PrimeCenter, our prepress solution

What is PrimeCenter?

Discover our prepress solution

PrimeCenter is a prepress software developed by Caldera in order to help print service providers optimize their job preparation for digital printing and cutting. Automating repetitive prepress tasks brings significant benefits— save time on prepress, increase the productivity of your operators, and reduce media usage to increase your margin.

At Caldera, we believe that saving valuable production time starts at the prepress stage, during which all errors can be prevented to ensure a streamlined workflow. We designed PrimeCenter as a versatile software that can benefit print operations of all sizes. It integrates seamlessly with your RIP software to save valuable time in file preparation, which allows you to focus on printing and cutting rather than prepress. Furthermore, PrimeCenter embeds advanced automation capabilities to streamline daily repetitive tasks.

Schema of Caldera workflow

Where does PrimeCenter fit in my production?

PrimeCenter is a prepress tool sitting upstream of your RIP station.

Your orders (or jobs) are first submitted to PrimeCenter, either manually, from a web shop or an ERP. At this stage, you can trust PrimeCenter to handle all your prepress tasks: nesting, preflighting, management of print bleed, margins, cut marks, annotations, barcodes & QR codes, etc.

After generating perfectly optimized layouts, PrimeCenter sends both PDF files (the print file and the cut file) to production. At this stage, CalderaRIP software or any RIP of your choice can be integrated to RIP the files, making them ready for printing. Once your files are printed, they’re already ready for cutting, since PrimeCenter generates ready-to-cut PDF files.

PrimeCenter Key Benefits

Achieve significant time-savings

Create your own “recipes” to automate repetitive manual tasks such as nesting, preflighting, resizing, adding print bleed, annotations, cut marks, barcodes, QR codes and more. Recipes can be saved in your configurations to be reused as many times as necessary!

Avoid media waste

PrimeCenter helps you to create perfectly optimized layouts and fix errors early in the prepress stage to streamline your entire production and avoid unwanted media waste.

Compatible with all your cutters

PrimeCenter is compatible with any cutter controller supporting the PDF format, making it the perfect tool for any production environment. To streamline the cutting process and help you save even more time, PrimeCenter generates ready-to-cut filed in layered PDF, the most used file format on the market.

PrimeCenter can be synchronized with Zünd Cut Center media and tools, and metadata can be transferred between PrimeCenter and your Zünd peripherals for cutting automation.

Enable job tracking and submission

PrimeCenter can be integrated with all types of ERP, MIS and web shops to simplify the job submission to the interface. Job tracking can also be improved using XML technology.

Automate your layout production for Print & Cut applications

Automation is the future of the digital printing industry, and PrimeCenter makes it easy for print operations of all sizes, by including a wide range of prepress features to help you prepare your files and save up to 42% time and 35% media.

Create perfect layouts

Save time and media with PrimeNesting

Based on cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, the PrimeNesting algorithm beats every manual nesting and achieves the best possible layouts at an unrivaled speed.

PrimeNesting guarantees up to 16% less media waste compared to CalderaRIP’s TrueShape Nesting.

Minimizing media waste allows to work toward a more sustainable production model while making your production more profitable. Automate the nesting process and let your team focus on added-value tasks!

Generate ready-to-cut PDF files

Manage cut contours and cut marks

When it comes to cutting and registration marks, advanced settings are included for more flexibility and to be compliant with your cutter and workflow restrictions. Choose the shape and size of your registration marks, and customize their placement with margin, spacing and edge mark settings.

PrimeCenter can also automatically generate accurate Cut Contours around your designs, both on vector and rasterized files. No need to do it manually in your design software!

Generate 100% ready-to-cut files and save time throughout your production.

Double-sided printing

New feature

Manage file-preparation for double-sided printing and cutting

File preparation for double-sided printing and cutting has never been easier, both for rectangular and non-rectangular shapes. When preparing double-sided banners or stickers, PrimeCenter helps you save valuable time, as it automatically generates the Side B, and correctly places the margins and the cutting marks to reduce manual errors.

Furthermore, you can also manage more complicated configurations, such as nests containing double-sided files with non-identical visuals on both sides. Using PrimeCenter’s advanced prepress tools, generate perfectly optimized layouts in just a few clicks to streamline your double-sided printing production and save even more time on prepress.

Preflight your files

Fix problems earlier to save money

The term preflight was coined after the aeronautical industry, as pilots usually do a pre-flight check to make sure everything works as it should. The same principle applies in the printing industry: fixing problems as early as possible during the prepress stage helps to avoid errors and waste.

All it takes is one small design problem to impact your entire production process— and end up with jobs that will be rejected by your customers. The main problems encountered during preflighting usually are missing images, missing fonts, resolution, transparency and color issues.

To handle this crucial step of checking your files, PrimeCenter embeds the powerful Callas Preflight Engine and ensures you are only working with compliant PDF files.

Automate your production with Ganging

Group your jobs together using metadata

Ganging refers to the process of grouping together jobs based on specific metadata (such as the customer’s name).

