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PReS Connect is intended for high volume commercial and corporate communications management. With PReS Connect, customers can produce high-volumes of print, emails and web pages, at high-speed, thanks to optimized outputs that includes AFP.
What’s more, PReS Connect comes with the powerful PReS workflow technology, enabling automation capabilities lacking from similar tools. Other solutions on the market were not designed from the start with email and web capabilities in mind. PReS Connect, on the other hand, was built from the ground up using standard, state of the art Web technologies, such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. This makes it simpler to learn and use by IT personnel and technical employees.
PReS Connect offers a toolbox for high-volume document creation and production. It can be used to create fully-personalized business communications natively for all output types, including print, email and the Web. It can work with any software and hardware, and offers full automation capability.
Best suited for high volume output production markets, PReS Connect comes with AFP/IPDS output, and is available with a selection of options that gives users the ability to customize their solution to their business' specific needs.
Benefits
- High-volume output
- Ability to receive data and print jobs in any format
- Highly scalable performance
- Can be used as a collaborative tool, with some people taking care of the data mapping, others creating document designs, and others managing output generation and distribution
- Thanks to its unified data model, data collection and management is simplified, whatever the data source
- Since it is based on current Web technologies, it is easier to learn and use
- A true multi-channel solution that lets you use documents for multiple purposes with various formats
- Communicate relevant information and targeted messages with customers based on each customer's preferences
- Leverages new communication trends without the need to change existing systems or buy separate tools and without complex programming
- Repurpose print and email to add customer-specific information from other data sources
- Reduces manual labor
- Eliminates human error
- Improves customer experience
- Involves no complicated switch-over for transitions or migrations
The Workflow Module
Workflow can take any information from any source and send it anywhere required. It is available in two different brands depending on whether it is installed with PReS Connect or PlanetPress Connect*. Both brands are technically identical to one another.
Using PReS\PlanetPress Workflow is similar to the PlanetPress Workflow 7 series. The Workflow component allows for the automation of steps as would be described in a flowchart diagram. Designing workflows in Connect is therefore similar to creating flowcharts.
Key Benefits
- A Workflow process can be triggered by input data or at a specific date and time. Each process therefore starts with an 'input'.
- To process the input data, Workflow uses a data mapping configuration.
- At each step along the way, Workflow can modify the data and make decisions based on the data, etc.
- Workflow processes typically end with data being used to generate documents that can be printed, sent by email, or sent as replies to Website requests.
- Documents may also be archived or stored on external databases or document management systems.
- A variety of plugins are provided that can be used to create variable documents and send them in many different ways.
- With interactive documents, multiple workflows can be used to handle different or multi-stage responses.
* Note that no version of Workflow is available for PrintShopMail Connect because Workflow is not supported with this brand.
The Data Mapper
The OL Connect DataMapper is able to deal with complex data sources, such as relational and multi-dimensional databases.
Like Workflow, the DataMapper operates in a flowchart fashion. In the case of the DataMapper though, the flowchart steps describe how the data is to be mapped to the Data Model.
The following input types are supported depending on the brand
- CSV, Access, PDF, Text, XML, PostScript, PCL* and AFP*
- Database: JDBC, MDB, MySQL, ODBC, Oracle, SQL Server
* Features sold separately.
DataMapper Wizards are also available for
- CSV
- PDF\VT
- XML
- Database
- Generated Counters
The workflow for using the DataMapper Module is as follows
- Open a data file, PDF, PS, or AFP resource or connect to a database.
- Find the location of the next piece of data.
- Data is extracted, either piece per piece, or in groups or batches.
- Loops and conditions may be used when reading the data.
- The extracted data is stored in a Data Model, which is designed to accommodate all data types.
- The data mapping configuration is saved and can then be used with OL Connect Designer and Workflow.
See the story at:
The Designer
Documents created in the Connect Designer can be printed, emailed, faxed or sent as replies to Website requests. They can be edited in fully WYSIWYG Design and Preview modes. Or scripted using the full power of HTML, CSS and JavaScript in a dedicated Source window:
Highlights of the Designer
The Designer includes the following features
- Welcome Screen for getting started
- Template wizards for Email, Print and Web
- Responsive Design View for Smartphones and Tablets
- Wizards for tables and common barcode types
- Insertion of common HTML and form elements
- Support for Capture OnTheGo form elements
- Tools for Pie, Bar and Line Charts
- Easy navigation through records
- Support for multiple conditions
- Numbered and bulleted lists
- Master page support
- WYSIWYG editor for Snippets
- Locale and preferences
- Finishing options
Connect's drag-and-drop user interface combined with intuitive wizards make it easy to create almost any complex design. Content for the various supported communication channels can be reused as required.
To create a new template
- Select a template wizard from the Welcome screen
- Add data from a file or load a DataMapper configuration
- Design your variable document using the options in the menus or by copying HTML/ CSS/JavaScript directly into the Source window.
- Generate output directly from the Designer or automate production using PlanetPress\PReS Workflow.
Output Creation
Output can be generated for Print, Email, Fax and Web. OL Connect provides a full range of settings and options for each output type.
They include:
- PostScript, PPML, PCL, AFP* and IPDS*
- Generic and customized printer definition files
- Automation through the Workflow module
- Clustered server environments for faster production (PReS Connect only)
- Booklet impositioning
- Selective inserts
- Bleed
- Dynamic folder and file names
- Media Size and Custom Pages
- Proof printing
- Preflight option
- Background printing
- Control scripts
- Grouping and separation
- Filtering and sorting
- Media mapping for PostScript
- PDF signatures
- Override finishing settings
*PReS Connect and PSM Connect only
A fully integrated Print Wizard makes it easy for document production specialists to make output settings at print time.
Settings can be made on-the-fly or reloaded from previous production runs. Output can also be automated through the Workflow module. Options can be set for error handling and Virtual Stationery can be used in place of preprinted media.