On The Same Page

News & opinions from around the world from Dalim Software
On The Same Page
Vertis "Hub & Spoke" web workflows
Save Money
With JDF
James Harvey explains how
In With The New
Gravure production with Prinovis
Can You Trust Your Monitor?
Hal Hinderliter states the case against
Issue V
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no pre-baking required.
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a single, economical workflow for all CTP and
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silverless violet: a superfast, more affordable,
CTP plate-plus-platesetter system.
no processor, no chemicals, faster ROI for
small-format 2-up and 4-up printers.
| The Magazine | 05
… available through Citiplate authorized resellers coast-to-coast.
2
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Tel: 516-484-2000
Fax: 516-484-9778
www.citiplate.com
For a confidential proposal,
contact: Gary Dolgins, CEO,
at 516-484-2000.
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| CONTENT |
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News
Updates on Dalim Software products, events and applications.
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Distributed Digital Production - The Vertis Story
Vertis Inc are one of the largest direct marketing organisations in the world.
Read how they deployed a radical “hub-and-spoke’ production system, built
using DALiM TWiST servers.
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Cover photography by Geyza
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Open To Interpretation
Your softproofing system may be colour-accurate, but is it content-accurate?
Gee Ranasinha poses the question regarding RIPs and softproofing
systems.
16
Fast Food!
Nestlé is the world’s biggest food and beverage company, employing
nearly a quarter of a million staff. Read how Nestlé prepress supplier Zuliani
installed DALiM MiSTRAL Pack, a packaging-specific version of Dalim
Software’s online production management system.
17
21st Century Service
Gareth Ward, from The Print Business, examines the change in business
practices required for print companies to succeed in the future.
18
Dalim Software Solutions
A guide to Dalim Software’s award-winning product line.
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Strassburger Strasse 6
77694 Kehl
Germany
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f: +49 (0) 7851 73 57 6
www.dalim.com
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Irv Press - irv@press-plus.com
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Franck Stoll - franck.s@dalim.com
Our sincere thanks to Continental Web Press,
Itasca, IL
With A Little Help From My Friends
How Continental Web Press helped us in attaining SWOP® certification for
DALiM DiALOGUE.
DESIGN
PRINTING
Save Money using JDF
James Harvey, Executive Director of the CIP4 Organisation, urges you to
“think JDF” when investing in new equipment.
Gee Ranasinha - gee@dalim.com
Ruth Clark - ruth@splashpr.co.uk
Prinovis - Gravure printing with DALiM TWiST
The new company created from the gravure printing divisions of
maul-belser, Gruner + Jahr and Axel Springer use DALiM TWiST to ensure a
fast, seamless production workflow.
t: +49 (0) 7851 91 96 0
EDITORIAL
Can You Trust Your Monitor?
Hal Hinderliter casts doubt on the validity of current monitor colour
calibration tests.
Dalim Software GmbH
34
CTP Investment Trends
Barry Happe from Vantage Strategic Marketing looks that the global uptake
of Computer-To-Plate systems.
The Magazine | 05 |
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| The Magazine | 05
| MESSAGE |
A
message
from
Carol Werlé
Welcome to THEMAGAZiNE, our own publication designed for
industry innovators in all areas of print production. THEMAGAZiNE
has gone some way since our first issue was published back in 2003.
This issue is our biggest to date. It features news and opinions on
a wide range of topics concerning graphic arts professionals today.
It follows a multilingual Central Europe Edition of 20,000 copies and
last year’s DRUPA edition of 25,000 copies in 3 languages (German,
English and French).
Dr. Carol Werlé
CEO, Dalim Software GmbH
Raising interest at all levels of the supply chain, THEMAGAZINE is
becoming the eyes and the ears of our customers and many industry
specialists around the world. This issue of THEMAGAZiNE brings
contributions from some of the foremost industry professionals. We
are very pleased to feature articles from James Harvey, Gareth Ward,
Hal Hinderliter and Barry Happe and thank them for their support.
In the last issue of the Magazine, I mentioned that much of our
product development originates from direct feedback from our
customers; originating from information harvested by their own
technical infrastructure, their staff and, more importantly, their own
customers. Aside from prestigious contributions, the stories in this
issue revolve around global brands (for example, did you know
that the majority of CD and DVD covers from around the world
are produced using DALiM TWIST?). Other stories feature Nestlé
supplier Zuliani and Bertelsmann - a large shareholder in gravure
print group Prinovis, making it the largest Dalim Software user in
the Gravure environment in Europe. It is a fact that more and more
global organisations today entrust small teams of smart people to
produce their work using the latest server-based technologies that
make production look local and centralized, even though it is often
subcontracted nationally or offshore.
