Let’s be honest—production planning in print can sometimes feel like trying to organize spaghetti while it’s still cooking. One minute your schedule looks solid, the next you’re juggling email attachments, file version chaos, and mysterious job notes scribbled on the back of someone’s lunch receipt.
Enter Enfocus Switch—your silent, efficient, never-sleeps automation partner.
If you’re already using Instaprint to manage quotes, schedules, and customer orders, congratulations—you’ve got the brain of your operation covered. But when you combine it with Switch? That’s when you get the muscle.
Why Combine Instaprint with Enfocus Switch?
Instaprint is great at storing and organizing the data around your jobs: who ordered what, how many, when it’s due, and how much it costs.
Switch doesn’t care about that—it lives for doing things. Moving files. Creating folders. Starting processes. Updating statuses. Cleaning up after itself.
Together, they make a dream team: Instaprint tells you what needs to happen, and Switch makes sure it does happen—flawlessly.
Jobs That Create Themselves (Almost)
The moment a job is confirmed in Instaprint, Switch can automatically create the correct folder structure on your server. No more guessing, no more manual setup, and definitely no more “Where did we put those files?”
Everything is named, sorted, and ready for the production team.
Real-Time Production Status Without Interruptions
Ever had someone yell across the room, “Did that file come in yet?” or “What’s the status on Job 456?”
With Switch watching the file flow, you can stop relying on memory or Messenger. As files move through your production process, Switch can update statuses in Instaprint automatically. From “File received” to “Prepress complete” to “On press”—it’s all logged without anyone needing to click a button.
This means your team always has an accurate view of every job’s progress, without extra admin overhead.
Files That Move Themselves
Manually dragging and dropping files might build finger strength, but it’s hardly the best use of your team’s time.
Switch can rename files based on job data, move them to the correct production folders, route them to hotfolders for imposition or proofing, and deliver them to press or archive folders when done.
Everything just moves—like magic, except it’s rules-based automation.
Archiving That Doesn’t Need a Detective
Let’s be honest—most print businesses have had at least one “Archive Folder of Doom,” filled with random ZIP files and mystery PDFs.
Switch fixes that.
Every job’s files are archived automatically into a structured system, based on data from Instaprint. That means customer files, artwork, impositions, and proofs are all stored neatly in predictable places.
Even better? When a repeat order comes in, you don’t need to search your network like Indiana Jones looking for the Holy Grail. Switch can retrieve the correct file version from the archive and send it directly into production—no surprises, no confusion, just consistent results.
Feedback Loops That Actually Work
Most systems are great at pushing instructions out, but not always good at listening back.
With Switch, it’s a two-way street. When a file finishes preflight or hits the RIP, Switch can notify Instaprint automatically.
No more “Did anyone update the job status?”
No more duplicate questions from sales.
Just up-to-date info, everywhere it needs to be.
Making Your Team Look Brilliant
Perhaps the most beautiful part? Your staff doesn’t need to learn a new system. They keep using Instaprint, just like always. But behind the scenes, Switch handles the grunt work.
Prepress no longer waits around. Press operators get files when they need them. Sales teams stop interrupting production to ask for status updates.
And because everything is flowing automatically, your shop becomes faster, more accurate, and less stressed.
A Day in the Life of a Job with Instaprint + Switch
Imagine this:
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A customer approves their quote. The job is created in Instaprint.
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Switch instantly builds all required folders.
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Customer files arrive—Switch picks them up, runs preflight, and sends alerts if something’s wrong.
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Files are approved and imposed automatically.
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Switch delivers final files to print, updates the job status, and archives everything cleanly.
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A month later, the customer wants a reprint. No problem—Switch pulls the exact files from the archive and pushes them straight into production.
It’s fast. It’s repeatable. It’s stress-free.
Getting Started: Don’t Fear the Flowchart
You don’t need to be a programmer to connect Instaprint and Switch. Integration can be done via shared folders, metadata files, or API/webhooks if needed.
Start small—maybe just with folder creation or automated archiving—and build from there. Each step you automate takes pressure off your team and adds consistency to your workflow.
And yes, it’s actually fun.
Final Thoughts: From Chaos to Calm
Print production doesn’t have to be a daily battle with chaos.
When Instaprint keeps your job data organized and Enfocus Switch handles the automation, your entire operation starts to feel different:
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Files appear when and where they should.
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Statuses are always current.
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Jobs flow from estimate to archive with almost no manual effort.
So go ahead—smile confidently the next time someone asks how you manage to keep everything running so smoothly. Just nod and say:
“Instaprint keeps us informed. Switch keeps us moving.”
