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If you own or operate a digital CRD, either in-house or 'for-pay', you know the growing need for a standard, common, highly-functional front-end to manage tasks across all of the digital devices in your print room.
Ease of use is crucial in today’s print rooms, as workflows are evolving and becoming more complex every day:
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Users have more powerful tools to create and share documents (feature-rich word-processors, publishing applications, portable formats, high capacity media, LANs, internet, etc.)
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Jobs can therefore arrive to your print room from anywhere, at any time, in any format. There is minimum or no control at all on job arrival from your customers.
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Morevover, printing staffs are often faced with a range of equipment and systems, confusing control panels or interfaces, and inconsistent capabilities.
In this scenario, printer vendors over the past years have added plenty of capabilities to their software tools. Which is good. But they have forgotten a whole range of traditional applications, still hard to die:
PAPER DOCUMENTS!
Yes: in spite of PDF large adoption, in spite of internet and intranets, in spite of powerful web-to-print solutions, there is still an unsatisfied need of an easy-to-use software encompassing all functions required to manage paper-based worklows in a digital - yet simple - way.
This is exactly where Docs fits. A very simple to understand and easy-to-use software to scan paper documents, edit (cleanup, cut areas, shift borders, add logos's, etc.), and make them ready for printing.
As simple as that.
Docs is NOT another print driver to print Word documents.
Docs is NOT a complex queue management and spooling system.
Docs is NOT a new trendy program for variable data.
Docs is NOT a sophisticated color management solution.
Docs IS the software to SCAN, EDIT, and MAKE READY documents that arrive to print room on paper.
No more. No less. Just effective.
Example of paper-based workflow
A hard copy master arrives at the print room to be reproduced. Attached is also the job ticket, with the requests by the sender.
The print workflow manager routes the task to the capture Docs station, where the operator can:
1. scan the paper originals
2. view the pages, rotate, reorder, append
3. The digital file can now be edited to make it ready for printing:
- border removal
- page shift
- deskew
- crop
- select/copy/paste areas
- etc.
4. The fully enhanced file is converted to PDF
5. Finally - if needed - PDF is imposed before submitting it to the printer.
Is it old style? Maybe. Nevertherless, paper documents still exists, and software programs that do what Docs does are very very few.
Romantic Story of Docs
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Several years ago, when the digital printing/Print-on-Demand market was just starting, two guys decided to create from scratch a product that did not exist.
If you are familiar with the old copy market, it was the time of copy 'legends', work-horses like 5090, 5100, or Ek235 and Ek300, just to name few...
Such high-volume duplicators were still in field, and a lot of paper documents were submitted to print rooms, but leading printer manufacturers were launching in the market a new generation of production devices.
Print-of-Demand was borning.
Some of the new machines were very well thought, with fully embedded copying capabilities, while others had a major 'lack': they were just... printers, that is they had no copying features.
So, early adopters of some digital printers were loosing the capabilities required to print paper documents, that represented at that time still a large share of the total click volume.
Here the opportunity: let's create a software that just acts as the missing link between the paper and the production printers!
Digital printers were therefore complemented with a "scanner + Docs" tandem, and the overall solution (scanner + Docs + printer) made hundreds of customers happy worldwide, thanks to this new generation of "Scan-to-Print" applications.
The very first version of Docs was an amazing interface... and a pretty limited set of features. Over the years, interface has become more 'standard', and plenty new features have been added, to manage paper documents as well as PDF documents.
Nevertherless, the core strenghts and unicities of Docs still rely on the paper management. Which by the way recently opened new opportunity for Docs in the scanning market, in pure scanning applications. Mainly in "Scan-to-PDF" applications, for archiving and web publishing purposes.
Let's now move to see what capabilities Docs offers today in the native area of Scan-to-Print.
