CDI workspace

The CDI tab belongs to the CDI operator in the full Flexoworks application. Use it to arrange individual plates on a physical sheet. Recreate that layout in Esko Digital Flexo Suite (DFS), submit it to Esko, then select Send to queue in Flexoworks. The terminal team records imaging completion and washout. After handoff, follow the production terminal guide for the team’s imaging completion and washout steps.

​

Individual plates and gangs

A production line describes the required work and quantity. After manager approval of Prepress, Flexoworks creates one tracked plate for each required unit. Each plate has its own LEN file or separation identity and production status. A quantity of four therefore creates four individual plates. A plate gang is the arrangement on one physical inventory sheet. Compatible plates from different jobs or customers can share a gang. Plates from the same production line can use different gangs, orientations, equipment, and completion times without splitting the production line.

​

Terminology

In English, layout or arrangement describes the positions and rotations within a plate gang. Ukrainian розкладка also names this arrangement, as in Запропонувати розкладку and Розкладка на листі. The phrase розміщення форм describes the placement of the individual plates.

​

Open the ready queue

Open CDI from the full application’s sidebar. The upper list shows gangs; the lower list shows individual plates awaiting placement. Search by job, customer, or LEN file. Use the gang status filter to inspect active work or completed history. Load additional pages when needed: suggestions use the queue currently loaded in the editor. CDI operators and organization administrators can edit layouts. Other signed-in organization users can inspect them. Floor PIN access is separate and does not grant full-application CDI editing rights. If a plate has missing source or production details, open its job. Assign LEN file can resolve a missing or incorrect separation mapping. Complete specifications can fill missing material, thickness, or technology on an unassigned released line; approved values stay locked. Resolve the displayed blocker before adding the plate to a sheet.

​

Create a gang from inventory

1. Select New plate gang.
2. Choose an actual Physical sheet already available in inventory.
3. Select Reserve sheet and create gang.

The sheet’s dimensions and location become the layout’s bounds. The draft reserves that exact piece; another gang cannot take it, and Inventory cannot split, move, or use it separately. Receive or move suitable stock first if the sheet you need is unavailable.

​

Suggest and adjust an arrangement

The editor shows compatible plates on the left and the proportional sheet on the right. A gang requires an exact match of:

• material;
• thickness;
• technology;
• PixelBoost code, with no PixelBoost treated as a distinct setting; and
• production location.

For example, MC170 and no PixelBoost cannot share a gang. Within a compatible group, suggestions prioritize due date and then customer. Customer grouping is a preference; it does not override process compatibility or available space. Select the primary Suggest arrangement button to fill free space. Existing placements stay where you put them. The result reports how many plates were added and how many remain. It is a practical rectangle arrangement, not a guarantee of maximum sheet utilization. You can then:

• drag a plate from the left list onto the sheet, or select Add;
• drag a placed plate to another position;
• select a plate and enter Left (mm) and Top (mm) coordinates;
• use arrow keys to move 1 mm, or Shift + arrow to move 10 mm;
• select Rotate clockwise to switch between 0° and 90° clockwise; or
• select Remove to return a draft placement to the available candidates.

Zero degrees means the original LEN orientation relative to the fixed sheet direction. Rotation is saved per individual plate. The editor and server reject overlap or placements outside the sheet. There is no compulsory gap or unusable edge: the operator decides the spacing.

​

Read artwork and buffer correctly

The inner area is Artwork. The hatched border is Buffer. The outer border is the full Physical footprint that must fit on the sheet. For 300 × 200 mm artwork with a 10 mm buffer on each side, the footprint is 320 × 220 mm. With a 15 mm buffer, it is 330 × 230 mm. Rotation swaps the full footprint’s axes. The buffer is applied once, not added again when placing. Each plate keeps the effective line, customer/payer, or organization buffer captured at release. Different customers’ plates can therefore have different buffers on the same sheet. See Production lines.

​

Save automatically and send to queue

Draft positions, orientations, and CDI equipment save automatically after a short pause. Wait for Draft saved automatically. before leaving the page. If saving fails, the editor keeps the local layout, shows the error, and offers Retry. Queue submission remains disabled until that error is resolved. Retry first resolves the earlier save, then saves any newer local edits. If another operator has changed the saved layout, review it with Refresh before continuing; retry does not overwrite their changes. Choose the equipment at the sheet’s location. When the arrangement is ready:

1. Recreate the same positions and orientations in Esko DFS.
2. Submit the arrangement to the Esko queue from DFS.
3. Select Send to queue in Flexoworks.

This records the final layout and changes the gang to Queued for imaging. The layout is locked and appears in the production terminal queue. The CDI operator has no separate Save layout, Confirm layout, Start imaging, or Finish imaging steps.

​

Cancel a draft or queued gang

Select Cancel gang, enter a Cancellation comment (required), then select Cancel gang in the form. A blank or whitespace-only comment cannot be submitted. Comments can contain up to 1,000 characters. For queued work, first remove the gang from the Esko queue and make sure imaging has not started. Flexoworks does not cancel work in Esko. Cancellation is unavailable once the terminal has recorded Finish imaging. Cancelling releases the reserved sheet and returns the plates to the ready queue. The gang leaves the active CDI and terminal queues, while its saved arrangement and the operator’s comment remain in Plate gang activity. Use the Cancelled status filter to find it later. To arrange those plates again, create a new gang using an available sheet. If another operator changed the gang, use Refresh to load its latest version. Flexoworks asks before discarding unsaved local edits.

​

Follow progress and individual replacements

Older records can also show Imaging or a legacy completion. Their original history is retained. Open a job’s Individual plates card to see every separation, attempt, physical footprint, status, gang link, and orientation. A job remains in Imaging while any required current plate is not imaged. It moves to Washout when all are imaged, then to QC when all are washed. Different gangs can progress independently. To replace a failed plate, select Queue replacement and record a reason. Only that separation receives a new attempt in the ready queue. Its failed attempt keeps its gang and orientation; successful siblings and the required and billed quantity stay unchanged. The replacement can use another gang. Shipped or archived jobs cannot receive replacements.

​

Watch the workflow

This recording uses the English interface and sample jobs. It follows arrangement, the manual handoff recorded in Flexoworks, terminal imaging and washout, and a single-plate replacement.

​

Related guides

• Production terminal: imaging completion and washout
• Plate inventory
• Job stages and transitions
• Prepress review and manager handoff