Don's World Meets (Steve) Johnson's World

Last week, I had the great pleasure of spending some time with Steve Johnson, founder and owner of digital book printer Copresco, located in Carol Stream, Illinois. Steve is a bit of a legend in the digital book business (for several reasons), the first being that he was one of the first to actually produce books using digital technology. Originally an offset person, Steve tried to convince his boss at the printer he worked for that you could literally produce a book using a copier. When the chief told him he was nuts, Steve went to the bank with a business plan and...the rest is history.

Copresco is now a mature enterprise, not only printing a wide variety of short-run work—including short-run and self-published titles, technical manuals, workbooks, textbooks and photobooks—but it also offers almost every type of finishing that the customer could want (with the exception of velo-bind). The customer's desire to produce almost any type of printed product in a limited-run has driven Copresco's steady growth over the years.

It hasn't hurt that Steve is also a very good writer. "Johnson's World" has been a feature in the print trades for many years, with Steve offering his observations on everything from book binding to running a business to life in general. During Copresco's history, Steve and his team have had to scramble more than once to meet a tight production deadline or special print and finishing requirements. Steve's print workflow is all cut-sheet digital because of the flexibility it offers for multiple substrates and very short-run. Over the years, he's "upgraded" his equipment both on the print and bindery side in order to stay current with customer demands.

All in all, it was a great visit and a chance to exchange views with a terrific ambassador of the digital print sector. May Copresco (and Steve and his team) continue their run for many years to come.