So often in printing, commercial software drive the business. Each supplier silos their technology into a tower you either buy into or can only augment with extras. Yet, there is a growing ecosystem of software that supports these businesses and is available for those willing to put the effort into using them.
I’ve successfully repurposed a self-hosted photo library system based in PHP into a online proofing/review system for customers long before Dropbox and Box or OneDrive had thumbnails and commenting for document formats other than JPG. It was exhilarating to take a tool and mold it to the need. It does require self-support which is often the catch with commercial software packages.
Today’s online environments allow for even more platform independence and flexibility. As employees and creative folk become more tech savvy and proficient, I expect to see only more of this. I’d love to hear your ideas on what you’ve used to improve your printing processes with open source software.
Below is a link to some basic and well known software:
Automating layouts:
https://opensource.com/life/16/8/automating-pre-press-layouts-linux-commands
Bulk converting, resizing and sharpening of images:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/06/efficient-image-resizing-with-imagemagick/