PRINT 2005
New Ways of Creating, Selling and Producing Print

by Ivars Sarkans

Editor’s Note
This is the first part of a two-part article on the huge Print 05 show in Chicago. Both parts of the article will highlight technologies and industry trends with significant implications for sellers and producers of business documents and related printed products. In Part I, we’ll cover trends in systems, prepress and other pre-production processes. Part II will focus on conventional and digital printing, finishing and specialty niche equipment at Print 05.

The September 2005 Print show in Chicago was another major milestone in evolution of the printing industry and a window to the future ways of creating, selling and producing print. Large scale international shows such as Print, which are staged once very four years, provide a good perspective of the rate of change in technology and industry practices and give an early notice of new opportunities and challenges for industry participants. Digital printing, print-related services and new systems to simplify and lower the cost of creating and ordering printed products were far more prominent at Print 2005 than Print 2001. 

While Print 2005 had an abundance of equipment that ran faster, printed better, automated finishing tasks and could be set up in less time, advances in the pre-production side of printing were equally significant at this show. A sizeable number of exhibits introduced new software and systems that will change traditional practices in printed product design, proofing, pricing and ordering. Use of the Internet for online communications between originators, designers, buyers, promotional program managers and print producers is a major driver of changes that simplify and speed up pre-production tasks. The likely result, evident at Print 05, will be that more print will be sold, created and ordered as part of pre-planned programs rather than on a job-by-job basis.

The large number of digital printing equipment demonstrations with forms as the end product signaled that the need for forms in business operations and transactions remains strong. On the other hand, the show had only one fully operational web offset forms press, which also served as a demonstration platform for high speed digital printing.  The combination of digital forms libraries, digital printing and new software for forms management and on-demand printing will continue to challenge traditional methods of selling, designing and producing forms. At the same time, this means opportunities for forms industry innovators who can use the Internet, electronic forms and other new technologies to simplify the forms creation, management and ordering process for customers and eliminate sales activities that do not add value. For both manufacturers and sellers of conventional forms, Print 05 pointed to a wide range of product line and service diversification opportunities.

Pre-Production
At past major printing industry shows, it was evident that more and more prepress tasks are being built into software to automate as much of image assembly, file checking and job preparation for printing as possible. At Print ’05, there were indications that some of those design and prepress tasks are gradually being moved to the customer desktop.  Design template programs have become common for business cards, letterheads, envelopes and some forms. Once a program is sold and set up, end users can customize templates, print or view proofs and place print orders. Since the templates are normally linked with specifications for production, orders can be routed directly to a platesetter, direct Imaging (DI – with on-press plate imaging) press or digital printer with minimal operator intervention. Print 05 software and systems exhibits signaled that the template program concepts will be extended to many types of brochures, presentation folders, sales support literature, catalogs, labels and other items. Enabling technologies include the Internet, online proofing, low-cost ink jet proofers, and PDF as a standard file format.

Digital printing makes template design programs particularly attractive, because the entire process from design customization to printing and finishing can be fully automated. In effect, the production device, whether digital or conventional offset, looks just like another printer icon on the customer screen. Customers can get an immediate proof of their template selections and custom text entries. Templates can also be customized automatically with text, data and layout codes from databases. The cost and corporate image consistency advantages of design template programs will make them an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional methods of selling, designing and ordering print jobs. Continued improvements in template program software, increases in the variety of “stock” design templates in public and proprietary digital libraries and cost considerations will drive more print to these programs, reduce redundant sales expenses in the printing industry, and lower the print procurement costs for end users.

One example of software for a web-to-print program using templates was the Digital StoreFront shown by EFI. This system includes an online catalog of documents, brochures and other products, with each item associated with a pre-defined job ticket. Users can create templates, add images and text, print or view proofs and convert custom documents created with common desktop publishing programs into PDF files. There are already a multitude of print ordering web sites, such as AmericasPrinter.com (a Print 05 exhibitor) and PrintingForLess.com (their partners include DMIA member MaverickLabel.com) that offer very competitive prices. When these types of printers combine their e-commerce initiatives with template-based design catalogs, they can be expected to become formidable competitors to printers with conventional sales practices. There was a wide variety of software at Print 05 that aids or automates the creation of designs and online general or customer-specific catalogs, assembles images for printing, provides proofing options, facilitates online communications with customers and eliminates traditional pricing and order entry steps. Since use of e-commerce technologies in the printing industry is still in an early stage, the potential for further advances that will reshape pre-production systems and practices is high. These changes will certainly extend to forms and similar types of documents, as was evident in the demonstrations of electronic forms and e-commerce in the Amgraf booth.

