Software - Web-to-print

NEXPO, headlining in Las Vegas this month, touts trends in digital asset management, imagesetters, new RIP releases and other digital prepress tools designed to make the front page move in digital directions. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO Newspapers are at a disadvantage when it comes to reaping the full benefits of electronic prepress, at present, for the obvious reason: Experimentation can cost—and, with the front page at stake, few newspaper greats would push for thermal imaging innovation at the risk of an unplanned late edition. However, are newspaper executives, who are in positions of operational and production management, taking note of the technologies driving thermal

I'm working on a new seminar series for Insync Media, a Los Angeles-based printing and new media firm, and I thought I'd share some of the insights that are emerging from the process. Most of my seminars are offered to printers and prepress shops. When I say "you" in my seminars, it's usually the same "you" that I reference in this column. However, this new series is, instead, directed at your customers or, more specifically, at a segment of your customers—namely senior managers of creative/production services at large corporations, ad agencies and design studios. With all of the upheaval caused by the Internet and

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a commercial printer that, in many ways, is representative of our industry. It is a privately held firm that was started right after World War II and has grown from being a local printer into a mid-sized firm with a national clientele. This firm, which shall remain anonymous, faced the digital prepress issue a bit earlier than most commercial printers. But, what is notable about it isn't that the firm put in Macintosh workstations and started outputting its own films. No, it's the approach that management used that is important. The principals—the president and general manager—knew they needed

The purpose of an electronic job ticket is to convey information relative to the production of a print job. Simple, yet complex, these virtual managers may offer a few surprises—but they won't replace the paper trail, just yet. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The electronic job ticket is not a practical replacement for the existing paper system. Odd but true. It is impossible to carry the electronic job ticket around a printing plant for continuous reference, as required during setup and the actual run. Clearly, then, the electronic job ticket has significant advantages over the time-honored paper system, when it comes to updating critical

Two years ago, Printing Impressions explored the digital asset management and repurposing services of Color Associates. At that time, its top management reported that selling data services and exploring new ways of distributing client information was the future for prepress providers. Were they right? You bet your assets! BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The year is 1997. At Color Associates—a St. Louis-based digital prepress, creative imaging services and display graphics provider—the focus is clear: The time has come to sell, market and fully exploit digital content management and the expanding role of digital communications. The Internet, they reasoned, would play a major role in

Will 1999 be the year that the Internet is finally recognized as a viable alternative for the transfer of larger graphic arts files? Keep dreaming—but, for certain, the Internet is gaining the attention and trust of commercial printers and prepress pros. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The Internet offers critical mass and open compatibility and, at the end of the day, that's exactly what commercial printers are looking for in digital file delivery. True or false? More and more, the answer appears to be swinging to true, as the Internet gains both the recognition and investment dollars of leading digital file delivery providers—leading

Commercial printers, trade shops, publishers and industry suppliers are banding together under the Graphics Century Project (GCP) umbrella to share critical information and find practical solutions concerning common Y2K problems. BY ERIK CAGLE (Editor's Note: This is the second in a year-long series of articles examining the Y2K problem as it applies to the commercial printing industry. This installment takes a look at the Graphics Century Project, an association-led effort to exchange knowledge.) Pat Maher will be one of the first to admit that the commercial printing industry falls short in the

Digital asset management (DAM) solutions are plentiful, ranging wildly in everything from robustness to flexibility to price. But which offering is right for you? That may be the million-dollar question. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The search is on. There are at least 75 DAM technology providers (not a slight on these fine technologists, just a widely tossed about, clever acronym for digital asset management) that are more than happy to visit you, send you materials, access your digital archiving weaknesses, advise you on ways to retool the content management at your operation and probably wash your car if you ask them nice enough. For

BY ERIK CAGLE (Editor's Note: This is the first in a year-long series of articles examining the Year 2000 problem as it applies to the commercial printing industry. The first installment is an introduction to the Y2K bug and its potential impact on the business community at large.) It is February 1999. Do you know where your company's Year 2000 (Y2K) initiative stands? Like a Nostradamus prediction, the business world has been hearing bits and pieces of a terrible day of reckoning. But the Y2K bug, the nasty little pest that is as obvious as the clock in the upper right hand corner of

Digital front ends are growing in flexibility and functionality, allowing for greater output opportunities, especially in areas of digital color proofing. Are DFEs where they need to be—technically speaking? Most are headed in the right direction, thanks to the promise of PDF. BY MARIE RANOIA ALONSO The success of any print production process—whether it is direct-to-film, direct-to-plate or imposition proofing—relies fully on the competence of the digital front end in question. Digital front ends, or DFEs—rich in providing controls for color management, PDF support and a host of in-RIP capabilities, including trapping—are taking the front end to higher levels of sophistication. What is a