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What to Do with Docs
Scanning features
- Scan from TWAIN source
- Scan at any resolution
- Ability to scan black&white or color images
- Ability to scan relying on manufacturer scan driver
- Scan-to-Disk
- Display scanned images
- Zoom In/zoom out selected areas of scanned images
- Set document source: TWAIN or document folder (batch processing)
- Set scanning folder path (multiple scan sessions can be addressed to different folders, to allow a better workflow management)
- Batch processing of scanned documents
- Capability to close TWAIN session after each scan
- Set scanning images filename prefix
- Set filename suffix counter
- Set output image format (default: TIFF G4, JPEG, uncompressed TIFF)
- Set output image depth
- Apply text to scanned images
- Set text properties: font name, type, color, size
- Set text orientation
- Apply numbering to scanned images
- Apply date to scanned images
- Set positioning of text, date, numbers
- Append new images to previously scanned ones
- Insert new images between previously scanned ones
- Rotate pages
Document Viewing Features
- View TIFF and JPEG documents
- Set thumbnail rows x columns
- Zoom IN/OUT into a thumbnail
- Select one/multiple/all images
- Reorder pages
- Rotate pages 180, +90, -90
- Delete selected pages
- Move selected images before/after a page
- Copy selected images before/after a page
- Undo modifications
- Double click on image to edit it
- Insert blank page (with possibility to set orientation, size, resolution)
Document Editing
- General settings
- Set unit of measure
- Show/don’t show rulers and guides
- Display images in portrait or landscape
- Browse document pages
- Set one or multiple vertical guides
- Set one or multiple horizontal guides
- Ability to apply changes only to displayed image, on a group of selected images, or on the whole document
- Undo/redo at page level (4 levels)
- Undo/redo at document level (1 level)
Area settings
- Select area
- Cut-Copy-Paste a selected area
- Available “paste” modes for a selected area: normal | behind | transparent
- Shrink selected area
- Enlarge selected area
- Rotate selected area by X degrees
- Set brightness for selected area
- Set contrast for selected area
- Move selected area (either manually or by setting arrival top-left X,Y coordinates of the area)
- Export selected area to clipboard
- Crop area
- Erase area in a bounding box
- Erase area out of a bounding box
Page settings
- Despeckle
- Border removal: upper, lower, left, right; set same values or individual values
- Deskew page(s) by X degrees
- Page shift: top/down/left/right; set same values or individual values; even/odd/all/alternate mirroring pages
- Split page: 1xTabloid into 2xLetter, 1xA3 into 2xA4 (e.g. in case of book scanning from flatbed)
- Fast page rotation 90° - 180°
- Zoom IN - Zoom OUT
- Page resize (full page can be resized to a % proportionally)
- Crop page image
- Add crop marks
- Change output media size
Annotations
- Apply text (save font, type, size, colour, position, rotation)
- Apply page numbers (save font, type, size, color, position center left right outside)
- Draw shapes (elipses, lines, rectangles; set line thickness, line stile, fill style, color)
General features
- User interface available in 5 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian)
- Ability to set a working folder (“inbasket”) to manage the workflow of documents
- Set inbasket path
- Set document naming convention for acquired images (default prefix)
- Set viewing convention for images (original orientation or always portrait)
- Set units of measure (pixel, mm, inches, picas, points)
- Customize menu toolbar look&feel: view/don’t view label under icons, set icon position to allow visual workflow
- Customize general product Info with End User logo, Vendor logo and contacts, including web site and e-mail address for asking technical support
- Set local preferences for each module installed
- Online Help
- Rename documents
- Renumber documents
- Select one or multiple or all documents
- Delete selected document(s)
- Ability to restrict current workflow just to selected documents
- Access any documents (and files) on the PC from within the application
- Access any documents on system resources (local PC and network) from within the application
- Select one or multiple documents at a time
- Move selected documents from a folder to another
- Copy selected documents from a folder to another
- Import selected documents into inbasket (unlimited)
- Delete selected documents
- Delete selected folder
- Sharing folders
- Setting folder attributes
- Setting folder security
- Open selected document with native application (if available)
- Print document with standard driver
- Zip document
- Unzip zipped document
- Zip and e-mail document
- Send document to media (floppy, CD, external drive)
- Send document to hard disk (Scan-to-Disk)
- Send document to e-mail (Scan-to-email)
- Cut-Copy-Paste document
- Rename document
- Create document shortcut
- Access document properties
- View image properties: path, format, resolution, depth, type, compression
Document assembly
- Combine multiple multipage documents into a new document, reordering pages, deleting pages, etc.
