AFP to PCL / PostScript / PDF Conversion

AFP to PCL / PostScript / PDF Conversion: Overview

A high percentage of production print is generated in AFP and then converted to IPDS for printing on high-speed devices.  You might want to also present some of these files one the web or store them in archival and thus need to convert them to PDF. Or, you have some non-IPDS printers that you need to print these same AFP files, and thus need to convert them to PCL or PostScript.

AFP to PCL / PostScript / PDF Conversion:  Challenges  

There are numerous packages in the marketplace that perform this AFP to PCL / PostScript / PDF Conversion. However, the critical issue is finding the package that also allows you to receive the files, and then routes them to the appropriate destination. In other words, you need a conversion that is an integral part of your workflow.

AFP to PCL / PostScript / PDF Conversion:  Barr Systems' Solution

Our conversion software is an integrated module of the Barr Enterprise Print Server (BEPS). It increases the number of ways you produce and distribute your AFP print jobs without requiring you to make changes to the original applications. For example, you can replace a channel-attached IPDS printer with a new network PostScript or PCL printing system or you can take your legacy files and convert them to online formats.

The workflow is simple: first, BEPS captures your AFP print files from the network or through one of the many options in our host connectivity suite. We support both fully composed and mixed-mode AFP files.  We thus support inline resources (self-contained), external resources (files), and external resource library. 

When you are ready to print your files, BEPS runs them through the transformation module for conversion to PostScript, PCL, PDF, and/or TIFF. It is up to you whether you do this manually or setup an automated system. You will also benefit from our complete data repurposing, spooling and document distribution feature sets.