. Deselect the Copy Links option when you package the job for Package Central.
E-mail Notifications Package Central can send automatic e-mail notifications during processing. In each Workflow you specify whether to send the notifications or not, and which E-mail Template to use.
E-mail Templates
You create e-mail templates in the E-mail Setup tab of the Settings window. Use the [+] and [-] buttons to create/delete the templates. Once template is created, you can choose it in the E-mail Template pop-up of Workflow setup.
NOTE: To create a hard return in the Body field, press Option-Return.
NOTE: The following characters cannot be used: $, ‘, “, \ and any character created with the Option key. NOTE: The e-mail settings are saved in the following file:
~/Library/Application Support/Zevrix/Package Central/ServerSettings.plist
The SMTP server passwords are encrypted with the industrial strength Open SSL encryption built-in in Mac OS X.
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XMP Variables Package Central can compose variable output file names based on the InDesign document XMP metadata. This powerful feature is enabled through XMP Variables, where you define which XMP tags to use for variable values.
Use the [+]/[-] buttons to create/delete the XMP Variables. Once variable is created, it becomes available in the File Naming pop-up menus of Workflow setup (see screenshots below). For the detailed info on URI (schema) and tag names, use the File->File Info>Advanced panel in InDesign (see screenshot, right).
The Advanced panel of InDesign’s File Info dialog
XMP Variables in the File Naming setup
With any questions regarding XMP Variables, please send e-mail to: [email protected]
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Workflow Setup Workflow is a group of settings assigned to a Hotfolder. The InDesign files in the Hotfolder will be processed using the Workflow settings.
Manage Workflows Create new workflow /Duplicate selected workflow Click the [+] button to create a new workflow based on the settings of the currently selected workflow. Delete workflow Delete the selected workflow.
NOTE: The Hotfolder isn’t deleted when you delete the workflow. Activate/Deactivate workflow Click the check box in the Activate [√] column to activate/deactivate the selected workflow. You need to activate the workflow for Package Central to watch its hotfolder. Only workflows with a hotfolder assigned can be activated. Once you activate the workflow, it appears in the Active Workflows table. Deactivate the workflow to prevent Package Central from watching its hotfolder. Workflow name Double-click the workflow name - or click and hold (Leopard only) - to edit. Workflow Auto-Save Workflows are saved automatically when you:
-select a different workflow in the workflows list, -quit Package Central.
Workflow Setting High priority The hotfolders of High priority workflows are processed before other hotfolders. The High priority workflows are indicated with the [!] sign in the workflow tables. Update modified links All modified links in the document will be updated automatically.
To skip the documents with modified links, check the Settings->Process->Error Handling->Modified links option. The documents will be moved to hotfolder’s Errors folder. Check the Settings->E-mail Notifications->Modified links option to be notified about modified links by e-mail during processing.
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Overwrite existing packages Check to overwrite output files with the same name. Otherwise, a number will be appended to the new file names instead of overwriting the duplicates. Send e-mail notifications Check this option to send e-mail notifications for this workflow during processing. To specify events that trigger the notifications, go to Settings->E-mail Notifications tab. When this option is checked, you can select the desired E-mail Template for the notifications. The E-mail Templates are managed in the Settings->E-mail Setup tab. Export to PDF Export InDesign document to PDF and save it in the package folder. Select the desired PDF export preset from popup menu below. Export to INX/IDML Export InDesign document as InDesign Interchange (INX) or InDesign Markup Language (IDML) document and save it in the package folder. INX will be saved from InDesign CS3-CS4; IDML - from InDesign CS5 and later. Choose Hotfolder Select the hotfolder for this workflow. The workflow settings are linked to the Hotfolder. The InDesign files in the Hotfolder are processed using the Workflow settings.
Once you choose a folder, the hyperlink with its full path will appear below. You can click the link to open the folder in the Finder.
Once you choose a hotfolder, the Processing, Done, Errors, and Out folders are created automatically inside. more info >
Choose Package Location This is the location where your package folders will be created. If you don’t choose the output folder, the final packages will be placed in hotfolder’s Out folder.