- Set orientation of pages (original or always portrait)
- Collect multiple PDF, TIFF, JPEG documents and merge them into a new PDF document
- Display pages of new PDF document
- Edit PDF pages with Acrobat from within Docs
- Advanced capabilities to create bookmark tree
- Reorder bookmarks
- Add, delete, rename bookmark
- Dynamic creation of Table of Contents
- Remove subset of bookmark tree
- Automatic addition of blank pages
- Add header and footer
- Add page numbers (left/right/mirrored)
- Add total number of pages
- Add date
- Add time
- Add chapter name (from bookmark name)
- Set header and footer fonts and positioning
- Ability to export PDF bookmarks to use them as TABs
TIFF-to-PDF and other Document Format Conversions
- Convert tiff, jpeg, gif documents to PDF
- Convert single TIFF documents to multiTIFF
- Convert PDF documents to PostScript
- Extract TIFF pages wrapped in PDF documents
- Set output page format while converting image documents
- Set output filename
- Save default conversion settings
Imposition (PDF only)
- N-up signatures: 1-Up, 2-Up, 4-Up, 8-Up, 16-Up
- Booklet signatures
- Select output paper format: A4, A4, A5, Letter, tabloid, Ledger
- Fit to page
- Center page
- Tilt image
- Set internal gutter
- Save library of custom paper sizes
- Set offset (distance from media border)
- ...
TAB Creation (only in Professional version for printing partners)
- Add TABs to PDF documents
- Add TABs to TIFF documents
- Visual display of TABs positions and texts through the document
- Definition of number of TABs per bank
- TAB reordering
- Insert TAB on a blank page or on a page to be printed
- Font setting (type, size, color, orientation, alignment)
- Manual TAB positioning
- Automatic TAB positioning
- Manual setting of text in TAB
- Automatic setting of text in TABs
- Possibility to apply last-minute manual modifications to texts and TAB order
- Save TAB templates (where to place TABs within the document, what text on each TAB) for later reuse
- Ability to kick-out exceeding TABs on each bank (when printing to Digimaster)
- Ability to import PDF bookmarks (created with Book Builder) and use them as TABs
Printing (only in Professional version for printing partners)
Print with standard driver
Set advanced printing capabilities through "custom printers" (*)
Ability to create and drive multiple printers (up to 6, more available on demand as customization)
Set server/network configuration for each printer
Visually set hardware configuration for each printer (paper supplies, inserter, stackers, finishing devices)
Currently available custom interfaces: Digimaster 9110/9125/9150, Ricoh 105/90 ppm, Canon 105/90 ppm
Job Ticketing
WYSIWYG ability to set complete Job Ticket (print options)
Download paper catalogs (Digimaster)
Set body paper
Set cover paper (first and last)
Set separators
Printing mode (simplex, duplex long edge, duplex short edge, booklet)
Finishing (none, top staple, bottom staple, multiple staples, untrimmed saddle stitch, trimmed saddle stitch, binding, third party finishing options)
Set paper substitutions
Create library of templates for paper substitutions
Chapters
Separators
Ability to finish chapters separately
Ability to print TABs
Ability to kick-out exceeding TABs on each bank
Print status page (none, always, always on error)
Message to Operator
Accounting/billing Information
Set Job Name
Set User Name
Allow document storage on printer hard disk
View, save, modify KDK commands
Collate sets
Set page range to print
Set number of copies to print
Save Print Ticket template
Load Print Ticket templates
Save a Print Ticket template as default
Able to store Jobs (document + print ticket) electronically, index and archive jobs for future reprints
Submit job to printer
Ask Proof set
Invert page order
Submit multiple documents with same options to printer
Submit job to printer
(*) What is a "Custom Printer"?
Custom Printers are special interfaces, exclusive from Ad Hoc, that allow printing to high-volume printers even more easily than printing to desktop ones.
Users can:
- set paper types, covers, drawers, inserts
- set printing mode (duplex, pamphlet, …)
- set finishing options
- select one or multiple print-ready-file to print (TIFF, PS, PDF, JPEG)
- save job ticket
- The graphical user interface, fully iconic, intuitive and ergonomic, let users avoid wrong settings and minimize number of clicks.
