by John Dean, Marketing Content Specialist, Enfocus
Deborah Corn, the Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse has a chat with Andrew Bailes-Collins, Senior Product Manager at Enfocus about PitStop. Enfocus PitStop is an industry-recognized standard solution for quality control, correction and editing of PDF files.
Enfocus PitStop is a household name. A print-household name, for sure. That kind of industry recognition doesn't come by overnight. Since it was first launched in 1997, PitStop Pro has been spreading through prepress departments the world over. It's been able to do so because Enfocus strives to develop and evolve tools for their users that will keep them productive, efficient and competitive in an increasingly challenging market. Constant improvement of their own products and collaborations with other vendor solutions keeps Enfocus dialed into its mission of a customer centric ecosystem.
Deborah Corn (IAttP): Why do you think this product [PitStop] resonates with so many printers?
Andrew Bailes-Collins (ABC): It was there right at the beginning […] PitStop enabled people to fix things and get things right […] there's people that have been using this product for 10 to 15 years. It's kept pace with the needs of its customers.
There is always an unpredictability of the quality of files that printers receive. PitStop is an invaluable tool in combatting problem PDF files. Regardless of file integrity coming in, it's inevitably the task of prepress to make it work and make customers happy.
IAttP: I'm skeptical of preflight tools because you can't fix designers and printers have to deal with it [problem files].
ABC: Be it automatic or manual we use our skills and software to make sure that we meet expectations.
There has been ground breaking progress with PitStop over the years and the new features available in PitStop Pro 2018 are no exception. Enfocus was recognized this year by the Association for Print Technologies for Red Hot Technology in the category of Color Management, Prepress & Premedia for the innovative new features in PitStop Pro 2018.
IAttP: You recently had a launch in 2018. What were some of the updates to that?
ABC: We have a technology called Action Lists in PitStop which enables you to make your own customized checks and fixes. What we did was added a Visualizer to that to make the entry point skill level needed to get the most out of that functionality; we added something to help users.
PitStop Pro 2018 also added improved Pantone color handling, barcode creation, advanced vector editing tools and a Dashboard for PitStop analytics. The Dashboard is an opt-in feature that allows users to see current and historic information surrounding PitStop activities in their environments. Information about number of jobs, common problems and productivity trends are shown in an easy to understand, visual format.
IAttP: Besides flagging issues with files, what are some of the financial benefits that PitStop provides clients?
ABC: Well if you take the checking part of it, the philosophy is, the further down the production line you have a problem, the more money it's gonna cost you. […] one of the main benefits of PitStop is the fact that it identifies problems and fixes it before it starts to cost you money with paper and plates and time. The other part is the fact that you can not only find the problem but do something about it.
For the second year in a row, PitStop has been recognized by the Association for Print Technologies for innovative new features. This year, Enfocus PitStop Pro 2018 is recognized as a Red Hot Technology in the category of Color Management, Prepress & Premedia. To find out what makes PitStop Pro 2018 a Red Hot Technology, stop by Enfocus Booth #736 at Print 18 in Chicago, September 29th to October 2nd.
