🚀 First use of PrimeCenter V5

This article covers PrimeCenter V4 and later, including PrimeCenter V5.

Version notes:

• V4.6: File Inspector introduced (inspection/check actions).
• V5.0: File Inspector renamed to File Editor, with additional editing actions (check + edit).

For older versions, see this article.

PrimeCenter helps you simplify prepress production, from file preparation to layout generation and print/cut export. This guide walks you through the first steps to get productive quickly.

Configure your settings

When you launch PrimeCenter for the first time, configure the application to match your production environment.

Go to   Settings in the left navigation bar, then review:

Cutters

Configure the cutters available in your license. For each cutter, define:

• An output folder for cut files,
• Or a direct connection to the cutter controller (depending on the cut driver).

➡️ How to add a cutter?

Media

After configuring your cutters, media may be auto-loaded depending on the selected cut driver. Review and adjust the media list to match your actual production stock.

➡️ Managing media

Formats

A predefined list of formats is provided. Edit, delete, or add formats to ensure the list matches your usual requirements.

➡️ Managing formats

Cut contour names

Review the cut contour names listed in the Cut contours list (formerly "Dictionary"). Edit, add, or delete entries to match the cut contour names in the files you process. This ensures the software can detect and use the appropriate cut contours.

➡️ Managing cut contours in PrimeCenter

This initial configuration will help you get the most out of your software and ensure that your workflow is set up according to your needs.

Choose how to start

From the homepage, you can begin working in the way that best suits your needs:

• Start from scratch: Create a new recipe with completely customized settings to suit your specific workflow by clicking New recipe.
• Use a recipe template: Begin with a template that includes predefined settings, making it quicker to set up common workflows.
• Follow tutorials: Explore our guided tutorials to learn the interface and complete your first tasks step-by-step.

If you are unsure whether files are fully production-ready and you need to validate and manually correct them, start with the File Editor space.

🆕 Inspect and correct your files

• Inspection feature introduced in PrimeCenter V4.6.
• Editing feature introduced in PrimeCenter V5.0

Before creating layouts, you can use File Editor  (formerly File Inspector) to review your files individually and ensure they are ready for production.

Accessible from the navigation bar, File Editor provides a dedicated Studio to:

• Preview each file in detail.
• Highlight contours and PDF boxes.
• Convert contours into cut contours, rename them, and adjust PDF boxes.

Starting from V5, after inspection you can also edit files with dedicated tools:

• Correct files: resize, modify colors
• Add missing elements: contours, bleed, grommets, crop marks
• Prepare files for specific jobs: banners, multi-layer printing

Once files are ready, you can:

• Send files directly to a recipe to continue in Layout Creator,
• Or export files directly.

Using File Editor helps you identify issues early and ensures smoother processing in your workflow.

For more details, see File Editor.

Work through Layout Creator

Layout Creator is where you build your production workflow, configure processing settings, and generate final layouts.

1. Open or create a recipe

At the top of the interface, each tab represents a recipe.

A recipe is a set of processing settings used to automate tasks such as:

• Nesting
• Adding bleed
• Applying cut marks

You can open an existing recipe or create a new one by clicking the   button.

You can also work with multiple recipes at the same time (one per tab).

Example:

• Recipe A: true-shape nesting + cut marks
• Recipe B: rectangular nesting + bleed + verso output for double-sided printing

2. Configure your recipe settings

The configuration panel on the left side is where you define all the settings for the recipe. Its is divided into two tabs:

👉 Layout tab

Contains settings related to layout creation and editing:

• Media settings: Select the media and format you will work with.
• Layout and editing tools: Select tools for arranging and optimizing file placement on the layout. This includes nesting files, adding cut marks, or enabling double-sided printing.

👉 Files tab

Focuses on file management and import settings:

• Import settings: Define how files are imported to the software. This includes tools applied during the import phase, such as automatic scaling, adding bleed, creating contours, or checking PDF standards. Depending on your PrimeCenter package, you can also configure automated import workflows.

  Bleed	White underbase	Grommets

    Info

  To learn how to configure an input folder for automated imports, see our article on How to set up an input folder?.

• File manager: This is where you can open the files you want to process. Once opened, you can select the files and insert them into the Studio before generating the final layouts. The File manager also allows you to access file details such as detected contours, number of copies or file dimensions.

    Info

  • For a detailed explanation of the File manager, see our article on using the File manager.
  • To learn about the different ways to import files, check out How to import files?.
  • If you need to check which file types are supported, see our article on supported file formats.

3. Generate your layouts

Once you have configured your settings and imported your files, you need to insert the files into the draft layout.

1. Select the files you want to include from the File manager in the Files tab.
2. Place them in the draft layout by dragging and dropping them into the Studio, or by clicking Insert.
3. Click Generate to create the final layouts based on recipe settings.

4. Preview your layout in the studio

The Studio, located in the center of the interface, provides a preview of the generated layouts. This is where you can verify how your files are arranged on the media and make any necessary adjustments.

For more details on using the Studio and layouts, see our article Layouts & Studio.

5. Generated layouts in the right panel

The right panel displays the list of generated layouts.

• Review the generated layouts to ensure they meet your requirements.
• If changes are necessary, update settings in the left panel and generate again the layouts.

• Once the layouts are finalized, check the  Export Settings and click on the Print & Cut button to generate the print files and cut files.

  

    Info

  For more details on export settings and the available actions to export print and cut files, see our article on How to export print and cut files?

Next steps

Now that you are familiar with the basics, here are some additional topics to explore:

• Tiling tool: Learn how to divide large designs into smaller tiles for easier printing and assembly in our Tiling article.
• Cut driver configuration: Want to configure your cut drivers in more details? Check out our dedicated section.
• Check/Fix profiles: Want to know what check/fix profiles are and how they work in PrimeCenter? See this article.

Automated workflows

• Set up input folders for each recipe.
• Or configure a global hotfolder as a single entry point for all your recipes.
• Explore How to extract properties from file names? or learn about the Recipe management tab.