With two Dalim Software User Organization meetings - in Europe and
in the USA - both enjoying record attendances, we continue sharing
our vision for the future of our industry. So that “your imagination
becomes your only limit”.
We hope you enjoy this issue, and hope you find it the usual
entertaining and instructive read.
Regards,
The Magazine | 05 |
Dr. Carol Werlé
CEO, Dalim Software
5
| NEWS |
DALiM DiALOGUE
Now SWOP® Certified
Already attracting attention for
its ease-of-use and stunning
client user interface, DALiM
DiALOGUE now features
SWOP® Certification.
DALiM DiALOGUE, the award-winning online
softproofing system, has received SWOP®
(Specifications for Web Offset Publications)
Certification, independently confirming that DALiM
DiALOGUE will consistently render colour accurately on
a monitor—hard copy proofs will match those viewed on screen,
even for colour-critical projects. Based on qualified testing, DALiM
DiALOGUE is SWOP® Certified for use with the GTI SOFV-1ex
viewing booth and the GretagMacbeth EyeOne Pro spectrophotometer, viewed on either the 23-inch Apple Cinema Display HD,
the 30-inch Apple Cinema Display HD, or the 20-inch iMac.
DALiM DiALOGUE is unique amongst
online softproofing systems in that it is the
only system that combines JDF-compatibility, SWOP® Certification and unlimited client
access. Furthermore DALiM DiALOGUE is a standalone system that doesn’t charge “per click” as competitive ASP-based systems do. Users require nothing more that a
browser - there is no client software download or web browser
plug-in to install.<
More details at www.dalim.com/dalimdialogue
Dalim Software at ChinaPrint Expo
As part of Dalim Software’s growing international presence,
our Hong Kong / China channel partners Workflow Integrator
(www.workflowintegrator.com.hk) invited us to participate on
their exhibition booth at the 2005 ChinaPrint tradeshow. A first
for Dalim Software, ChinaPrint proved to be an exceptionally
good show with a great many small-to-medium sized print
companies from all over the Asia/Pacific region expressing an
interest in our products. With the ongoing growth in high-speed
data communications, the Far East and Asia are emerging
markets for the Graphic Arts industries with many Western
companies already partnering with Asian companies. Our
plan is to continue to monitor the developing markets, with the
support of our channel partners, to be best positioned to take
advantage of the emerging commercial opportunities.<
Don’t Miss Out!
DUO 2006
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Make sure that your company is represented at the 2006 Dalim Software Users
Organization (“DUO”) Annual Conference!
| The Magazine | 05
Attracting over 100 attendees, DUO gives Dalim Software users the opportunity
to learn about the company’s most recent developments and future plans, the
chance to meet with other Dalim Software users from various business sectors,
plus the opportunity to discuss with Dalim Software technical and sales staff.
6
DUO will be held in Barcelona, Spain and Scottsdale AZ in early 2006.
More details will be available nearer the time!
time!<
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| NEWS |
JDF1.3 support for all
Dalim Software server
systems
With the publishing of the latest JDF1.3
specification by CIP4 (www.cip4.org), Dalim
Software has upgraded all of out server
applications (DALiM SWiNG, DALiM TWiST, DALiM DiALOGUE, DALiM
PRiNTEMPO and DALIM MiSTRAL) to support the new level of
compliance. The new features of JDF1.3 mainly focus on additional
packaging and file preflight-specific features.<
GWG Validates
PDF Output
The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) is an international
assembly of industry associations whose goal is to
establish and disseminate process specifications for
best practices in graphic arts workflows.
Part of the GWG’s aims lies in the creation of quasi-standards in PDF
output for a range of different applications such as magazine advertising, commercial print, or packaging. As a result, nine PDF output specifications have been published by the GWG, grouped under the name
“PDF/X Plus”.
As part of Dalim Software’s ongoing commitment to the
support of any openly-specified standard, the GWG recently conducted
extensive tests concerning the PDF output of Dalim Software applications. The result was clear: The GWG tests concurred that the PDF output
from Dalim Software applications are 100% compliant with all nine GWG
PDF/X Plus output specifications.<
Red Flag Media gets DALiM TWiST
Customer publisher and owner of a national title invests in automation
Red Flag Media is a company that has grown from a custom publisher
for independent music retailers to the owner of an excellent Philadelphiabased metal magazine, Decibel.
