Everything beforethe raster.
Printers already say pre-RIP. It is the work between a customer's file and the moment a raster image processor turns it into dots: measuring what actually arrived, catching what will not print, nesting it so the film is not wasted, building the spot channel, and attaching a ticket that survives the sheet being cut. Prepress named this when there were presses. Most shops running digital output today have never seen one.
What works today
The termNot ours. Prepress writing has used pre-RIP descriptively for years — we did not coin it and do not claim to. What we offer is a clean definition and working tools.Live
PreflightDimensions read out of the file's own header, measured against the size ordered. Under 200 DPI is refused rather than printed soft.Proven
NestingBottom-left skyline packing with rotation. 24 order lines to 132 transfers to 21 sheets at 77% mean coverage, 0 overlaps.Proven
The data blockA printed QR and two readable lines beside each piece, cut with it and cut off at the press. Measured film cost: zero.Proven
ColourWe do not rasterise and we do not colour-manage. The RIP does that and does it well. Gamut warnings are pre-RIP; conversion is not.Not yet
Spot channelAuto-generated white masks on a second layer. Identified, specced, not built.Not yet
Back of house
Back of houseThe floor board and the node bench. Operators only.
Not yet
Workboardthe live estate boardNot yet
Arcsession record + handoffNot yet
The Buscadre comms boardNot yet
Membershiproster + accessNot yet