Hi,
I have bought Fusion Pro Desktop 4.0 and find that it is sufficient for small volume variable data print jobs. I have installed it on Windows XP.

But I have a project at hand which is described below.
Some details regarding this job are:
a) It is an A6 postcard (finished size is 148mm x 105mm)
Duplex printing
c) 8 up
d) SRA3 (320mm x 450mm) sheet size
e) A static picture on the front side
f) Static text on reverse along with with a block of variable data containing the Name and Address. Name consists of First Name and Surname. Address is made up of Street, Suburb, City, State and Postcode
g) The data file is an Excel file converted to csv file without formatting separated by comma as delimiter and contains 320 records
h) AIM: To print 320 records and stack and sort them in two sets of 160 records each (ie. 20 pages of 8 postcards on each page folowed by a slip sheet and then another set of 20 pages of 8 postcards on each page followed by a slip sheet)

When I compose the job, I put the stack count to be 20 (since I need 20 pages x 8 postcards =160 records stacked and sorted in one heap). Then a blank slip sheet should be inserted . Then, another heap of 20 pages follows and then another blank slipsheet should signal the end of the output.

When I put the stock output as 20, the output starts at record number 21. I did not even try printing this as it is error ridden from the outset.

I would really appreciate your valued assistance in solving this issue.
Many thanks in advance
raviv

Hello all,
I found an excellent post on how stacking works in Fusion Pro in the Fusion Pro forum (http://printplanet.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=fusionpro) to which you need to register. It is free.

Please refer to the post from Mark Hilger titled
Fusion Pro Imposition - stacks.
Dated: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 09:33:34 -0500

Mark explains very clearly how cut and stack is done using Fusion Pro. Hope this helps
Regards
raviv

Hi raviv, You found the FP forum... I was going to tell you about it. Mark does an excellent job explaining the stack function. As you and I both found it doesn't work like you would think. I have run 4 up mailers on 12x18 sheets as many as 30,000 records at a time with FP doing both varable text and graphics, so far without a hitch.

Good Luck
Craig

Hi Craig,
Thanks for your suggestion. FP forum seems to be a great place for learning more about the FP Software.
I have a couple of questions for you -
1) How long does it take for the RIP to process the 30,000 record job (assuming you output as a PDF file)?
2)Have you done calendars using FP with 12 variable pictures for each month of the year? Any ideas on this is greatly appreciated.
Thanks and regards
raviv

As far as how long it takes, I would assume each job and processor is different, but it takes about 3.5 hours to compose 30,000 5.5 x 8.5 mailers 2 sided, 4 up. I generally break the job down into chunks so I don't tie up a computer for that long.

On the calendars I don't see why it wouldn't work. As long a you can create a switch rule based on the month and image name it should work fine. That is pretty much what I did on the last mailer we ran. We had the same mailer for 60 different companies each getting 3000. As the company name changed I had a pdf that changed with that companies information. This allowed me to run the job as one long run instead of 60 small runs, and keep it in pre-sort order.

Good Luck
Craig

Thanks a lot Craig for your replies.
Regards
raviv