Recently, Red Flag Media invested in a large-scale DALiM TWiST system
in order to better control their media production, as well as reduce costs.
“We looked at our bills and discovered we were spending a mint on prepress. Since going live, the
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Dalim Software system has
been incredible,” says Alex
Mulcahy, Red Flag Media
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reliability. We appreciate how
dependably and flawlessly
DALiM TWiST works. Our
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printer is ecstatic about how
we deliver our files.”<
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THEMAGAZiNE
We practice what we preach!
In case you were
wondering: Yes
indeed, this issue
of THEMAGAZiNE
was produced
using Dalim
Software workflow
automation tools.
As with many publications today, the issue was most
definitely a global project, bringing together people at
Dalim Software’s central HQ in Kehl, Germany; with our
PR agencies in both London and Boston; with the printer
Continental Web Press (CWP) in Chicago.
DALiM MiSTRAL was used as the common interface, residing at the print site. Once CWP had created the flatplan,
the PR agencies could submit approved copy, images
and graphics online, and our designer could assemble the
pages and immediately post them for validation. As and
when each file was submitted, the DALiM MiSTRAL system
would preflight, optimize and trap each page according to
the printer’s specification.
Any pages that didn’t meet the spec - not enough bleed,
perhaps, or a font that was too small - would be automatically moved to a holding area, while both the submitter and
the printer would receive an email outlining the problem.
Approval was fast and error-free. Optimized PDF files were
available for download, as well as colour-managed online
softproofing for viewing, correction and approval.
Once the magazine was approved - again totally online
- the printer simply imposed the pages using a JDF imposition template. As each printer section was complete, the
system automatically sent the signatures to the platesetter
RIP.
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DALiM MiSTRAL did the rest.<
We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone at
Continental Web Press, Itasca, IL for their help in the
production of THEMAGAZiNE.
The Magazine | 05 |
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As Continental Web Press CEO Ken Field comments “We
handled it just like any other job that we receive from our
clients from all around the country. Once the client was
happy with each page, they simply click “OK” from their
browser.
7
| NEWS |
English, French, German How about Chinese?
For the recent ChinaPrint tradeshow
in Beijing, Dalim Software Authorized
Reseller Workflow Integrator wanted to
differentiate themselves from the many
other vendor booths around the show.
Taking a leaf from Dalim Software’s
book - literally - Workflow integrator
set about designing a Dalim Software
magazine - in Chinese!
“We all thought that the last few issues
of THEMAGAZiNE contained some
great articles and commentaries”, said
Yeo Choo Ming, Business Development
Manager of Workflow Integrator.
“ChinaPrint is a multicultural show, so
we wanted to come up with a magazine
that could be read by Chinese and nonChinese equally.”
The result is a carefully-designed magazine containing both English and Chinese
text, taking the best features and articles
from past issues of THEMAGAZiNE.<
THEMAGAZiNE. Now in Chinese,
thanks to our Hong Kong / Singapore /
China reseller, Workflow Integrator
Read All About It
US News & World Report
Magazine installs DALiM TWiST
| The Magazine | 05
Washington, DC-based U.S. News & World
Report, which delivers a unique brand of weekly
magazine journalism to more than 11 million
readers, recently installed a DALiM TWiST system
at their Washington, DC prepress facility.
8
“We needed a productive, cost-effective way to
pre-flight our ads and edit pages and produce
PDF/X1-a files for our printers and digital content
partners,” says Michael Brooks, Manager of
Prepress at U.S. News. “DALiM TWiST delivers
that cost-efficiency and allows us to produce
pages much more quickly. Every week it helps
us deliver the news to our readers faster and
better.”<
Swelling our ranks:
New faces
New appointments at Dalim Software.
Stefan Preussler
joins Dalim Software as
the company’s Chief
Operating Officer. Stefan
was previously employed
as Prepress Production
Manager at Gruner+Jahr,
Germany, before joining Brown Printing Company as Chief
Administration Officer based in Waseca,
Minneapolis, USA. Stefan’s new position
sees him returning home to his native
Germany to be based in Dalim Software’s
central office in Kehl, Germany.
“As a customer, I was always impressed
with Dalim Software’s technology, products
and innovation,“ he notes. “I’m very excited
to be working with such a forward-thinking
organization as Dalim Software.”