How Phoenix, Switch and Instaprint are Making Print Smarter
When a customer places an order, the goal is always the same: deliver an excellent product, at the best possible price, and ideally faster than your morning coffee gets cold. But there’s one little catch – figuring out how to actually produce that job.
Should it be printed digitally or offset? Which press is free, or at least pretending to be? What layout gives the best material yield? And can we finish the job in time without sacrificing quality, sanity, or lunch breaks?
For too long, these questions were answered using tribal knowledge, whiteboard hieroglyphics, or “the way we’ve always done it.” But as job complexity increases, deadlines shrink, and machines become more temperamental than a cat in a thunderstorm, we need something better. Enter: Phoenix, powered by Switch and directed by your ever-reliable MIS, Instaprint.
The End of Guesswork (And the Start of a Smarter Plan)
Traditional planning often relies on fixed rules or the instincts of seasoned planners. While that experience is gold, it can’t scale endlessly. And it certainly can’t react in real-time to changing press availability or a sudden stock shortage of your favourite paper.
Phoenix brings dynamic, data-driven intelligence to the table. As soon as a job enters the system via Instaprint, Phoenix gets to work – analysing every detail that could influence production. It doesn’t just glance at the job ticket and say, “Eh, looks fine.” It dives in. We’re talking:
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What presses are available (digital or offset)?
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What are the finishing requirements?
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Is the correct material in stock?
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When is the delivery deadline?
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What’s the most cost-effective option?
Instead of leaning on “best guess,” Phoenix turns to actual production data, building a tailored plan in seconds. You might say it’s like having your best planner on their best day… every single day.
When Plans Change – Phoenix Doesn’t Panic
So, you’ve planned your job on Press A, but suddenly Press A decides it wants a vacation. (Machines don’t take holidays, but they sure act like they do.) Phoenix doesn’t throw its hands in the air or wait for someone to notice – it immediately reroutes the job.
A new plan is created in seconds. Not just a vague “We’ll print it somewhere” kind of plan, but a full imposition layout optimized for the new press. If the job switches from offset to digital, Phoenix adjusts imposition size, press marks, and layout accordingly. It doesn’t blink. It just does the math – faster than your calculator – and delivers a new plan.
Even the finishing instructions are regenerated, ensuring that everything downstream (folding, trimming, binding, die-cutting) stays aligned with the new path. It’s like a GPS for your production floor, except it never says “recalculating” with an attitude.
Material Management Without the Mayhem
You’ve got the perfect plan. Great! But do you actually have the paper to print it?
Phoenix checks stock levels in real time, reserving available material through the MIS before someone else grabs it for their secret side project. If the preferred substrate isn’t available, it offers alternatives or triggers a purchase order directly in the system. No angry emails, no panicked calls to the paper supplier, no walking around the warehouse looking for “that one last pallet.”
It’s a seamless process where your MIS, Phoenix, and Switch all work together to ensure material planning is part of the bigger picture – not a last-minute surprise.
Die-Cutting? More Like “Try-Automating”
Die-cut jobs can be tricky – unless you like manually hunting through Excel files and guessing whether you’ve used that exact shape before.
Phoenix handles this with flair. When a job needs die-cutting, Phoenix:
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Generates the die layout
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Calculates cutting parameters
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Checks the die library for existing matches
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Triggers a new die order if needed
All this without human intervention. You can practically hear your finishing department breathe a sigh of relief. Or maybe that’s the sound of coffee being poured because now they actually have time for a break.
Integration: The Real Secret Sauce
What makes all this magic possible? It’s not just Phoenix working alone – it’s the trio of Phoenix, Switch, and Instaprint. Each one plays a key role in building a real-time, intelligent workflow:
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Instaprint feeds live order data
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Switch handles communication and automation logic
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Phoenix plans and imposes like a printing savant
The result? Fewer bottlenecks, faster turnaround, less waste, and happier customers. And maybe, just maybe, a few less gray hairs for your production manager.
A Final Word (Before Phoenix Replans It Again)
In the old days, job planning involved whiteboards, spreadsheets, gut feelings, and a fair bit of caffeine-fueled guessing. Today, it’s different. With Phoenix, Switch, and Instaprint working in harmony, your planning becomes proactive, not reactive. Smart, not static.
So, is your MIS capable of working like this? Talking to Switch? Feeding real-time data into a planning engine like Phoenix?
Well, Instaprint does – and let’s be honest, it does it better than anyone else.
Why just hope for the best when you can plan for it – intelligently, automatically, and maybe even with a smile?
