Generating Print output

In OL Connect, Print output can be generated directly from the Designer, or via an automated process in Workflow.

Connect supports a number of different types of print outputs. These include:

• AFP (Enterprise edition only)
• IPDS (Enterprise edition only) It produces a spool file, with printer control available through the Print Manager)
• PCL (Printer Control Language)
• PDF (Portable Document Format)
• PostScript (including the VIPP and VPS variants)
• PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language)

Note: The maximum number of pages is 9999 per record for each Print section.

Generating Print output from the Designer

Print output can only be generated from the Designer when a data set is available (see Loading data). The Designer merges all sections in the Print context (see Print context) with the data set, and generates the output using those data values.

To generate Print output, select File from the menu and choose Print or Proof Print.

Note:
Print uses the Print Service of the Connect Server. The default Connect Server and (if it is secured) an authenticated user must be configured in the Preferences (see Connect Servers preferences).
If these settings have not been applied, the Enter Credentials dialog is launched to allow selection of Server credentials.

Proof Print generates output directly from the Designer, without using the Print Service of the Connect Server. A Proof Print run won't impact upon production printing

• File > Print... allows the following printing options for both Job Preset and Output Presets:
  • Using the Default output settings.
    For more details, see Print using standard print output settings
  • Using the same settings that were last used to produce printed output.
    For more details, see Print using standard print output settings
    
  • Using entirely new output settings set via the Advanced option, which allows selection from a myriad of print output options.
    

    Note: These settings cannot be saved for later re-use. To do that, one should instead create print presets, which are designed to allow just this behavior.

    For a detailed description see Print using Advanced Printer Wizard .
    
  • Using previously saved Printing Preset options.
    
  See Print Presets for more details.
  

• File > Proof Print... allows either the default output settings; the last used output settings or previously saved Output Presets.
  For more detailed information on this option see Print using standard print output settings.
  

To dynamically select a section for output, use a Control Script; see Control Scripts.

To split the Print output into several files, see Splitting printing into more than one file.

Saving printing options in Print Presets

Selecting File > New > Presets allows you to create Print Presets (which contain all the printing options), which can be saved for re-use in later print runs. This can be particularly handy when creating special print runs, that need to be run periodically.

These presets make it possible to do such things as filtering and sorting records, grouping documents and splitting the print jobs into smaller print jobs, as well as the more standard selection of printing options, such as binding, OMR markings and the like.

See Print Presets for more details.

Generating Print output from Workflow

If you want to generate Print output via an automated process, this means that you have to design a Print process in the Workflow configuration tool.
For information about Connect Print processes in Workflow, see Print processes with OL Connect tasks.

Before creating the print process in the Workflow configuration tool, you will need to create:

• A template with a Print context. (See Creating a template)

In addition, the process may use:

• A data mapping configuration, or a data model at the very least, if the documents should contain variable data. (See Creating a new data mapping configuration.)

• A Job Preset (see Job Presets). A Job Preset defines where the output goes and makes it possible to filter and sort records, group documents, and add metadata.

• An Output Preset (see Output Presets). An Output Preset can split a print job into smaller print jobs, and set printing options such as binding, OMR markings and the like.

All of these files are made with the Designer and need to be sent to OL Connect Workflow before they can be used in the Workflow process (see Sending files to Workflow.

When the necessary files have been created and sent to Workflow, the next step is to create a process in OL Connect Workflow that generates Print output, using these files (see Print processes with OL Connect tasks).

Tip: For more information about how to create a process in Workflow, please refer to the Online Help of Workflow.

Tip: An easy way to setup a print project in OL Connect, including the print process and the files that it needs, is to use a Sample Project. There are two Sample Projects that create a sample print project. See Sample Projects.

There is also a Walkthrough sample that helps you build a Print process for Connect documents in the Workflow Configuration tool by yourself, step-by-step: Creating a Print process in Workflow.

Print settings in a template

There are a number of settings for the Print context and Print sections that have an impact on how Print sections are printed, which cannot be made in the Print Wizard or influenced through either a Job Preset or an Output Preset. They are made in and saved with the template.

These settings are:

• Duplex printing. Duplex printing has to be enabled for a Print section, in order to print that section on both sides of the paper. The same applies to Mixplex printing.
  See Enabling double-sided printing (Duplex, Mixplex).
• Finishing. The Print context , as well as each of the Print sections, can have its own Finishing settings. In printing, Finishing is the way pages are bound together after they are printed.
  See Setting the binding style for the Print context and Setting the binding style for a Print section.
  Also see Finishing options for an explanation of the Finishing options.
• Bleed. The margins around a page are called the Bleed. It can be used on some printers to ensure that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document.
  See Page settings: size, margins and bleed.
• Black overprint. The option to print small black text over other colors is referred to as black overprint. See Overprint and black overprint.

Aborting content creation

You may want the content creation process to be aborted in certain situations; for example, when a template script fails to load remote content. To abort the content creation process, you may raise a fatal error from within a script in the template; see fatalError(message).

When a script calls this function in Preview mode, the script that triggers it is marked with an error icon in the Scripts pane, and the given message is displayed in a hint.

When generating output from the Designer, the Designer will log the error and display an error dialog with the given message. Content creation is aborted.

When generating output from Workflow, the entire job fails. Workflow will log the error and execute any follow-up actions that are defined in the On Error tab of the respective OL Connect Content Creation task (All in One, Create Email Content, Create Print Content, Create Preview PDF, Create Web Content and Render Email Content). For more information about how to set up follow-up actions, see Using the On Error tab in the Workflow Help.