Balance - EFI

Balance
PRODUCTION WORKFLOW SOLUTIONS
Recommended Hardware
CPU
• Minimum 2.0 GHz Pentium 4
Memory/Storage
• Minimum: 1GB RAM
• Minimum 40GB HD
• Minimum of 1GB disk space available
for installation
Operating system
• Windows 2000, 2003, XP
Network/Connection
• Ethernet card
• TCP/IP enabled
• 2 USB Ports minimum
File format accepted
• PS, PDF
EFI B.V, Boeing Avenue 201-207
1119 PD Schiphol-Rijk
The Netherlands
tel +31 [0]20 658 8000
fax +31 [0]20 658 8001
EFI Ltd, Stonebridge House
Padbury Oaks, Old Bath Road
Longford, Middlesex UB7 0EW
United Kingdom
tel +44 [0]20 8476 7676
fax +44 [0]20 8476 7636
www.efi.com
Auto-Count, ColorCal, ColorWise, Command WorkStation, EDOX, EFI, Fiery, the Fiery logo, MicroPress, Printcafe, PrinterSite,
Prograph, Proteus, and Spot-On are registered trademarks of Electronics for Imaging, Inc. in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
and/or certain other foreign jurisdictions. Bestcolor is a registered trademark of Best GmbH in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
AutoCal, Balance, Digital StoreFront, DocStream, Fiery Link, FreeForm, Hagen, Intelligent Device Management, Logic, OneFlow,
PrintFlow, PrintMe, PrintSmith Site, PrintSmith, PSI Flexo, PSI, SendMe, Splash, VisualCal, WebInstaller, WebScan, WebSpooler,
WebStatus, WebTools, the EFI logo, and Essential to Print are trademarks of Electronics for Imaging, Inc. Best, the Best logo,
Colorproof, PhotoXposure, Remoteproof, and Screenproof are trademarks of Best GmbH. All other terms and product names may
be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners, and are hereby acknowledged.
© Electronics for Imaging, 2005
Simple
Scalable
Powerful
U043.03.05_UK

Scalable
Workflow
Solution
EFI Balance intelligently manages jobs to a wide range
of digital devices and provides productive editing tools
for document composition and finishing.
EFI Balance 3.2
Powerful, Scalable Software
EFI Balance is the production-stage backbone of the EFI workflow solution, accepting
jobs from any user on the system, providing productive editing tools and intelligently
managing jobs to a wide range of digital devices. Balance provides integration
expertise, allowing users to work with the document creation applications they prefer,
print from their desktop to production devices or printer groups of their choice and still
take advantage the Balance system for improved workflow productivity. Balance is
integrated with EFI Digital StoreFront for end-to-end workflows that include web
submission of jobs.
EFI Balance offers a comprehensive suite of PDF-based applications that leverage the
popular EFI Command WorkStation interface, industry-standard PDF technologies and
a wide base of EFI Fierys ® , making workflow easy to use and implement. It brings
powerful EFI workflow to all digital print environments and supports most EFI
controlled devices as well as non-EFI controlled black and white production devices
with identical look and feel for maximum user efficiency.
EFI Scan
EFI Impose
EFI Command Workstation
Production Tools
• EFI Compose dramatically increases productivity and ease of
composition for complex jobs
• EFI Impose reduces production time and errors with
WYSIWYG displays
• EFI Scan integrates production scanning of black-and-white or
colour documents into the Balance PDF workflow
• Hot Folders customise the power of Balance to streamline
recurring jobs
• Enfocus Pitstop and Adobe Acrobat ® are integrated for on-thefly
changes and corrections within the workflow
Job Management Tools
• Command WorkStation provides a consistent UI with Fierys,
increasing ease of use and productivity
• The Centralised Paper Catalog simplifies job ticketing and
automates job routing
• Non EFI-system enablers extend automation by integrating
Balance into existing workflows, including Xerox DigiPath,
DocuTech/Nuvera and Digimaster Family
• The EFI Balance system ensures compatibility with current and
future EFI workflow system components, including EFI Digital
StoreFront and EFI OneFlow
• Load balancing/routing features improve automation and
productivity and reduce errors and costs:
• Send jobs to fastest printer
• Route based on finishing options
• Automatic redirect on busy or error
• Split colour and black and white pages and perform
automated in-line merge
The Balance system is comprised of the Balance Server, Command WorkStation,
Hot Folders, EFI Impose, EFI Compose, EFI Scan, high-speed device enablers and the
EFI Balance Scripting API.
3

