Press Emulator Plugin

Overview

The Press Emulator Plugin offers a convenient method of verifying the behavior of the press without requiring it to be physically connected.

Jobs in the Print Queue will be processed as normal but sent to a emulated press device (so no output produced) configured for a custom output speed. This allows the press’s buffer levels to be monitored in a safe and controlled environment.

Operation

After toggling the Enable Emulation setting, the application will automatically send any printed output to the 'emulated' press device, and the Press Emulator UI options will become editable.

1. Set Target Speed to the desired value.

2. Populate the Print Queue with jobs and start the print run.

3. The Buffer Levels indicator will increase as the jobs start to be processed, but the emulated press’s web will not start ‘moving’ until the Set Speed button is pressed.

4. The Current Speed will then start incrementing until the Target Speed is reached, and the jobs will be ‘printed’.

If the Target Speed is set too high the print buffers will drain faster than the jobs can be printed, resulting in a buffer underrun and failed jobs. If the buffer levels remain full, then it may be the speed can be increased. The Target Speed can be altered at any time during the print run, with changes applied using the Set Speed button.

When all jobs have finished processing the buffer levels will drain naturally, and (optionally) the print run will automatically stop.