Esko | Tilia Labs Documentation # What is Stacking Order and Finishing in Imposition AI
Inside of the Imposition AI Profile settings, there are two options under the Plan Options heading that are similar but have some key differences - Finishing and Stacking Order. Let's discuss what each option does, and when you might use them.
# Finishing
The Finishing option allows you to set whether your finishing equipment is done Inline or Nearline. This will affect the order in which layouts are produced. The default option is Inline.
Inline means that layouts will be produced in the order they are created. For instance, if Phoenix creates layouts A, B, and C, then they will be ordered A, then B, then C. If your finishing equipment is inline with the press, this allows your equipment to process the layouts in order.
Nearline means that layouts will be produced in the opposite order they are created. This means that layouts A, B, C would be ordered C, then B, then A, so that they would go onto the rewind in the opposite order. This would then allow your equipment to process the layouts from the finished roll, as the layouts would then come out in order: A, then B, then C. When working with signatures, Nearline reverses the order of all signatures across the whole job (or across all products).
# Stacking Order
The Stacking Order option only applies when using bound products within Phoenix. This option allows you to set how the signatures should be stacked for the binding equipment, either Normal or Reverse. This will affect the order in which each section of a bound product is produced. The default option is Normal.
Normal means that signatures will be produced in order and then stacked. For instance, if Phoenix creates a 12 page book with three, four-page signatures 1, 2, and 3, then signature 1 is produced first, signature 2 second, and signature 3 third. This will create a stack with signature 1 being the innermost and signature 3 being the outermost. This is likely not what you want if you're producing a book like this, as you'd want signature 1 to be the outermost, which is when you might use the Reverse option (see below). The Normal option is what you might use if you are not producing booklets like this, or used in combination with the Finishing options as seen at the bottom of this page. Note that the exact options will depend on your particular binding equipment.
Reverse means that signatures will be produced in the opposite order, so that the innermost signatures will be produced first. This means that for our example above, signature 3 is produced first and is the innermost signature in the stack, and then signature 2, and finally signature 1. This would then allow your binding equipment to correctly process your signatures.
Note
For simplicity purposes in the illustrations above, we're referring to a single booklet with 3 signatures. In practice, Phoenix will affect each section within each bound product to give you the correct behavior for Normal or Reverse Stacking Order.
# Finishing and Stacking Order combined
The Finishing and Stacking Order options can work together to affect the production order of bound products in a job. Please refer to the graphics below to see how they can interact:
