Flipping the switch with Enfocus SWITCH (UPDATE)

I’ve been aware of Enfocus SWITCH for some time but I felt I didn’t need it. It’s basically ‘easy to use and install automation software’. That sound pretty vague, I know. Now I don’t run a pre-press department for a large print-house. I don’t control large workflows with incoming PDF-files. But because everything I produce will eventually get send out as a certified PDF I did find a way for SWITCH to help my clients out and make my work a lot easier.

Wouldn’t it be nice if your clients had access to an online low res PDF-database of all their work you ever created? They would have an up-to-date archive of all their brochures, business cards, flyers, XL-Prints or whatever and could just browse the files on your server. Whenever they need an update, they can provide me with a good briefing and even the last job I created for them or the specific job they want me to update. If you’ve got really clever clients you could even demonstrate Adobe Acrobat and the ‘sticky notes’. Let them stick notes and text or price-updates in the low res PDF.

Here’s the idea: I wanted an easy and effortless way to build an online database of all my work I will ever create for all my clients. Nobody likes creating low res PDF files so the app needs to take care of that. On top of that the app also needs to create a JPEG of the PDF’s first page. (Just in case the client couldn’t remember the exact job’s name or number and needs some visual help in order to identify the correct job. It’s way easier to browse a bunch of JPEG’s than it is to download and view a lot of PDF files).

I downloaded the fully functional trial of PowerSWITCH, played around, messed up and got in touch with Enfocus. They helped me set up the specific flow. (If you’re wishes are really complex you can even let Enfocus’ their programmers create the entire flow. (That will cost you a day’s worth of programming but it could just be cheaper than messing about for a week). If you’ve never seen or used SWITCH, I encourage you to try it yourself. The interface supports drag-and-drop and is quite clever indeed.

Before I explain what I used SWITCH for, a little background information:

I always name my Certified PDF according to the same basics:
1. Clients number
2. Job number
3. Clients ‘short-name’
4. Description of job
This list might sound complex but it’s not really. A cPDF might be named 18392450_PHI_Suncare Flyer A5_c.pdf

The first four numbers are the clients number, the other four numbers refer to the job number. (I stopped using periods when OSX came along). PHI could be Philips. ‘c’ at the end stands for _’Certified’ and it shows me the PDF was checked and approved using Certified PDF.

So here’s my flow:

I’ve got one directory (MAP 1) on my server and I just drop a copy of my final certified PDF file in it. Power SWITCH remembers the clients number from the PDF’s name and creates a low res PDF. It saves this PDF file inside a directory I share on the internet inside the correct clients directory (1839). SWITCH also creates JPEG’s from the entire PDF and deletes all of these except the first page. The JPEG for page one is saved along side the PDF. This entire flow was created using ‘drag-and-drop’ symbols from the interface. In order to let one icon ‘talk’ to another icon – and build a flow – you just need to double click’ an icon and drag your mouse cursor to another icon).

And thats it for the SWITCH side of things. Everybody in the studio just has to drop a copy of the final certified PDF in ‘MAP 1’ in order for SWITCH to do it’s job. Now all that is required is a web front-end to access the entire directory via a browser. Every client can use his unique log-in and can only browse his own directory in which he will be able to view JPEG’s, comments, the job-number and download PDF files. The client is not required to maintain his own archive and can rest a sure the archive is up to date. Whenever he needs to brief me he even knows under what jobnumber I archived his file.

This was just one example but I’m sure there are countless other ways you could use SWITCH in order to help you out with boring and repetitive tasks. A more complex flow including FTP, checking the PDF, selecting files and much more is shown is this clip.