Available Custom Printers(**):
- Heidelberg Digimaster series
- Canon iR110/125/150 VP
- Danka IS2105/IS2090
- Gestetner10512/9002
- Lanier LD090/LD0105
- Nashuatec 10515
- RexRotary 10518
- Ricoh Aficio 2105/2090
- Savin 40105/4090
(**) Xerox® and all their brand names listed here and throughout our web site are registered trademarks of Xerox Corporation; Canon® and all their brand names listed here and throughout our web site are registered trademarks of Canon Corporation; Kodak® and all their brand names listed here and throughout our web site are registered trademarks of Eastman Kodak Corporation; Heidelberg® and all their brand names listed here and throughout our web site are registered trademarks of Heidelberg Corporation; KonicaMinolta® and all their brand names listed here and throughout our web site are registered trademarks of KonicaMinolta Corporation.
Download Trial Version
You can download here a trial version of the software.
This trial version is fully functional: you can test all product functionalities for 15 days.
We will never sell, rent, or transfer your e-mail address to anybody,
and you can of course always request not to receive any further information from us.
Prices
| Configurations |
Price
per license
(Euro) |
Annual
SMA
(Software Maintenance
Agreement)
- Optional -
(Euro) |
Upgrade
from previous version
(when not covered by SMA)
(Euro) |
Classic
(Scan+Edit) |
€ 900,00
(*) |
€ 90,00
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€ 300,00
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| Professional version for Printing Parners |
ask quotation |
ask quotation |
ask quotation |
(VAT to be applied where needed)
(*) Small businesses can request payment in 3 monthly installments of Euro 310,00 (3x310,00).
Orders are carefully processed manually, and invoiced. Please send your company name, address, and VAT Code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What types of documents can Docs manage?
A: Docs addresses printing needs for virtually any kinds of “static” documents (which still represent the large majority of print volumes in most environments):
• User Guides
• Service Guides
• Training Manuals
• Course Packs (Trainers/Consultants)
• University Exercise Books
• Technical Specification Manuals
• Product Documentation
• Thesis
• Catalogs
• Price Lists
• Sales and Marketing collateral (Presentations, Overheads,…)
• Newsletters
• Reports
• Letters, Memos
• Short run, on-demand book publishing
• Forms and statements
• … |
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Q: What are the ideal target printers?
A: Any production printer (110+ ppm), and High Volume Copier-Printers (70-105 ppm) installed in centralized print rooms where paper documents still arrive and have to be adjusted before printing.
Q: Who can benefit of Docs for Scan-to-Print applications?
- In House CRD’s
- Professional Printers
- Graphic Arts
- Print for Pay
- Quick Print
- Print Shops
- Copy Shops
- Service Bureaus
- Facilities Management Agencies
Q: Are there any preferred target industries whre Docs firs better?
A: No, this software is industry-independent. There are installations in all sectors, it just depends of the documents arriving to the print room, or outsourced to a professional printer.
Just to name a few industries:
- Manufacturing
- Education and Training
- Public Administrations
- Digital Print/Graphic Arts
- HealthCare
- Finance
- Telecom/Utilities
- Business Services
Q: Compatibility?
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Supports any printers with Microsoft Windows drivers
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Supports any Twain scanner with Microsoft Windows driver
Q: What languages are availbale?
A: Docs is available in the following languages (*):
- English
- Italian
- French
- German
- Spanish
(*) User interface. Manuals are in English only.
Q: What are the system requirements?
A:
- Windows XP Professional SP2 - Vista is NOT supported.
- PC Pentium IV - 3 GHz or higher
- 1 GB RAM min (2 GB recommended)
- SuperVGA card, min 1024x768 - 24 bit
- USB or PARALLEL port available
- Min 400 MB free disk space
- Adobe Reader 6.0
Q: How can I order the software?
A: Just submit an request of information, or just your fomal P.O., to orders@adhoc-online.com. You will promptly receive a reply with all the information: order confirmation, procedures, prices, configurations, post-sales services, etc.
We process orders MANUALLY: a human being will be happy to assist you, feel free to ask any questions.
Q: May I submit my P.O. via fax?
A: Sure, send it to +39-02-87399063.
Q: How can I pay the software?
A: After submitting your order, you will receive a pro-forma invoice including our references for wire transfer. After payment, the package will be shipped to your attention, together with invoice.
Q: Technical assistance?
A: Love this question! Please refer to Software Maintenance & Assistance to see how different we are.
Download Trial Version
We will never sell, rent, or transfer your e-mail address to anybody,
and you can of course always request not to receive any further information from us.
Need more information? E-mail your questions
docs@adhoc-online.com
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