I've got 4 book covers that I want to gang on 1 sheet. I have no training on SignaStation and can't figure out how I can get to the desired layout - see screenshot (front of sheet) for what I'm after. Any guidance appreciated.

Still pretty new to XMPie, but for the most part I'm feeling comfortable with it. Ran into an issue today trying to write a fairly simple rule and I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but can't figure it out.

In my data I have a field that contains numbers. Sometimes the field is empty, sometimes it contains a zero, and all the rest of the time it contains a number. The rule I want to write (in layman's terms) is: 


When I try to write the rule, XMPie complains that I'm mixing numbers and strings. I don't really care that it's a number because I'm not trying to do any math to it.

(I don't have exact verbiage because I'm not at work.) Any thoughts on what I need to do to make this work?

At my new job, we use XMPie for VDP jobs. Old shop used SmartStream. I'm wondering if there isn't a better way in XMPie to make a layer visible using a rule.

For example, let's say I have 5 different versions driven by the data, so I build an InDesign file with 5 layers (one layer for each version.) In SmartStream, I could trigger which layer is shown a couple different ways. First way is to build a switch rule that states if the trigger field says "Version A" then show Layer 1, else if the data says "Version B" then show Layer 2, etc. No matter how many different versions I have, I can build them all into one rule. The other way I could do it in SmartStream is to tell it to turn on the layer whose name matches what is in the data. So instead of the layer being named "Layer 1" it would just be named "Version A" because that is how it appears in the data. The beauty of this method is the rule never has to be modified when new versions are added, and as long as there exists a layer that matches what is in the data it will work.

The way I was shown to accomplish this in XMPie involved making 5 different rules. Had to make a rule for Layer 1 that says "make this layer visible when the data says "Version A" and then that rule is assigned to Layer 1. Now do it 4 more times to get all 5 versions accounted for.

This seems like a difficult way to accomplish the desired result. Is there a better way? Just looking at XMPie I can tell that it is pretty robust so it would surprise me that there isn't a better way and the way I've been shown is just the way they've always done it because they didn't know any better.

Long shot, but does anyone here run a Kodak Achieve platesetter?

I had some parts fall off this morning and I can't quite figure out how they are supposed to go back on. It's just for a door latch locking assembly so the machine runs without it, but I'm hoping if someone has this device and can take some photos of the assembly for me I can put it back together. There also might be parts that fell into the machine somewhere and I'd like to know what I'm looking for.

Got this today:

FontExplorer X by Monotype has provided you with many years of sophisticated font management. But like all software, the product has become more difficult to maintain with its age, and we've decided to prepare FontExplorer X for retirement. 
Your software will continue to work as usual, but please be aware it will not be updated or supported after June 30th, 2023, and won't be sold after June 30th, 2022.

Somehow I've managed to raise a daughter to college age without ever having to buy her a laptop. Now that she's entering community college in the fall, it's time to get her one of her own.

We decided a Chromebook should be sufficient for her needs, so since I've never shopped for one I thought I'd ask here if anyone has any recommendations?

Some of you were talking about SSDs in another thread and I got jealous, so I bought one for my late-2009 iMac. I know how to take it apart and install the drive, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips as to the best way to keep my old OS.
I have a full Time Machine backup of the current drive. It is running El Capitan and I would like to keep it that way with the new drive because I have some older software (before Adobe went al subscription) that I'd like to keep functional. I could potentially go up to High Sierra but would need to research that before commiting.

Can I just re-image the whole magilla from Time Machine? Should I? I know it's better to put a fresh install OS on a new drive but it might be tricky to find an installer for El Cap, plus it would have to be bootable?
I used to know how to do this stuff but it's harder/more complicated than it used to be.

We periodically get a mailing job that is already has all the addresses merged so it doesn't run through our variable data software. The problem is we want a record number to print somewhere on the page. I thought maybe using Add Page Numbers would work and it would work if this was a one-sided document, but it is 2-sided so all the even pages are the backs of the preceding odd page.
That means that if I add page numbers, page 3 of the PDF is really record #2 but it puts a 3 on it because it is the third page in the document. I want to the 3rd page to say 2, the 5th page to say 3, etc.
The only way I can see doing this in Pitstop is to first delete all the even pages, add the page numbers to the remaining pages, then somehow bring the deleted pages back (I know a couple methods to bring them back so I'm not worried about figuring that part out.)
I was just hoping there might be an easier way without deleting any pages? (Pitstop 13.)

Has anyone ever used a text editor to open up Preps templates and modify the marks?

Currently using Preps 8 and discovered recently that we've been using the wrong color bar for the past year and a half, so now we need to change it on all our templates. Because of the overall suckitude of any version after 5, modifying templates with lots of sigs within is now a major PITA so I'm looking to streamline it somewhat.

