Jobs and artwork

A job is one imposition: the media you print on and the items that go on it. Each item is an artwork with a quantity. You can add artwork at any time, and change the media later.

Create a job#

On the Imposition page, press New job, or drop files anywhere on the page. The New imposition job dialog asks for:

• Job name (it defaults to the first file's name) and an optional Description;
• Sheet or Roll, and the Unit the workspace shows lengths in (in, mm, cm or pt);
• the sheet Width and Height (or the Roll width), the Margins and the Spacing between pieces;
• optional artwork: files from your computer, or Choose from Files to pick files your team keeps in Files. The chosen files are added once the job is created, as they are with From Files… below.

A new job starts on a letter-size sheet (8.5 × 11 in) with 0.5 in margins and 0.25 in spacing. Everything can be changed later on the Production tab (see Sheets, rolls, margins and equipment).

Add artwork#

Use Add at the top of the Artworks list, or drop files onto the workspace:

• Upload files… takes PDF, PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF or WebP files, up to 200 MB each. Uploads are kept in Files in the Imposition folder, in a folder named after the job, so they get versions and properties and count toward your team's storage (a file your team already has is stored only once). The job keeps the exact version it was given, and Files lists the job under that version's Where used. When storage is full the upload is refused with a message saying so.
• From Files… picks PDFs and images your team already keeps in Files, several at once. The job uses the version you picked; nothing is copied or counted again in storage, and Files lists the job under that version's Where used. If the file was prepared in the 1-up editor (a die, a print-ready file, an image's size), the job gets its own copy of that prep; a file that was only opened there is read as an upload is. A prep without a die gets the same shape as an upload: a PDF is nested by its trim box, an image by its pixel contour. A PDF worked on at another size (Tools: Scale) can't go to a job that way, because a job prints a PDF at its own size: the file is still added, read as an upload is, and the upload list says why its prep was left out. Picked files are added 50 at a time: if one of them can't be added (it was moved to the trash, or it isn't a PDF or an image), none of the files in its group of 50 are, and each file's row says whether it was added or what was wrong. Groups added before it stay in the job.
• From approvals… imports a proof version from your approvals. By default the list only shows versions whose approval request was accepted; a filter shows the others. The artwork then carries a badge with its version, and it keeps printing that proof: a newer proof round of the same file is never offered to it (import the new round once it's approved).

The Upload defaults under the Add menu set the quantity, rotation and shape that new uploads start with. Items added from Files start with the defaults' quantity; their shape comes from the file, or from its prep in Files.

A PDF is read when it arrives: its pages, its paths and its inks. Images have no paths, so their shape is traced from the pixels. A PDF with two or more pages is read as double-sided: its second page becomes the Back page. An artwork that starts from another page (added through the API, or moved there on the Parts tab without a back page) gets no back page until you choose one.

Newer versions and prep from Files#

An artwork added from Files (or uploaded, since uploads are kept in Files too) keeps the exact version it was given. Nothing in the job changes when someone works on the file in Files; two badges on the artwork, in the list and in the inspector, say when there is something newer:

v5 available

The file has a newer version in Files that this artwork can use (a PDF or an image that has the artwork's page). Click it to use that version in this job: the artwork reads the new version, keeps its settings where they still apply, and its print-ready file is made again from the new version (the one made from the old version is never printed). Layouts made before the switch go out of date. Artworks imported from approvals don't get this badge: they print the proof they were imported from.

Prep updated in Files

The file was prepared in the 1-up editor after this job got it, or its prep changed since. Click it to copy the prep: the artwork's die, line types, bleed and print-ready file become the ones in Files. Opening a file in the editor without preparing it doesn't show this badge.

Both ask before changing anything. When the prep in Files can't be used in a job (a PDF worked on at another size), the inspector says so instead of offering the update.

The artwork inspector#

Select an artwork in the list to edit it on the Parts tab. Every change saves at once.

The left Artworks list keeps each item's colour and ordered quantity beside its name. When the layout on screen splits an item across several forms, the row also shows its form count, such as 3 forms. This count follows the layout you are viewing; previewing a different solution can change it. See Keeping items together for the quantities placed on each form.

Quantity

How many pieces you need. On a digital run the layouts place exactly this many; an offset plan may make more or fewer within its caps (see Offset press runs).

Shape

What outline the piece is nested by: Die path uses the die drawn in the PDF (the paths set to Cut, or the paths you chose as the die); Trim box uses the page's trim box (else its crop box, else its page size); Custom size is a rectangle of the Width and Height you type; Pixel contour traces the visible artwork. For images, Die path and Trim box fall back to Pixel contour. A PDF added with Die path that has no die (a flat card, label or flyer) gets Trim box instead, with the warning "No dieline found"; map a die in the 1-up editor and it's nested by its die again.

Bleed

None (job default) uses the job's Bleed. Margins or Contour use this artwork's own Bleed distance. Bleed is added around the cut line, and the job's Spacing is kept between the bled edges.

Product type

Flat, Bound or Folded. It's kept with the artwork and doesn't change the nest.

Front page and Back page

Shown for files with two or more pages. The front page is the one nested and printed.

To change the die or say what each line is (cut, crease, perforation…), press Open artwork. The cut file follows those choices: see Cutting files and registration.

Rotation#

Each artwork has a Rotation. Job default uses the job's Default rotation (on the Production tab, which starts at 0° / 90°); the other presets set the artwork's own angles:

Custom… lets you type a list of angles, such as 0, 45, 90. Two methods turn pieces by quarter turns only: N-up, and rectangles in strips. An artwork that allows no quarter turn is placed at 0° there, and the run says so. Which angles you can set is on Rotations and grain.

Grain#

Grain tells the nest which way the artwork's grain runs: None, Horizontal or Vertical. When both the artwork and the job's Media grain are set, the artwork is only placed at angles that match: the same grain keeps 0° and 180°, crossed grain keeps 90° and 270°. If that leaves none of the artwork's allowed angles, it is placed at the matching angle anyway and the run warns you.

Several at once#

⌘ or Shift + click selects several artworks. The Parts tab then offers Set quantity, Set rotation and Delete selected for all of them at once.