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Package Folder Name
You can compose a variable name for the final package folder. You can compose the folder name from six variable parts.
Enter any custom text you’d like to appear in the folder name.
The name of the original InDesign file.
Enter the name of a Script Label assigned to a text frame in InDesign file. Contents of the text frame will appear in the output file name. For the details on how to use the Script Label variable, click here. Two last digits of the current year (e.g. 06).
Current date (e.g. 08).
The number of current month (e.g. 05).
The first three letters of the current month (e.g. Dec). Select an XMP Variable to use for this name part.
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Using Script Label Variable
The Script Label variable allows you to automatically insert any text from InDesign file into final output file name. To use the variable, you need to assign a script label to a text frame with the desired text in InDesign document. Below is the step-by-step instructions on how to use the Script Label variable: 1. Reveal the Script Label palette in InDesign [Window->Automation->Script Label menu].
2. Select the text frame whose contents you’d like to appear in the output file name.
IMPORTANT: For the Script Label variable feature to work, the text frame must touch the page area with at least one of its sides (see examples below). If you assign a script label to a text frame which is completely on the pasteboard and doesn’t touch the page area, BatchOutput will ignore the script label variable.
3. In the Script Label palette, enter the name of the script label you’d like to assign to the frame.
4. When you’re ready to compose the output file name, choose Script Label from a pop-up menu in the File Naming box of BatchOutput. Enter the name of the script label in the name part field associated with the menu. During the output process, BatchOutput will look for a text frame with the specified script label assigned and insert its contents into the output file name. Here’s an example of PDF file name created with the Script Label variable from the example above:
InDesignFileName_Rev 1_May0806.pdf
Text Box on Master Page If you assign a script label to a text box on a master page, it will be effective for all occurrences of the text box throughout the document.
Note: If the script label you specified doesn’t exist in the InDesign document, BatchOutput will just ignore the Script Label variable. The text frame with the assigned script label must not be completely on the pasteboard for the script label variable feature to work
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The Processing Controls and Tables Start/Stop Processing Processing Queue Active Workflows
Files queued to be processed.
This table lists the current active workflows, their hotfolders and high priority status.
Double-click workflows to reveal their hotfolders in the Finder.
History Table This table lists the successfully processed files, their workflows, start time and processing time.
Double-click files to open the History panel to view the detailed log for each file. Once the History panel is open, just click the files to view their log.
Click Start to start watching the hotfolders.
Click Stop to stop watching the hotfolders and abort all current processing
Processing Progress The progress of the current file processing.
Watching state indicator
Errors Table This table lists the skipped files that were moved into their hotfolder’s Errors folder.
The error criteria is specified in the Settings->Process ->Error Handling tab.
Double-click files to open the History panel to view the detailed log for each file. Once the History panel is open, just click the files to view their log.
Sending Job to Package Central You can submit jobs to Package Central in two ways:
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Using the Submit to Package Central plug-in This plug-in application provides users with all the required options to submit a job to Package Central hotfolders from InDesign.
Users simply select the Zevrix->Submit to Package Central menu which appears after the plug-in is installed.
Package Central...
The plug-in will automatically create job folder with the active InDesign document and its fonts in the selected hotfolders. The job folder is named automatically - its name is irrelevant for the users since the job folder is always deleted after processing. Users can select multiple folders to submit the document to several hotfolders at once. Include document fonts The document fonts must be included to be auto-activated by Package Central. Check document links and fonts The document will be checked for missing and modified links and missing fonts.
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By copying InDesign files into hotfolders directly in the Finder
NOTE: Package Central will not auto-activate fonts in this case. You’ll need to make sure the fonts are installed or activated via font management software. The Submit to Package Central dialog IMPORTANT: Links should never be submitted to Package Central. Under the Package Central workflow, links should be located on a network volumes accessible from the Package Central station. Sending links to Package Central will lead to errors and can potentially crash the software. Package Central will not be able to find links in its hotfolders.
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Support With any questions or problem reports please send e-mail to [email protected].
www.zevrix.com ©2010 Zevrix Solutions. All Rights Reserved. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. All trademarks mentioned in this document and any part of the software itself are the properties of their respective owners.
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