Taking control of the prepress process

Testimonial 1 min read , February 23, 2021

by Toon Van Rossum, Switch Product Manager

Bayard Presse is optimising its operational processes thanks to Enfocus Switch and PitStop Server automation solutions

Woman using DesignLab for iOS on an iPad Pro
Photographer: Roberto Nickson | Source: Unsplash

Bayard Presse, one of the oldest French publishing houses and market leader in edutainment material, has chosen Enfocus in order to build and develop its prepress production flow. The company holds a total of 11 licences and uses tailor-made versions of Enfocus Switch, PitStop Server and PitStop Pro.

With its three target markets – children and young people, people aged 50 or above and religious believers - bringing together millions of readers throughout the world, and dealing with over 25,000 files a month, the group has very extensive needs in terms of checking files as well as flow management and storage.

Integration and automation

PitStop Server links seamlessly into Enfocus Switch, carrying out a pre-check and autocorrect of PDF files in an automated production flow that is substantially larger than before. This is the tool Bayard Presse uses to check the conformity of its files, control its colorimetric and ink profiles and monitor image variations.

As Mr. Marchal points out: “Enfocus solutions represent the foundation of our quality control procedures. They allow us to manage flow on a daily basis and to vary our numerous files into different formats, to automatically upload PDF files from the FTP servers, but also to receive them via email. They allow us to better organise our services, so we can carry out a more elaborate monitoring of the various applications available as well as monitor problematic files and automatically inform our clients when these occur.”

Taking control of its processes

It is the duty of all companies to guarantee that their file distribution and document storage procedures are coherent and devoid of the slightest of errors. Mr. Marchal concludes: “Enfocus Switch has allowed us to create flow processes which automatically guarantee a certain level of consistency and precision whilst being sufficiently flexible to adapt to our company’s new operational needs, as and when they develop. Enfocus Switch has enabled us to automate the organisational side of our processes in a secure manner, guaranteeing the level of quality and control. This resulted into a considerable amount of time that got freed up, which in turn translated into an increase in productivity.”

Bayard Presse

Bayard Presse was created in 1873 by Father Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-1880), founder of the Augustinians of the Assumption congregation of the Roman Catholic Church. This congregation is still the exclusive owner of the group.

The group is present in 16 countries through press, publishing, Internet and audio-visual news activities (La Croix, Le Pèlerin), youth-focused publications (Pomme d'Api, Youpi, Babar, J'aime lire, Astrapi, Okapi, Phosphore, Je bouquine, Wapiti, Les clés de l'Actualité), publications aimed at the older population (Notre temps), those for religious followers (Prions en Église, Croire, Panorama), and nature publications (Terre sauvage, Alpes Magazine, Pyrénées Magazine, Pays basque Magazine, Bretagne Magazine).

The list of these newspapers and reviews totals 70 titles a month and is not exhaustive.  In 2004, Bayard Presse bought Milan Presse and became the 4th biggest publisher of titles aimed at young people in France and the market leader in edutainment publishing. www.groupebayard.com/fr

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