PrintFactory Subscription

PrintFactory Subscription

PrintFactory is delivered in 2 ways:

  1. Full subscription (SaaS, availability depending on region)
  2. Owned product copy with services subscription
The Full Subscription (SaaS) delivers the full product and services without an upfront investment, except for the installation fee charged by the dealer. However when the subscription is stopped both the product and services are stopped.
With the Owned Copy with Subscription a product copy is bought and a lower subscription fee is used to deliver the updates and services. When the subscription is stopped the services are stopped and the product is frozen in the state at the end of the subscription.
The subscription plan consist of:
  • PrintFactory product
  • Updates and upgrades
  • Support
  • Free driver swaps in the same category
  • Cost calculation (ink, media, time)
  • Production data insight and reporting
  • Cloud backup and sharing of profiles and configurations
  • Unlimited RIP computers
  • Unlimited Layout and Editor seats (Connect plan)
  • Web to Print / MIS connector (Connect plan only)

Plans

PrintFactory is delivered in a few flavours. Each of them come with almost all tools and profile creating tools included. All plans are scalable and seamless networking. So no matter how many RIPs, pre-press stations or other components are installed they work together as one managed application.
The price of the plan is influenced by 2 elements:
    • Tool set (Production/Connect)
    • Size (Number of connected printers)

PRODUCTION provides all the basic tools for extensive setups with several editors and multiple printers or cutters. Total control. Consistent colour, completely scalable workflows. Includes:

  • Unlimited Layout seats (for smart nesting, templates, and total manual control)

  • Unlimited Editor seats (for design quality pre-press tools that speed up your workflow)

  • ​Flatbed and roll-to-roll cutter support

  • Prepare, print and cut faster with more control over nesting and layouts.

CONNECT provides total, cloud-based control and guaranteed increases in productivity for lights-out production operations. Industry 4.0 ready. Contact us now for an on-site consultation. Everything in Production +

  • WorkFlow prepress automation

  • XML connectivity

  • Nesting job bags, tracking labels

  • Full Web-2-Print integration

  • Dynamic job scheduling

  • Bi-directional integration with ERP and MIS systems

  • Unlimited scalability

  • Variable data

  • Full Automation (Industry 4.0)

Cloud

The PrintFactory services are referred to under the name PrintFactory Cloud and is a collection of tools that is available in The Cloud and therefore accessible from any location and any device (computer or tablet).
Each PrintFactory RIP has a bi-directional connection to the PrintFactory Manager allowing it to store production data and logs, backup all resources (profiles, etc) and share them with the other installations.
For PrintFactory Connect plan user it also allows connecting to 3rd party workflows, Web-2-Print solutions or MIS/ERP systems via the PrintFactory Manager. This allows those systems to access all data stored and to inject and track jobs.

Updates and upgrades

As of PrintFactory 5 the product is no longer delivered as individual payable updates and upgrades. Therefore the version number has no significant commercial meaning anymore and is used only to determine which iteration of the product is installed.

PrintFactory is delivered as a series of smaller updates, usually once a month, allowing us to roll-out a new feature as soon as it is available. Instead of holding back on it in order to be able to create a bigger payable update.
All updates are automatically distributed through the PrintFactory Manager connection. The roll-out of updates can again be controlled from the PrintFactory Manager interface to avoid unexpected changes.

Support

The dealer delivers on-site and phone support. Additional charges may apply depending on the response level (SLA). All users get access for one or more employees to the support portal of the PrintFactory Manager. This support portal offers web based support which is initially handled by your own dealer (1st line) but is fully backed by the regional Aurelon support departments (2nd line) and eventually the engineering support (3rd line). This ensures that always all expertise is available, combined with the local staff of the dealer who can deliver quick response support.

Driver swaps

Capital Purchase
To exchange a driver within the same class or a lower class, you will require a valid subscription. 
If the new driver is of the same price or higher, we offer a 100% reimbursement. This allows you to have greater flexibility in selecting a driver without incurring additional costs if you choose a higher-priced option.
Kindly note that no refund will be provided when exchanging a higher category driver for a lower category driver.

Cost calculation

Each job that is printed through one of the connected PrintFactory RIPs is recorded in the PrintFactory Manager including the media used and time used. Along with the ability to set-up price-list for your media and ink and the ability to calibrate the ink usage (to take cleaning and other ink consuming actions in account) the PrintFactory Manager reports detailed cost information of each job.

Reporting

Live Dashboard

PrintFactory Manager shows a live dashboard with an overview of all the printers and cutters on all sites. It shows the usage, state, current job in production and jobs waiting to be produced.



Reports

All connected PrintFactory RIPs send details reports on their activities to the PrintFactory Manager. This data can be access by queries generating PDF reports of export to Excel (XLS) for further processing.
The reports include usage hours, off-line/down hours, ink usage, media usage, etc. over a given period of time and a selection of printers allowing also to compare the performance of individual printers.


Backup & Sharing

All configurations and resources like profiles are automatically backed up in the cloud and shared among all connected RIPs. A modification done on a profile, template or other resources is automatically synced with all other RIPs so that they all use the same version of the resource. This make managing multiple RIPs seamless and effortless.

Each modification is stored as a revision, so accidental wrong changes can be rolled back to a previous version of the profile or other resource.

The total configuration of all RIPs on each site can be managed from the PrintFactory Manager and always reflects the current state as each change is automatically backed up.


Connect

As part of the Connect plan a gateway is opened to the data and resources in the PrintFactory Manager. This Cloud based connector provides access to all data and each individual instance of the RIP from an external application. This allows for subscription to specific data to your systems. Conversely, it enables the injection of  jobs and files and resources to any of the connected RIP instances, streamlining processes and enhancing connectivity.

Unlimited RIPs

To be able to have a scaling capacity, potentially using automatic scaling VM machines, that grows with your capacity needs there is no restriction on the number of connected RIPs. So if a data hungry printer needs multiple RIPs to feed it, there is no limitation to (dynamically ) scale up and distribute the load over more computers.

    • Related Articles

    • Direct Subscription Account Management

      Direct subscription holders have the flexibility to add or remove devices from their subscription and modify their plan through the Cloud Hub. Any adjustments made to the license will result in an automatic billing adjustment. To make these ...

    • PrintFactory Topology

      PrintFactory Topology Due to the modular nature of PrintFactory we are able to accommodate many different infrastructure topologies, from simple ‘1 box’ installs to complex distributed multisite solutions. This document aims to explain the concepts ...

    • PrintFactory Topology

      Due to the modular nature of PrintFactory we are able to accommodate many different infrastructure topologies, from simple ‘1 box’ installs to complex distributed multisite solutions. This document aims to explain the concepts and and powerful ...

    • PrintFactory Quick Start Guide

      Activating your licence This couldn’t be easier: Follow the instructions in the email If you don't get an email then please check your spam You’re ready to go. Setting up new printers Setting up new printers takes a few seconds. For best results, we ...

    • About PrintFactory Queues and PMM

      To be able to create a queue in PrintFactory RIP, or to print to the PrintFactory RIP from PrintFactory Editor you need to have profiles installed for that printer in the Calibration folder. You first need copy profiles in the calibration folder, or ...