Job folder structure and archiving

The problem

Prepress departments have a standard way of working on jobs. However, each team member may do things a little differently. This can lead to confusion when handing jobs off. Which file is latest? Where are the corrected files for print?

Switch can create a job folder structure for each new job that goes into production. A parent job folder with subfolders for customer files, production files, preflight reports, etc. After jobs are off press, Switch can archive jobs in a consistent, standardized way. 

 

 

 

The Switch solution

 

 

With this solution, Switch packages incoming customer files, creates a copy and places them in a default folder structure for production, and lastly checks for old jobs and sends them to an archive volume:

  • Jobs enter the flow through a submit point and are duplicated. One copy is zipped as original files and one used for production.
  • Using a Set Hierarchy element, both the zipped originals and the production files are placed in a default folder structure. For example: Year>Month>Job number>Original files and Year>Month>Job number>Production files.
  • An Inject job element is used in-line to copy a default set of empty folders to the Production files directory. For example, it could contain folders for fonts, images, print-ready PDF, etc.
  • The bottom path of the flow uses an Inject job element to weekly send a dummy job which triggers a command-line to move all files older than 90 days into the flow. Those files are then routed to an archive volume using a standardized folder structure.

 

 Benefits

  • Prepress teams spend less time looking for files
  • Job uniformity makes troubleshooting simpler 
  • Worry-free archiving of post-production jobs

 

 

Flow elements and modules used for this case 

 

Client module - Allows users to access Switch workflows from a browser. Learn more.

Archive - creates a ZIP file of the job passed to it.

Inject job - injects a job into a flow based on the incoming job or time-based properties.

 

Set hierarchy path - changes the job path hierarchy segments.

Archive hierarchy - sends jobs to a location using the job's hierarchy path.

 

 

 

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