Alto Imaging Technologies

Price Comparison!

Bottom Line Comparison between Alto Internet Transaction Server (AITS) and efi Digital Storefront

   

We looked at the minimum and maximum configuration of a complete web-to-print solution based on EFI's Digital Storefront with MicroPress vs. Alto's Internet Transaction Server with Image Arranger and UltraPrint. The bottom line MSRP cost is:

		Min/Max			Min/Max
Total Price (3 Years)	ALTO Cost	$37987/$61740		efi Cost	$91,500/$181,200
Total Price (5 Years)	ALTO Cost	$44360/$72837		efi Cost	$104,500/207,000

   

You can see the complete details of the comparison here : ALTO vs. efi

If you ever needed a reason to propose Alto's solutions instead of efi's over-priced products, here it is!

We know as well as you that price is not the only issue in what you sell, but VALUE is. When you compare our record of robust and supportable products which you can install and enjoy many years of customer satisfaction with, and you can show your customers powerful yet easy-to-use solutions at unquestionably the best prices, why would you offer anything else?

   

New Software Updates Blog

In case you didn't notice, the earlier post (8/24) about software maintenance as well as the Enhancements section of our website have all been changed to point to the new blog focused on Alto Software Updates.  The blog has the complete history of previous releases in one summary posting per application, and each new release is a new post on the blog.  You can see the releases for any one application by selecting its name in the categories list, or you can search for releases that involve a particular function by using the general search box on the blog. 

Case Study – Music Publishing

Customer Application: Music Publishing

Three sites: Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago.

Job Requirement: Organize a data base to maintain copyrighted music for bands and choral groups, and print multi-part jobs to fulfill orders placed from company web site. Scan and clean-up hard copy of older music to enter into data base. Sites in Philadelphia and New York input all publications into data base located in the Chicago print center. Publications can originate from newly written music input from electronic format or scanned images from previously offset printed works.

Problems to be solved: 1) Set up data base in Chicago Print Shop to manage music content. Set up workstations in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago to input music with print tickets into Chicago data base. Supplied software must have the ability to set up job properties for multi-part printing (described in detail below). 2) Set up network connection for the collaborative workflow between the three sites when there is no existing WAN infrastructure.

In order to see the solution screen shots and workflow diagram full size, please select the following link for the complete case study: Music Publishing Workflow.pdf

AITS/Ultimate vs. AITS/Express

Alto Internet Transaction Server (AITS) Now Comes in Two Versions

The full version of AITS (AITS/Ultimate) is what we have been offering over the past couple of years. It incorporates a multi-format conversion technology that allows print jobs to be submitted that include one or more files in a native application format (such as Publisher, Word, AutoCad, and many others). For print submission environments that only accept postscript, PDF and TIFF print-ready files, or in which the users are willing to use our AITS Windows driver to submit their print jobs, we now offer a new, lower cost version of AITS (AITS/Express). The document conversion technology is the only difference between the Express version and the Ultimate version. The table below summarizes the key features of the two versions:

AITS Version	Ultimate	Express
Job Submission via Web Page	þ	þ
Job Submission via Windows Driver	þ	þ
User Accounts	þ	þ
Document Conversion	þ	No
Document Preview	þ	þ
Graphical Job Ticket	þ	þ
Reprint and Reuse of Job Content	þ	þ
Cost Estimation	þ	þ
Accounting Reports	þ	þ
Print Ordering from Document Library	þ	þ
Template Driven Business Cards & Stationery	þ	þ
Utilizes UltraPrint as Backend Print Server	þ	þ
MSRP	$16750	$5000

For more detailed information on AITS, please refer to our Product Guide.

Case Study: Image Arranger vs. Xerox Freeflow

Customer: Amtrak Philadelphia

Image Arranger and UltraPrint were installed side by side with Xerox Freeflow in July 2009.

Job Requirement: A color job done monthly is 'Pocket Safety Guides' for all the train conductors. These guides are finished size 3.5" x 5", duplexed, and tape bound using a Fastback. The duplex alignment expectation is such that page numbers centered at bottom margin will align perfectly. The file comes to the CRD in Word at exact page size. The layout must look like the following:

The book is imposed in this manner so a tape binding strip can be put on both long edges, then a one inch horizontal gutter and a two inch vertical gutter are cut out using a guillotine. This results in four identical, pocket size guides.

The workflow in Freeflow consists of the following steps:

1. Import word document into Freeflow make-ready.
2. Create 'Master Page' template with guidelines defining four-up alignment.
3. Copy first page, and place in upper left. Repeat for lower left, tweaking placement by hand to assure proper alignment.
4. Rotate image 180 degrees, and place in upper right, and repeat for lower right again tweaking for proper alignment.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each of the 30 pages in turn. This usually takes a painstaking two hours.
6. Verify that each page and each position are aligned properly.
7. Send to Printer.

The workflow in Image Arranger consists of the following steps:

1. Import Word document into Arranger.
2. Load following Page Setup imposition template:

1. Send to printer.

The job setup time in Image Arranger takes a total of one minute.