Print files aren’t something many people give thought to, especially not consumers and customers in the mainstream. In the High Volume Transactional Output industry they are the life blood of daily operations and have challenges associated with them. In reality the print file is the only ‘irrevocable version of the truth’; the one place you can determine what data and information the customer really received. This fact makes it pretty important. Important enough to invest in.

How do you proof a print file that is in AFP, Xerox LCDS/Metacode and PCL format to ensure it is correct before printing it? Users often convert the file to PDF using a PRO Transform, and then view the PDF in Acrobat or a comparable viewer. The downside of this approach is that it adds an extra step, and if your print file has hundreds of thousands of pages, this may not be the best approach. You just want to have visibility into the print file when you need it. 

Many people find they could use a print file viewer when developing print applications when a production printer is not easy to get at. They can be more efficient when they do not have to wait for long turnarounds for output from the printer. The challenge is finding an application that can readily and reliably view and preview the output of all the print-streams or print languages that they use. 

As we stated earlier, print files are the most accurate record of what was printed and sent to customers. Thus, being able to view historical print files for customer service inquiries or re-printing of historical documents is the most reliable way to address these needs.

PRO Viewer from Crawford Technologies, a new industry leading addition to our software suite, will provide this functionality for minimal investment. PRO Viewer is a Windows application that lets you view all or portions of print files in AFP, PCL, Xerox LCDS/Metacode and PDF formats. Since it is based on our mature PRO Transform technology, it handles all of the features of these print formats. In addition, many of the advanced features of our PRO Transforms are available in PRO Viewer.

The need for this type of solution truly runs deep into the workflow management and development cycles of most HVTO print operations. Imagine the ability to give your developers the chance to accurately view, with dot-level fidelity, the print file output without the need for proofing the work on a production printer. 

Developers can see the incremental changes they have made to their composition or document re-engineering projects immediately to ensure that the latest changes had the desired effect, before proceeding on to the next set of changes. You could also give your creative and operations team the ability to guarantee that a variable data print application will be delivered with complete accuracy. 

PRO Viewer can also be used to support your operations team as they troubleshoot problematic files on the fly, along with the ability to view the same print-streams that CrawfordTech offers in the PRO Transform solution. 

Many print files are often stored in archives and retained for future reference or reprint purposes. PRO Viewer can be used to let Customer Service staff view and print directly from these archive files. This can improve the efficiency and accuracy of these employees. And let you have fast access to those precious archives.

Sometimes you just need to view the print file…