Periodici San Paolo is one of the largest divisions of the publishing group San Paolo. With the installation of Enfocus Switch, PitStop Pro and PitStop Server, the company's 100 operators can now rely on an efficient workflow to deliver accurate jobs in prepress. In addition, with the functionality of PitStop for iPad optimization, Periodici San Paolo meets the growing demand for using PDFs on tablet computers and e-reader applications.

Enrique Dominguez, director of the company's Milan-based prepress department, comments: "Our Group publishes several magazines. Among the best known is Famiglia Cristiana, a gravure-produced weekly magazine with a print run of more than 550,000 copies, while another six magazines are printed via web offset. That's a huge amount of work to manage. So, we had to increase automation and eliminate unnecessary, repetitive tasks, and create more accurate PDFs according to ISO 12647-2."

Before choosing Enfocus Switch, PitStop Pro and PitStop Server, San Paolo was using a less flexible system. The company searched for a solution that could automate repetitive tasks, standardize and certify the final PDFs, and create a standard workflow with particular advantages, mainly for updates. Another key requirement was that the solution had to allow processes to be developed independently, and could integrate with other commonly used software. "A workflow is never completely finished," adds Dominguez. "It's a living body, constantly evolving. Thanks to Enfocus Switch, I can change it continuously to make it more efficient. Also, the deep-analysis reporting provides us very tight control of the production process."

Industry-proven Enfocus solutions

Enfocus Switch is designed specifically for complex environments. It uses full scripting tools and metadata management, enabling IT administrators to build an intelligent workflow that integrates with any third-party technology. The SwitchClient tool displays all jobs via thumbnails, with information about every job.

PitStop Pro offers a wide range of editing tools for accurate PDF preflighting and correction. It allows users to edit text, change colors and move, rotate or adjust any object. The frantic last-minute problems often encountered in professional printing and publishing environments can be corrected in just a few seconds. PitStop Server is a preflighting and auto-correction tool that's crucial for PDF workflows that process a high volume of files.

Improving the e-reader experience 
Given the popularity of tablets, the Group's magazines have been made available on the AppStore and Android platforms. However, as viewing magazines on a tablet can be difficult, these devices have limitations that can slow down the opening of PDF files. Reading a PDF can even cause an application to crash. 

The latest PitStop version solves these problems offering printers and publishers extensive processing capabilities through the Preflight Profiles and standard Action Lists. Users can choose the resolution and optimize PDF files for viewing on e-readers, making them faster to open and improving overall quality. When a reader zooms in on a PDF, both the image and text maintain the quality and level of interactivity needed. PitStop can also check that URLs within the PDF are correctly linked.

Successful implementation
Periodici San Paolo is very satisfied with its investment in Enfocus solutions. "Today, 98% of our production involves Enfocus products, and there are no significant difficulties," concludes Dominguez. "Almost all PDF files are handled through Enfocus solutions, including the receipt of advertising pages, which is done automatically. Our printers are impressed with the level of automation and precision. We no longer have to worry about re-workings and re-makings due to problems with PDFs. Enfocus reduced human errors, and made the delivery process of files to the printers much more efficient."