For example, if you submit 3 multi-page PDF files from 2 separate customers, PrimeCenter can use the files’ metadata (here the customer’s name) to queue the files in separate nests.

Ganging present significant benefits for the finishing and delivery processes. Save time by letting PrimeCenter sort out your files and layouts!

Automate output file-naming using Metadata

Link prepress to production with coherent filenames

PrimeCenter supports XML technology and metadata management in order to automate your prepress operations. Metadata refers to all the information that comes with the job file: the order number, the customer’s name, the order date, the delivery date, the printer, etc. They help you organize and filter your files.

When exporting both cut and print files from PrimeCenter, the layouts you created can be renamed by choosing from a variety of information: media name, number of copies, date, ganging metadata, etc.

Ease the identification process in both manual and automatic workflows, and link prepress to production with coherent file naming to save time throughout your entire production workflow.

And more!

Save even more time on prepress

Here are some of the other features that are available with PrimeCenter:

Apply mirroring and rotation fixups to your images
Add internal or external crop marks to your designs
Remove useless white areas around your designs
Apply Tear-off annotations to your jobs
Access our Preflight and Fixup Library through CalderaDock

Applications

PrimeCenter is a versatile prepress software compatible with all types of Print&Cut applications, including:


Banners & posters	Stickers	Point of Sale	Soft Signage

Compatibilities

PrimeCenter supports the following file formats: PDF, EPS, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, PS & AI.

PrimeCenter can be synchronized with Zünd Cut Center media and tools, and metadata can be transferred between PrimeCenter and your Zünd peripherals for cutting automation.

PrimeCenter is compatible with any RIP and cutter controller supporting PDF, but integrated only with CalderaRIP and Zünd Cut Center.

PrimeCenter is compatible with the following operating systems. For more details and information, please refer to our OS Compatibilities.


Windows	macOS	Debian

PrimeCenter Packages

PrimeCenter comes in three different packages with different features and automation capabilities to match the needs of your production.

BASIC

The manual version

Parameters for preflight,
nesting and other functions
are applied manually.
.

Manual Import

Manual Apply Recipe

Manual Export

1 user interface

HelpDesk access to FAQ
and tickets submission
(Dashboard also included for CalderaCare users)

Rectangular & True Shape Nesting

Canvas & True Shape Bleeding

Texts, Barcode 39 and QR Code

Trimbox with Padding

Manual preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Input Hotfolders

Ganging

Tear-Off Annotations

Meta-Data from filename

Output Hotfolders

XML Job Ticket

Automatic Preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Discover PrimeCenter Basic

PRO

The semi-automated version

Layouts from incoming files are automatically generated, though not exported to the controller or the RIP.
The application of parameters for preflight and nesting can be semi-automated via the creation of scripted actions.

Auto Import

Auto Apply Recipe

Manual Export

1 user interface

HelpDesk access to FAQ,
tickets submission,
Dashboard, and SLA (same as CalderaCare)

Rectangular & True Shape Nesting

Canvas & True Shape Bleeding

Texts, Barcode 39 and QR Code

Trimbox with Padding

Manual preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Input Hotfolders

Ganging

Tear-Off Annotations

Meta-Data from filename

Output Hotfolders

XML Job Ticket

Automatic Preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Discover PrimeCenter Pro

MAX

The fully automated version

Includes the features of PrimeCenter Pro,
but the automatically generated layouts
are also automatically exported
to the controller or the RIP.

Auto Import

Auto Apply Recipe

Auto Export

3 user interfaces

HelpDesk access to FAQ,
tickets submission,
Dashboard, and SLA (same as CalderaCare)

Rectangular & True Shape Nesting

Canvas & True Shape Bleeding

Texts, Barcode 39 and QR Code

Trimbox with Padding

Manual preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Input Hotfolders

Ganging

Tear-Off Annotations

Meta-Data from filename

Output Hotfolders

XML Job Ticket

Automatic Preflight, export of PDF and Cut files

Discover PrimeCenter Max

Interested in PrimeCenter?

Contact us through the form below to request a demo or to discuss with a Sales representative.

I’m interested in PrimeCenter

Download the PrimeCenter datasheet

What is PrimeCenter?

Discover our prepress solution

Where does PrimeCenter fit in my production?

PrimeCenter Key Benefits

Achieve significant time-savings

Avoid media waste

Compatible with all your cutters

Enable job tracking and submission

Automate your layout production for Print & Cut applications

Create perfect layouts

Save time and media with PrimeNesting

Generate ready-to-cut PDF files

Manage cut contours and cut marks

Double-sided printing

Manage file-preparation for double-sided printing and cutting

Preflight your files

Fix problems earlier to save money

Automate your production with Ganging

Group your jobs together using metadata

Automate output file-naming using Metadata

Link prepress to production with coherent filenames

And more!

Save even more time on prepress

Applications

Banners & posters

Stickers

Point of Sale

Soft Signage

Compatibilities

Windows

macOS

Debian

PrimeCenter Packages

Interested in PrimeCenter?

More information about our solutions

Version 14

Supported Peripherals

Contact