Every studio has one tool nobody talks about, because it is always open and always working.
At CCL Label Ashford, that tool is PitStop Pro.
Martina Florczak works there as a studio operator. Customer artwork lands on her desk close to press-ready, though rarely all the way there. Booklets need to sit inside tolerance, colors need to end up in the right space, and the press schedule does not wait.
Booklets that land inside tolerance
Booklet labels leave very little room for error. When a customer's text area comes in too big or too small, someone has to bring it back inside spec before the job moves on.
Most of the time, what I use PitStop Pro for is booklets for certain clients. A lot of the time it's just to fit them within the tolerance, especially if the text area is too big or too small. It's always nice to fit them perfectly.
Martina Florczak, Studio Operator at CCL Label Ashford
That work happens directly in the PDF, inside Adobe Acrobat, meaning you don't have to slow down at any point.
Color conversions, handled in seconds
Color is the other daily job. Customers send RGB when the job needs black. Other customers send black when the job needs CMYK. Both conversions have to happen before the file reaches production, and both used to mean going back to the design application.
That is my favorite task to use PitStop Pro for. As much as you can do that in InDesign, it's just much quicker in PitStop Pro.
Martina Florczak, Studio Operator at CCL Label Ashford
Quicker matters when you multiply it by every job in the queue.
They tested what life looks like without it
Plenty of studios assume their prepress tools are nice to have, but not a necessity. Martina's team decided to find out.
We actually did a try-out to not use PitStop Pro, to see how difficult it would be. It actually is a bit hard without it.
Martina Florczak, Studio Operator at CCL Label Ashford
The experiment ended the way these experiments usually end.
It's my favorite tool to use. I enjoy using it, and it's just something I use without even thinking about it.
Martina Florczak, Studio Operator at CCL Label Ashford
That says a lot. The best prepress tool is the one you stop noticing, because it has already become part of how you work.
Want the same for your studio?
If your operators spend their day fixing text areas and converting color spaces, PitStop Pro puts the solution where your files already are: in Adobe Acrobat.
