DynaStrip Gen'l Questions

[Stiv]

Hello,

I am a long time Preps user and have started re-evaluating imposition software. I have some specific questions that I am hoping can be answered by users and not sales "people".

1. I have a 72 page mag that needs to be shingled. I need to turn off shingling on 18 pages that have crossovers or gutter jump images. In Preps I would place independent pages in my templates with a zero shingling which would override the master shingling setting. I have quite a few special templates that have been created over the years for this. Is it easier to override individual page shingling in DynaStrip?

2. I am using Rampage. Do you also need to do the special rotate to get the pages to orient correctly?

3. How does DynaStrip use templates? Is there a main template folder? How do multiple workstations access the templates?

I thank you in advance.

S

[frailer]

I can probably only answer part of some of your questions, but FWIW...

-Shingling and creep are set in the initial set-up window. You can change the Start value to spread the Creep/Shingling a little, if you want.
-you can turn off shingling for pages via the Imposition Button, and associated Tool Bar.
-template management is very straightforward. Once you have set up an imposition with everything you need on it in the way of marks, bars, page numbers, whatever...you save that Sheet as a Template. It then sits as a .DSH file, ready for import.

I can't help you with Dyna's interaction with other workflows. I use ours as a standalone > RIP.

I'm away this weekend, but post back, and am happy to walk you through any nitty-gritties. It is a bit confusing at first, but it gels after a while. Quite different to PREPS, but it has some neat things in it.

Red bars indicate shingling removed. Arrows indicate shingling applied.

May put 2 posts to accomodate screenshots.

[frailer]

Showing Prevent Creep button.

Er...I did clean up the Desktop after all the screenshots... :rolleyes:

[frailer]

{Partially} organised Templates Folder...LOL

Am revisiting this... en route to the "weekend"... :cheesy:   I would imagine your 72 page mag would be a "doddle".   

Just go through with your Prevent Creep Tool and click on the target pages. If you needed that Template as a unique one with specific pages "unCreeped", your main issue would be giving it a name you could recognise easily. Like... 'BMX Mag.DSH'. Once you imported that sheet the requisite number of times, you'd be in business.
See earlier threads here, too, about workarounds for silly Work & Turn restrictions in Dyna. But the workarounds are no hassle anyway.   :cool:

[Stiv]

Wow, it looks easier to run than Preps.

When you select a page to not shingle does it affect the front/back or just the individual page? In preps, if you turn off the shingle for page5, then the shingle is off for the back of page 5 also. There are workarounds though.

It looks like you drag items onto the template or am I wrong? Preps needs alot of calculations for placing marks. I haven't quite figured out the "Smart Marks" capability of Preps yet.

Is it possible to preview an imposed template before writing it to a file? In Preps I can Ctrl E to preview a template. It does come in handy.

I saw the workaround for different sigs in a run. We have many jobs where there are different sig configs. This could be a pain with DynaStrip.

Thanks for the info.

S

[frailer]

You can select single pages for "unCreeping", or you can select backing pages; just different Window/Tool sequences.
You bring the Templates in, similar to PREPS, and then bring Source Docs in. then place them in the Run List. Their core work paths are similar. It's just the other peripheral stuff they do differently.

You can view an imposed Template via the Raster button in the Menu Bar. I work in PDF environment so it uses Acrobat in the background.
You can zoom in on it as well, if you want. Getting out of Raster Mode is essential once you have viewed. Dyna does not like proceeding with further business while Preview is active. But that's no big deal.

Doubt whether bringing in a combination of Sigs would be a problem. Even for a messy job, should only take a minute; assuming you have the Templates made up in advance. Once they're in, hit Paginate, and you're ready for Source Doc placement

For repeat Sigs, you could do a Save As after re-opening your first, Saved,  made-up job. Give it an easily identifiable name, stash it in an appropriate folder for next time, and you'd be ready to bring in your new Source Docs next time around. Just a matter of cleaning out the old Source Docs, and you'd be on your way. This could include "unCreeped" pages as per last time, if that were a repeat aspect of the job.

Marks. There's no SmartMarks, like PREPS, but I've found Mark/Density Bar/ rego marks to be pretty quick once you've bedded in to how Dyna works. It has a "Move" Tool in each window. You can quickly place any new object in relation to another object, be it a Sheet, Sig, or Page. This is especially handy with ganged Flatwork. You can readily throw varying-sized pages, all placed quickly in relation to each other. I know that's achievable in PREPS, but Dyna's "digital light table" thing works pretty well.
It's one thing I like in Dyna, as against PREPS. I'll throw a screen shot of it, in mid-flight, from work tomorrow.    :cheesy:

In the past I have worked with PREPS in a .ps In> .ps Out flow. I'm not a power PREPS user, and haven't used it in a PDF In>PDF Out flow.
But I can say that printing form Dyna is very quick in an all-PDF flow. I've printed, say, 56 pages worth of over-sized A4 flats, full colour, in, prolly 10-15 seconds. Maybe PREPS is that quick in all-PDF, dunno.    :undecided:

Oh, BTW, Marks are thrown automatically around the edge of the entire Sig, just not the extra "auto" stuff that happens with SmartMarks. Takes about 10 secs to add a Density Bar, and position it. Most of the other stuff can be thrown on and positioned within a similar time-frame.

[Stiv]

Hey thanks for the info. I'll see if I can test the Demo.

I'm sure I'll have more questions.  :undecided:

We RIP EPS w/OPI, fat EPS, and PDFs in Rampage and impose the FPO's in Preps.

[frailer]

No worries, stiv. I guess I got on the Dyna cart when we got it with the Celebrant RIP/Workflow. I started tackling it because it was "there". LOL. It also means I can impose from my seat, cos other op. has PREPS.
It's not without it's quirks, but it does the job...once you've got used to the duck'n'weave interface... :laugh:  In fact, once you're up to some sort of speed, you can get stuff out pretty quickly, even if you haven't got Templates set up. So far I haven't experinced "disappearing" Template files, as some others have reported, [cross fingers].
By all means, bounce any upcoming questions off me; if I can't answer them I'll certainly try and get answers elsewhere.

Have thrown a jpeg below of the Place/Move stuff happening...as an FYI. Diagonal connecting line shows the corner that the X/Y readings are being read from. If you punched in, say, 20mm/20mm and hit Enter twice, it would position it there to that corner; and your Sig reappears. Quirky but quick, especially if you're bringing in varied files for ganging. They can be positoned to each other, corners,... however you want to do it...