Software - Web-to-print

BY MARK SMITH A patent on the automation of prepress processes? Could such a fundamental and basic sounding concept really be patentable, and stand up to any challenges? Patent #6,429,947—"Automated, hosted prepress application" is just one of the patents awarded so far this year to ImageX in Kirkland, WA. By mid-August, the company was reporting it had already received final approval for six of the more than 50 patents it claimed to have pending. According to Rich Begert, president and CEO, as a provider of online solutions for distributing, managing and producing sales and marketing materials, the company has developed a patent portfolio that

BY CHRIS BAUER Football season is upon us, and the focus of most teams is on the quarterback. Some quarterbacks are pocket passers like the Saint Louis Rams' Kurt Warner, while others like to get out of the pocket and make plays on-the-run, like the Philadelphia Eagles' Donovan McNabb. For the printing industry, talk of pockets brings us to the bindery—where new collating equipment can be the quarterback of the finishing department. Just like NFL-caliber players, collating equipment has to be tough, smart, reliable and flexible, equipment vendors say. The same broad trends that are shaping the printing industry at large—shorter run

BY MARK SMITH The computer has been an amazing enabling tool for the printing industry. The problem is, it has put capabilities in the hands of anyone with a computer and some software, but not the expertise that goes with the craft. Creative types have been lured into attempting more production-oriented tasks by the potential to gain greater control over their work and save money. In bridging the boundaries between creative and production functions, digital technology also has blurred lines of responsibility. Too often, the outcome has been disappointing printed results and/or frustration with the process, now broadly called "workflow." But wait, here

BY LARRY WARTER In order to survive in an ever-changing industry, today's printer will have to become the "smart factory" of tomorrow. The "smart factory" concept integrates all of the internal printing plant processes with information flows linked to the outside. Many of the criteria for being a true "smart factory" are related to standards (including accredited standards, as well as industry specifications), which address aspects of the process that everyone agrees should be standardized and, at the same time, leave opportunities for individual companies to differentiate themselves in other parts of the process. One of the most crucial steps in becoming a

Color Meets Its Match GRANDVILLE, MI—Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, unfortunately, so too is the perception of color. Therefore, to be of practical use, any attempt to define colors objectively must be reconciled with the subjective way in which they are viewed. That's why effective color management is such a desirable, yet often frustrating, goal. The full scope of the challenge was made apparent during a press briefing held recently by X-Rite Inc. at its headquarters here. The event also brought home the point that the printing industry is not alone in facing this challenge. Some industries actually have it worse, since

Dateline—Monday, March 25, 2002, VUE/Point conference, Washington, DC. I always wanted to do that; it sounds so important. I feel like a crack AP reporter breaking a red-hot story. You probably think the time I spent attending the VUE/Point conference went to my head. Perhaps, but you have to admit it added a little drama to this month's column. And adding some drama was my intention because I believe that Adobe's PDF Transit is going to be a key component of tomorrow's print shop, and tomorrow's print shop is already here. So, for me, this was a must write and, for all of you,

GENTLE READER: I can only say that if you're getting sick and tired of my naysaying of the printing industry, think about how I feel. I look back on my Printing Impressions columns over the last few years, and I realize that you could easily get the idea that there's nothing I'd like better than to see the printing industry disappear. I keep harping about the industry's failure to get with the program: to recognize the changes that are taking place in the way that media is proffered in our society. I keep harping about the economic challenges that the printing industry faces and, I

BY CAROLINE MILLER The decision to implement a color management system was a no-brainer for Multi-Visual Products (MVP) owner Craig Graves. The Murrieta, CA-based company, which prints high-quality trading cards for youth sports leagues around the nation—as well as a line of magazine covers, calendars, enhanced team prints, magnets, stickers and mouse pads—had a color problem. When the company began eight years ago, MVP had a code blue calibration process, including a scanner and an output device. The company had to tweak the output devices as best it could, but there were many colors that didn't match the original. "Our reject rates were very high,"

BY MARK SMITH Since the early days of desktop publishing, the term "workflow" for the most part has been associated with the processing of files within prepress operations. The focus of the discussion—and product development—now is being extended forward to the customer's operation and back through the pressroom and into the bindery. Prepress and printing operations have to navigate a web of sometimes-sensitive issues when they touch on their customers' internal processes. Concerns about control, internal politics and resistance to change can present barriers to a better way of doing things. Tanagraphics Inc. in New York City strives to deepen its relationship with clients by being a

BY CAROLINE MILLER If you want it done right, then you need to do it yourself. In light of the recent demise of many ASP e-procurement solutions in the graphic arts industry, that old adage seems to be gaining more and more popularity. And one printer that has put that "can-do" attitude to the test is Lynn Johnson, of Dallas-based Buchanan Visual Communications. Two years ago, Johnson—Buchanan's vice president of sales and a former systems analyst—saw the need to offer clients an online presence. The $26 million sheetfed, web and digital printer wanted to revamp how it conducted business with its clients, recalls Johnson. "We're very committed