PREPRESS
The Print 05 show had both systems that bypass traditional prepress and improve the productivity of prepress operations. Some of the new design template software can route files directly to a DI (direct imaging) or digital press. The small number of film imagesetters at the show confirmed that computer-to-plate (CTP) is now a normal part of prepress for offset printing. Thermal CTP systems dominate in making metal plates for 40” and larger sheetfed presses and high speed wide-web machines. For smaller sheetfed presses and narrow-web (20” or less) forms and direct mail presses, CTP choices for metal plates include a sizeable number of violet laser devices. More powerful laser diodes for violet CTP machines can now image both silver-based and photopolymer plate coatings. For forms production, violet CTP offers advantages in equipment and plate cost and these plates can be handled in a yellow light environment. Most of the major plate suppliers now sell violet CTP metal plates. Some manual-loading violet platesetters rated for production of approximately 20 plates per hour can be purchased for less than $65,000. Higher priced units typically offer some desirable options, such as integrated plate punching and automatic plate loading, but the large number of different plate sizes in a typical forms plant can make these options very expensive.

For some short run and imprinting applications on forms and 2-page sheetfed presses, Xante has a new low cost CTP system with special metal plates that require no processing. The Xante Impressia platesetter applies an ink receptive toner image to .006” Aspen metal plates rated for 25,000 impressions. Maximum plate size is 13.4” x 19.9”, with 2400 x 2400 dpi image resolution, equivalent to a 150 line screen according to Xante. Rated maximum production is 60 plates per hour, and the cost of the platesetter is under $20,000.  Forms producers considering this CTP system should first run tests with the Aspen plates on their presses to ensure plate durability.

Two other low cost CTP systems at Print 05, both using ink jet technology to image metal plates, may be suitable for printing on forms presses and at least spot color sheetfed work. JetPlate Systems showed an updated version of a platesetter that “images” a conventional Kodak Craftsman Elite UV-sensitive metal plate with a special fluid. This platesetter is actually a customized Epson ink jet printer. The largest model, JetPlate 7600, can image plates up to 24” x 29.5” with production rates determined by selection of 720, 1440 or 2880 dpi resolution. Jet Plate indicates that the 3 micron minimum imaging spot size allows stochastic screening or resolution up to 175 lines/inch with conventional screening for process color printing. Plates are rated for runs up to 100,000 impressions. A complete JetPlate 7600 system, with a separate proof printer, RIP, computer, plate imager, conventional processor and installation had a Print 05 show price of less than $45,000. The second ink jet CTP machine, PlateWriter 4200, was demonstrated by Glunz & Jensen, Inc. This CTP system applies a patented ink-receptive coating to image areas of plain grained anodized aluminum sheets. Maximum plate size is 28”x 35.8” with all common thickness options. The imaged plates must be fed manually into a combination heat fusing and gumming unit in the lower part of the machine. The PlateWriter 4200 system operates in daylight and does not require processing chemicals. Rated production speed is approximately 4 to 5 plates per hour at maximum resolution, and cost of the equipment is under $40,000. Glunz & Jensen indicates that these plates have sufficiently high resolution and repeatability for process color printing with conventional or stochastic screening.

Emerging prepress technologies include a growing number of other metal plates that require no chemicals for processing and plates that can be mounted on a press immediately after imaging without any processing. Rated life of the new no-chemistry and no-processing plates is in the range of 50,000 to 100,000 impressions and they can be handled in visible light environments. Most of the current users are small to medium size printers who are upgrading to a CTP system and want the simplicity and consistency of chemistry-free platemaking, without the maintenance and variability associated with conventional plate processors. Forms producers who are replacing conventional platemaking with CTP or adding sheetfed commercial printing presses should also look at the opportunity to eliminate plate processing chemicals. This option may be particularly attractive for printers in states such as California, which continue to impose more and more stringent environmental regulations. At this time, some of the chemistry-free wet offset metal plates from major suppliers require thermal platesetters matched to the characteristics of each plate.

