Hi,

I have a billing application that generates Archive PDFs for individual bills and it seems that the processing speed of PDF creation is quite slow. PPImage creates on average 8-10 PDFs a minute. Each PDF file consists of on average around 10-20 pages per bill.

For each bill run there are about 6000 bills and at this rate it would require 10 hours for PP Image to complete this process.

Is there anyway that I could optimise this process ?

My PPWatch process is quite simple:

1. Load XML file from folder
2. Split XML file to individual invoices
3. Change Emulation to XML
4. Set Job Info %1 to Account No. (Used as filename for PPImage output)
5. Create output PDF (PPImage)

Thanks in advance.

Roshan

About 100 PDF pages per minute is not bad but if you need more speed than you could install PlanetPress Image on a dedicated PC that is a high-end spec with a fast processor(s) and a lot of memory. Image does not need to be on the same box as Watch.

You could also optimise the Image service. In My Computer> Properties> Advanced> Performance >Settings >Advanced >Processor Scheduling, you can set the priority to background services. This will help to optimise the performance of the PlanetPress Image service.

Hoping this helps.

I was thinking of another option to split the main data file into 3 or 4 smaller files and pass them onto 3 or 4 simmilar processes, so that these processes would execute simultaneously. If this works, then I should be able to shorten the PDF creation time.

Roshan

Hi,

Sorry to bring this issue up again. I have been trying to look for possible optimisations to shorten the time taken to generate PDFs. Unfortunately the above method does not speed up the process.

I was timing the system yesterday and PPImage took Seven(7) Hours to generate 1724 PDFs. At the same time I started the print process (Same data file) on our KM BizHub Pro 1050 Printer and it finished the print job in Half-an-Hour (Total Pages 2350) to complete the job. So in this case PPImage was creating on average 6 PDF Pages per Minute!!

Our old printing system (PrintSoft's PReS) used to create on average 5000 PDFs an HOUR!! using Adobe Distiller.

If my understanding of PlanetPress is correct, it creates a PostScript file that is compatible with the printer and PPImage. Is there a way that I could use Distiller in PPImage as opposed to JAWS ?

Unfortunately, running 10 or more Dedicated PPImage systems is not a viable option for us at this moment of time.

I would appreciate if anyone could provide me with a reasonable solution. Thanks in advance.

Roshan

Roshan J,
before you switch to distiller I recommend a few test runs first to validate the speed increase if any. If you do have a speed increase and that all other parameters are the same then when you run it with PPImage please let us know and I will personaly get involved to confirm you results. So far I am not convinced that this would get the PDF created faster, as a note the distiller technology was present in version 3 of the suite.
You migth want to check your setting in PPimage and compare them to the settings you used in ditiller, this could easily explain the difference. Also, you must compare apples with apples. In other words was your old printing system (PrintSoft's PReS) used to create the PDF working with the same resources and outputting the same exact PDF with all the same settings and the exact same environment.

You can used Distiller but you will need to purchase it and you will loose certain functionalities in PPSuite, I do not recommend this route unless it realy gets those PDF created a lot faster as you mention, the test runs will let you know.

Last but not least I would laso make sure that you are using the latest and greatest version of the Suite since many changes have been done that affect PPImage.

Regards

Hi,

I have upgraded the PlanetPress suite to V5.3.0.2162. I've used PPWatch to create individual PS files instead of PDFs. And I got Distiller to read these PS files and convert to PDFs. It took 30 Minutes to convert the same 1724 PS files mentioned above using Adobe Distiller.

After upgrading the PlanetPress suite, I executed the same process, this time with just 100 invoices and PPImage took 24 Minutes!!! Didn't want to try all 1724 invoices. It would have still taken approx. 7 hours.

I've checked the PPImages' and Distillers' parameters and they look almost the same. Both are using EBook Job options.

The only problem I am having at the moment is, for some reason the PDFs generated by Distiller contains a PlanetPress watermark. I pressume I may have to purchase an additional printer licence to output to PS files.

Regards
Roshan

Ok,
I will contact our Australian offices and discuss this issue with them. Are you able to provide me with your coordinates so that they may be able to reach you. You could use the button on the top left of this page called "Report an issue Via the Web" and refer it to this bug, just let me know in what fashion i can reach you.

Regards

The reason you are getting a watermark is that the RIP you are using is not licensed. The postscript code generated by PlanetPress does not change and always includes the code to generate the watermark if the device is not activated.

You do not need a license in order to output postscript, that is done automatically. What generates the watermark is when the job is run on a RIP.

Hi,

I have been running further tests on this issue and did manage to find out what's causing PPImage to slow down. Under PPImage settings 'Run Locally' option had been checked/activated. This made PPImage to prolong the creation of PS files that was passed onto JAWS. By 'Unchecking' the 'Run Locally' option in PPImage, I am able to get the output PDFs generated much more faster. Now the speeds are almost comparable to Adobe Distiller!!

Thank you very much for all your help on fixing this issue.

Regards
Roshan