Document
Composition
Made Easy
EFI Compose simplifies the production process of
complex documents and increase the quality and
accuracy of the output.
EFI Compose
EFI Compose dramatically reduces composition time, providing a powerful, fast, and
user-friendly interface for WYSIWYG PDF-based composition with page-level ticketing.
Compose is ideal for handling large, complex documents that require inserts, tabs, and
merged files from different applications – digital or scanned originals.
Simple tab setup and text insertion
• Provides an accurate document overview
with page-level ticketing for media,
finishing, and colour content views
• WYSIWYG thumbnail previews decrease
waste and PDF drag-and-drop capability
improves productivity
• Single-page, sheet or reader’s preview
modes enhance document viewing and
productivity
• Supports pre-imposed jobs to reduce
re-work tasks
• Direct PDF document insertion enables
documents to be built very quickly
• Handles up to 100 chapters improve very
large job support
Late-Stage PDF Editing
• Integrated Enfocus Pitstop and Adobe
Acrobat automate workflow
• Late-stage edits to PDF files minimise
native file re-work
• PDF job merging and in-line drag-anddrop
streamline document assembly
Document Soft Viewing
• View colour pages, chapter starts, and tabs
with on-screen thumbnails
• See entire documents in single, sheet,
or reader’s format for easy job review
• Cut complex document review time
with WYSIWYG job display
Make text and color changes instantly
within a PDF job
Tab creation/text editing/insertion
• Create tabbed documents easily
• Modify and update existing documents
quickly.
• Maximise productivity with support for
up to 15 cuts and 100 tabs
• Control exact placement of tab text with
positive or negative values up to 400 pts
Insert PDF
• Easily import multiple PDF jobs
• Quick and easy booklet making with
instant PDF insertion
• Integrated Enfocus Pitstop and Adobe
Acrobat automate workflow
• Late-stage edits to PDF files minimise
native file re-work
WYSIWYG job display in reader view
Navigation Bar
• PDF job merging, in-line drag-and-drop
Change page to sheet view quickly
using the Navigation Bar
• Integrated document navigation bar
provides entire document overview “ata-glance”
• Easily view inserts, tabs,
and chapter starts
• Dramatically improve document
navigation and set-up in large jobs
• Visually confirm media colour information
(blue paper shows as blue)
Preview Insert PDF
5

Integrated
Workflow
Solution
Manage and control your entire production workflow
with EFI Balance. Balance supports a wide range of
print engines with sophisticated print management
tools and provides composition capabilities to make
your job simple.
Balance Integrated Tools
EFI Balance brings a broad range of printers into a productive PDF workflow system
with integrated tools for composition, layout, scanning and image editing. Embedded
access to Enfocus Pitstop and Adobe Acrobat ® enables on-the-fly changes and
corrections within the workflow. It is the ideal solution for expanding existing
workflows and demanding production environments.
EFI Impose
EFI Impose is a PDF-based imposition tool
that accommodates nearly any imposition
requirement for digital printing. EFI Impose
saves production time and costly print
errors with its unique WYSIWYG imposition
preview and allows late-stage editing to any
document with advanced, integrated PDF
utilities.
• Imposition/job preview
• Imposition template creation
• Automated imposition through
“Hot Folders”
• Late-stage PDF editing with PitStop
Digital StoreFront Connectivity
EFI Digital StoreFront (DSF) is a powerful
web submission tool for print centers.
Balance integration with Digital StoreFront
allows print centers to extend the workflow
automation present in both systems.
• Accepts DSF Job Ticket
• Reduces redundant data entry
• Decreases opportunity for errors
• Enables use of Balance system
for DSF Jobs
EFI Scan
EFI Scan enables production scanning of
black-and-white or color hardcopy
documents and provides powerful image
editing tools to automate document
clean-up. The scan workflow is integrated
into the Balance system for quick and
easy printing, conversion to PDF, merging
into a digital file or archiving.
• Support for TWAIN compliant scanners
• Selectable thumbnail or page list
preview
• Image editing tools
• Page editing: size, alignment, add,
remove, insert, and move
• Able to record repeated tasks for
application to other scan documents
B&W Sample Image
The EFI Balance Workflow system supports a wide range of print engines and
impressive integrated composition and print management capabilities. The ability to
manage, track and automate production print workflows enables organizations to
identify and improve the return on investment for digital print environments. The
breadth of supported engines and use of industry standards make EFI Balance the key
to workflow automation – now, and into the future.
Do you have the right mix of EFI Balance capabilities for your environment? EFI
Balance can be configured with the options below to handle a wide variety of print
requirements and ensure that you have the right tools for the job.
EFI Balance Options:
• DigiPath enabler – Supports connectivity to Xerox DigiPath environments
• DocuTech/Nuvera enablers – support connectivity to Xerox devices
• Digimaster Family enabler – supports connectivity for the 9110 and 9150 series devices
• EFI Compose
• Remote EFI Compose Licenses
• Remote EFI Impose Licenses
• EFI Scan
EFI Balance Benefits:
Improve Productivity
• Increase throughput by load balancing
jobs across multiple devices
• Automatically reroute jobs if first
choice is down or busy
• Streamline complex jobs with
scripting, tabs, imposition,
and mixed media functions
Regain control of your workflow
• Track, control, and automate jobs
from one centralised location
• Enable quick decision making and
approval process
• Connect multiple devices regardless
of brand
Simplify complex document creation
• Manage tab insertion and tab text editing
• View WYSIWYG page display including
media properties, tabs, and inserts
• Manage document insertion
and job composition
Reduce costs
• Cut waste in print errors and toner
• Use resources and equipment
more efficiently
• Cut operating costs and get the
most from your equipment
Imposition
7