I tried it out on a job recently and it seems to have worked well, but just wondering if there is a caveat somewhere I'm not seeing? (Joe, I know you've done this before!)

Anyone interested in a weird one? I have an ID CC2018 file - there is a text box with 1 line of type. If you open the file and make sure you can see the guides, try to copy/paste in place or do a step and repeat at zero offsets or any other method you can think of to duplicate the text box and you'll notice that the text of the dupe is no longer sitting on the guide - it is below the guide.

I've checked everything I can think of - there is no text wrap, no space before/after, nothing. There are hard returns before and after the line of text, but that shouldn't have any bearing on it at all.

File attached if anyone feels like looking.

We just bought GMC Inspire (now called Quadient Inspire) and are halfway through the first week of basic training. Anybody else on here use it? It's crazy powerful (and equally expensive), but seems pretty complex to do what I think of as fairly simple VDP tasks.

Using Prinergy 7.5 and Preps 7.

We create our impos in Prinergy Workshop by choosing File>Create New Imposition... and then navigate to a pre-built Preps template, select the desired signatures, and click OK. I've noticed in the signature selection window there is a button called "Marks," and clicking it brings up a dialog where it appears that one can either add or remove marks without having to go to Preps and edit the template.

I say "it appears" because I cannot make this work - if I try to either add or remove a mark Prinergy will not import or create the impo. I can't find any info on it in Help, so if anyone has any insight (JOE!) I'd be much obliged. This would be a very useful tool once we are up and running with our new press.

I've tried to sell this thing for 5 years and had no bites (it was left over from a shop that shut down). Now I'm packing up my house cuz we're moving and if anyone on this forum wants to pay for shipping, you can have it. Last time I checked it it works fine.

It's GretagMacbeth iC Plate II Basic, part number 35.53.00. Comes with everything that it originally came with as far as I can tell.

If no one wants it within the next week or two, it's going in the trash.

Using Preps 7.5 in conjunction with Prinergy 7.5.

How can I make the punch mark disappear from my imposed output? We used to be able to just use a big offset (Punch Distance) in the template and it wouldn't show up, but now it is showing up and sometimes it shows in the work (like if I impose an 8.5x11 2up on 11x17 sheet).

I know there's a preference setting under the Output Tab to Display Punch Mark, but that doesn't really apply unless I'm outputting directly from Preps, which I'm not doing. I use Preps to create the template, and then use Prinergy to add signatures and output.

Does anyone (Joe, maybe?) have the Kodak plugins for Acrobat DC? Specifically, I'm looking for Trap Editor (but I'll take all of them). I just updated my Mac to Acrobat DC and the installer that comes with my Prinergy 6 won't run.

ABC, this is for you!

I just installed Pitstop Pro 13 (update 2) as a 30-day trial (Acrobat DC on Mac 10.11.6.)

I have a file that I want to convert RGB images to CMYK using the out-of-the-box Action List called "Convert all RGB to CMYK".

When color management is off, it converts. However, since this results in crappy images, I turned on CM to US Prepress Defaults and it won't convert, giving me the following error: "Failure (Color conversion was not possible because the requested CMM engine was not available.) occurred during Convert color"

What's up with that?

Has anyone made the leap to using Kodak's Prinergy Workspace in place of Workshop? I've just been informed that Workspace will not be supported in the future (don't know how long that means) and that we need to start getting familiar with Workspace instead.

I just upgraded to El Capitan (from 10.8.5) yesterday and noticed a new "feature" - I can no longer simply hold down Command-Option-Delete to delete files from the server without a confirmation dialog popping up. The whole reason to hold down the Option key is to avoid the dialog window!

Thoughts?

ABC - this is for you:

I'm currently running Pitstop Pro 11, update 2, on Acrobat XI 11.0.0 and Mac OS 10.8.5. I will soon be updating the OS to El Capitan in order to be able to use the latest Adobe CC.

So, the question is will this version of Pitstop still work on El Capitan?

Does anyone use a dedicated service specifically for kids email? I know there's a few out there, but wondering if anyone has any personal experience with them. Not necessarily looking for free - it can be a paid service. Just looking for a good way to monitor what's going on. We've been letting my daughter use our email accounts, but it's getting a little burdensome to have her stuff clogging our inbox and I'm not ready to turn her loose with her own Gmail yet.

I think I'm an anomaly these days - my kids (5 and 13) do not have cell phones or tablets of their own. The 13-year-old has an old deactivated iPhone that she uses as an iPod, but I do not have it on the network so it can't be used to surf. The only way the kids can get online in my house is on our family iMac, which is in a public location. So far, no problems, but I remember what it was like to be 13! (I swear I'm not a prude in my regular life, but when it comes to the kids I am!)