With PrimeCenter, the first step in configuring a recipe is selecting your format and media. Choosing a format is mandatory, while selecting a media is optional and depends on your specific use case.

This article focuses on configuring media settings. If you need to manage the list of available formats or media, refer to these articles:

• Managing media
• Managing formats

Accessing media configuration

Settings

Media

Select a media for your recipe from the available list. This list is defined and can be edited in the Media tab under Settings.

Specific case: cutters that use materials

In versions prior to V4, if you are using a cutter that requires a material, media and materials must be associated in the Media tab under Settings. Based on the media selected for your recipe in the Pages module and the cutter chosen in the Cutter options module, the material and material thickness are automatically retrieved.

Media and material configuration - Prior to V4

Format

Select a format for your recipe from the available list. This list is defined and can be edited in the Formats tab under Settings.

Format selected - V4.0

Quick actions

This functionality is available since PrimeCenter V3.1.

Create new formats from scratch directly from the current recipe, bypassing the Formats tab in Settings, by clicking  .

Customization

This functionality is available for all packages since PrimeCenter V3.1. In earlier versions, the Essentials package only had access to one editable custom format.

Quickly customize a format right in the current recipe, bypassing the Formats tab in Settings. Simply adjust the parameters and rename the format. This custom format will be available for use in your current recipe and will not be saved to the global list.

Save

This functionality is available since PrimeCenter V3.1.

Whether for a custom format or a new format created from scratch, you have the option to save it globally by clicking  . This allows you to retrieve and use it in other recipes.

This functionality is available since PrimeCenter V2.3.

You can select several formats for a given media. From the Add new format field, select one or several formats according to your needs.

Then, PrimeCenter will automatically suggest the most efficient format, minimizing waste. All generated layouts will use the format that provides the least amount of waste to nest the jobs. If multiple layouts are required, each will consistently use this optimized format.

Media coverage

This feature is available since PrimeCenter V2.3.

You can customize the media coverage levels to define what you consider medium and good coverage. The percentage of media coverage is then displayed for each generated layout, helping you identify layouts that could be completed with additional files.