The ErgoSoft RIP Control Center acts as a central hub for all RIP program modules. It lets you launch individual applications such as the JobComposer, PrintQueues, QueueManager and HotFolder, Tools like the Maintenace Tool, User Rights Control, etc. as well as manage PrintQueues, configure RIP-Engines, and automatic program launch on system start.
You can access the Control Center from Start > Programs > ErgoSoft 17 > Control Center. This will bring up the main Control Center window, divided into 4 tabs: Home, Tools, Queues, RIP & Programs.
The default window when opening the Control Center. Contains quick access shortcuts to launch the most commonly used applications:
JobComposer: Launches the JobComposer application.
Queues: Toggles a quickview of the configured Queues in this RIP Installation and lets you start individual PrintQueues and CutQueues directly from the Home tab. Simply select one of the Queues in the list and click the launch button to start the Queue. For a more detailed view and control of the Queues, see the Queues Tab of the Control Center.
QueueManager: Launches the QueueManager application.
HotFolder: Launches the HotFolder application.
Contains quick access shortcuts to launch the most commonly used applications:
Album: Launches the Album application.
Access Rights: Launches the Access Rights application.
Cost Manager: Launches the Cost Manager application.
Maintenance Tool: Launches the Maintenance Tool application.
Controls the behavior of PrintQueues set up in the installation and lets you configure automatic starting of Queues, what mode the Queues start in and easily lets you start, close and manage existing Queues.
PrintQueues/CutQueues to be started with Control Center: These two segments list all the PrintQueues (Left) and CutQueues (Right) currently set up in this installation of the ErgoSoft RIP. You can select any of the Queues to perform operations with it such as start it, change what mode it starts in, etc. To refresh the list of existing Queues, simply click the Refresh button at the bottom right of the window.
By checking the box to the left of each PrintQueue, this Queue is set to be launched together with the Control Center. So whenever the Control Center is running, it will automatically start these Queues as well.
Start Mode: Sets the Start Mode for the currently selected Queue. The start mode dictates if the Queue is ready to start sending Jobs to the printer/cutter directly after starting, or if it should hold Jobs and not send tem out. There are 3 Start Modes available in ErgoSoft RIPs:
Online: Starts the Queue in Online Mode. The Queue immediately tries to establish a connection to the printer/cutter and Jobs in the Queue are automatically sent out as soon as possible.
Offline: Starts the Queue in Offline Mode. The Queue does not attempt to establish a connection to the printer/cutter and Jobs are not sent out. Jobs sent to print are placed in Waiting state and accumulated in the Queue until it is set to Online.
Manual: Starts the Queue in Manual Mode. The Queue establishes a connection to the printer/cutter, but does not send out Jobs until a manual command is triggered in the Queue by clicking the Print button. Jobs sent to print are placed in Waiting state and accumulated in the Queue until the print button is clicked.
Start Minimized: Sets the Queue to automatically start in minimized state in the Taskbar.
The current mode can be changed at any time in the Print/CutQueue regardless of what start mode has been set.
Window Mode: Sets the default start behavior of the window for the selected Queue.
Standard: When the queue is started, the Queue window opens and is displayed in focus.
Minimized: When the Queue is started, the Queue window is minimized in the taskbar.
Tray Icon: When the Queue is started, the Queue is minimized to the System Tray.
Actions: Click the buttons to perform certain actions on the selected Queue.
Start: will start the selected Queue.
Shutdown all will close all currently open Queues.
Manage: Opens the Print/CutQueue setup wizard.
Refresh: Refreshes the Queue lists in PrintQueue/CutQueues to be started with Control Center.
Manages automatic starting of RIP-Engines and other program modules (Besides Queues which are managed in the Queues tab) and configures RIP-Engine and Feature usage for this ErgoSoft RIP Installation.
Lists the RIP-Engines that are currently configured to run and shows their configuration. The right column in the list shows the constraing placed on this RIP-Engine. Constraints are limitations for RIP-Engines that control which Jobs it may process, restrticting a RIP-Engine to only process Jobs that are meant for a specific printer, or Jobs from a specific computer (Useful for distributed RIP Installations).
To assign constraints to a RIP-Engine, select it from the list and click the Gear Icon. This opens the window with the constraint settings.
RIP Only Jobs to be printed on specified Printer: Select a printer from the list to apply it as a constraint to your RIP-Engine. This means that only Jobs destined for this Printer will be processed by this RIP-Engine. This can be useful if you want to keep one RIP-Engine free to process Jobs for one printer to ensure that the printer is running continuously and doesn’t have to wait for a RIP-Engine to free up.
RIP only Jobs to be printed from this PC: Set the name of a printer in the network to use it as a constraing for this RIP-Engine. This means that only Jobs that will be printed from this PC (i.e. from one of the printers connected to that PC) can be processed by this RIP-Engine. This can be useful for distributed Network setups where you might have several RIP-Engines running on one system and multiple PrintQueues on other systems that send out data to connected printers.
Count of RIP Engines automatically started: Sets how many RIP-Engines are automatically started by the ControlCenter. As long as the Control Center is running, it will make sure that the set amount of RIP-Engines is always running as well and automatically start new RIP-Engines if needed. It’s important to make sure that the count of RIP-Engines set here does not exceed the number of licensed RIP-Engines, as that can lead to repeated error messages.
Note that while your license allows it, you can always start additional RIP-Engines manually from the JobComposer by clicking on the RIP-Engine button or through Tools > Program Modules > RIP-Engine.
Maximum Count of RIP-Engines: Sets how many RIP-Engines may be started at the same time.
Number of threads to be used per RIP-Engine: Sets the number of processor threads that a single RIP-Engine may open and use.
Sets the standard behavior of the Control Center itself.
Start with Windows Login: If active this starts the ErgoSoft RIP Control Center automatically on startup.
Start in Tray: If active, this will always start the Control Center minimized as a small icon in the system tray (Usually on the lower right next to the click on Windows systems).
Defines programs that should automatically be started by the Control Center. Whenever the Control Center is started, it will also start the selected programs. Click the button to the right to start the selected programs immediately.
Lets you turn program features on and off. The default If Available will let you use features when they are activated in the license. Yes will attempt to use the features in any case, but using a non licensed feature will result in an error message. Setting a feature to No will turn it off for this installation and render it unavailable. This feature can be useful for distributed network installations when you want to make that certain features are only available on one workstation but not on another, ensuring that it can be used when needed.