Presstek has been one of the leading developers and now offers five metal chemistry-free plates. The Anthem has to be washed only with water after imaging and is rated for 100,000 impressions. Applause has a similar run life rating, but this plate needs no washing or cleaning before it is mounted on a press. Aurora is a new high resolution (1%-99% dots) plate compatible with Creo (now Kodak) and Screen CTP systems and requiring only a water rinse after imaging. Presstek rates this plate as suitable for commercial printing up to 50,000 impressions with stochastic or 200 line/inch conventional screening. Presstek also sells an economical CTP “package” that includes their lower priced Freedom plate and the matched Vector TX52 two page (up to 20”x 21”) platesetter with a built-in station for cleaning imaged plates with water. The machine can output 20 plates per hour. The positive writing Freedom plates are rated for runs up to 25,000 impressions.

Agfa has released the new chemistry-free Azura plate which is compatible with several thermal platesetters. Agfa provides a special machine for post-imaging cleaning and gumming of these plates. Azura is rated for 100,000 impressions, image resolution up to 200 lines/inch and it can be used with UV inks. Kodak now sells the Thermal Direct plate which has a similar run life and image resolution rating and is also compatible with UV inks. This plate is ready for a press immediately after imaging and it is cleaned by the dampening system during makeready. The Kodak product can be handled in visible light conditions, but only for a limited period of time. At Print 05, Enovation Graphic Systems showed two new no-chemistry plates developed by Fuji and scheduled for release in 2006. Mitsui Chemicals presented a similar technology demonstration, indicating that more suppliers are developing these types of plates.

Other prepress highlights at Print 05 included a new crop of ink jet proof printers and sophisticated new soft proofing systems with special software and calibrated monitors. In proofing, it is clear that speed, convenience and lower cost have overcome all quality advantage claims by traditional analog proofing advocates. Kodak and several other companies are working on systems that enable accurate matching of specific spot colors with process inks on four and six print unit presses, within their color gamut limitations. Printed product suppliers looking for a unique niche or advertising specialty opportunities should investigate the new method of creating three-dimensional lenticular printing images demonstrated at Print 05 by Human Eyes Inc. This company is also testing new software that will allow conversion of regular 2-dimensional images into files that can be printed or displayed so that the images appear 3-dimensional. At Print 05, lenticular printing was demonstrated on both conventional and digital presses.

New Skills
It was very evident at Print 05 that traditional printing producers selling mainly “ink on paper” will be facing an increasingly challenging competitive environment. Practically all common types of printed products are commodities that can be produced in a large number of similar plants that usually have excess capacity. It is increasingly difficult for printers to distinguish themselves from competitors based on quality and service. Most plants that use appropriate modern equipment for their jobs can produce good quality. Buyers can easily find multiple plants with excess capacity that can deliver on short notice. As a further challenge, printers who update their plants with the latest presses and finishing machines shown at Print 05 are likely to achieve large increases in both productivity and capacity.

The sizeable number of exhibits at Print 05 featuring software innovations for automating or improving all processes associated with printing point to a major new differentiation opportunity through information technology (IT) capabilities. This means that IT skills are becoming an essential new competency of print producers and sellers who want to distinguish themselves from competitors. Printers with up-to-date IT capabilities can combine task-specific software from multiple vendors for e-commerce to facilitate sales, transactions and communications with customers. Printers also need IT skills to set up web catalogs and design template programs for specific customers, automate internal processes and improve management control over pricing, costs and productivity. More importantly, internal IT resources can be used to customize general purpose printing industry or e-commerce software to gain competitive advantages or set up interfaces with major customers that cannot be easily duplicated by other suppliers.

Print 05 had a variety of Application Service Providers (ASPs) who host e-commerce and other types of printing industry software for both manufacturers and distributors of printed products. This provides an easy way to take advantage of software advances and implement complex computer and communications systems. The ASP option can be very effective for upgrading obsolete internal systems. The problem in using ASP’s for e-commerce and other customer interface initiatives is that any number of competitors can do the same. Printers using the latest software hosted by ASP’s should have an advantage at least over the many competitors who do not make adequate systems and software investments. Many printing industry participants today operate with obsolete software. On the other hand, strong internal IT capabilities allow modifications to standardized software packages or custom programming that can result in very large sales, customer service, communications and productivity advantages over many competitors. Print 05 sent a clear message that to excel in the printing industry today and in the future, IT skills are becoming as important as the skills to print, bind and sell.

Based in Los Angeles, California, Ivars Sarkans is president of consulting firm Sarkans & Associates, and a long time contributor to DMIA publications. He can be reached by telephone at (323) 221-7791 or by e-mail at isarkans@sarkans.com.

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