Graham Blanks, who
joins Dalim Software as
head of North American
Strategic Operations,
is very familiar with
Dalim Software - since
he had worked at the
USA headquarters
of what was then DALiM North America.
Graham was also Operations Director at
UK Dalim Software reseller, Turning Point
Technologies Ltd. before relocating to the
USA.
“Being so familiar with both the people
and the products from Dalim Software, it’s
almost like coming home!”, jokes Graham.
Graham has more than 15 years experience with UNIX-based Enterprise level
applications and has extensive experience
in the Print and Publishing markets. “ I feel
that Dalim Software’s latest products and
technologies open up an exciting opportunity for the company.”<
DALiM TWiST:
The Engine of WebSEND
WebSEND, Australia’s most advanced internet-based
advertising delivery service, has integrated DALiM TWiST
as its core preflighting and validation engine.
WebSEND provides an invaluable, time-slashing step in
the print-ad production chain. Unlike other ad-submission
services, WebSEND validates an ad against a newspaper
or magazine’s mechanical specifications on-the-fly.
When an Art Director submits their ad to any number of
1200 Australian and New Zealand publications, DALiM
TWiST not only checks the PDF for RIP-killing errors such as
corrupted fonts, PostScript errors or transparency issues,
but compares the file characteristics against the target
publication’s ad-sizes, column widths, ink weight specifications, section information and so forth - all in real-time.
If the file passes the checks, the PDF is immediately delivered to the publication. If not, it is returned in a few seconds
with automatically generated mark-ups showing where
the problem lies, so it can be corrected and re-submitted
immediately, saving time, frustration and money.
“Even if the ad is not perfect, but within an acceptable tolerance range, we can have DALiM TWiST fix it up on the way
through - this eliminates a lot of headaches for production
people at the agency or newspaper alike, especially since
many ads have minor sizing and resolution errors” says
Peter Lamont, CEO of WebSEND.
“What we really like about Dalim Software, and its
Australian Distributor neXus network, is their ‘can do’ attitude. Already, within a few months of implementation, we
are able to provide a better and broader service than we
could previously. We are so impressed with the product
that we have entered an agreement with neXus to offer it
as an extended PDF validation solution to our national and
international clients”.<
Open your eyes to the future of print
Ipex 2006 showcases all that is new and innovative in the industry to help you
stay competitive and profitable. With 1,000 global suppliers and hundreds of
new product launches it’s the perfect environment in which to access the
latest technological developments.
With many initiatives, including INNOV8, a revolutionary theatre where you
can get inspiration from industry experts, it’s an essential place for idea
generation.
And with a new logical hall layout with exhibitors zoned to mirror the printing
workflow it will make your visit less tiring and a lot more inspiring.
For those of you who want a taster of the future there couldn’t be a better
place to go than Ipex from 4–11 April 2006, NEC, Birmingham, UK. Register
now for FREE visit: www.ipex.org/dalim
The Global Technology Event for Print, Publishing & Media
4–11 April 2006
Owned by
For more information, the latest news and to register for FREE entry visit: www.ipex.org/dalim
The Magazine | 05 |
NEC, Birmingham, UK
9
| STORY |
Distributed
Digital
Manufacturing
Offered by Vertis. Powered by DALiM TWiST.
It can be very difficult producing and monitoring
large, ‘global’ accounts: clients with offices
located nationwide—or even internationally.
Traditionally, in order to meet a large customer’s
needs, a premedia organization would need to
establish and maintain a premedia presence at
each one of the customer’s locations.
This was the challenge that Vertis faced when
pitching for a major account. The requirement
to create four complete, self-reliant facilities, yet
link them together – all within a realistic budget.
The only apparent solution was to deploy a “hub
& spoke” model, where both manufacturing
and financial requirements could be met. And,
as Vertis will tell you, working with their client
would likely have been impossible without DALiM
TWiST.
| The Magazine | 05
Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland USA
and with 120 locations worldwide, Vertis is a
premier provider of targeted advertising, media
and marketing services whose capabilities
include advertising inserts, direct marketing,
direct mail, interactive/online marketing, oneto-one marketing, newspaper media planning
and placement and advertising premedia. The
company serves over 3,000 clients, including
major manufacturers, retailers, newspapers and
advertising agencies.
10
Vertis was called upon to service a large client
who wanted to distribute, promote, and sell
content globally. However, the client’s offices
were spread out across the whole of the USA,
with an HQ in New York City. It was a nationwide
organization whose needs fluctuated greatly
depending on the type of work, or the location of
the office.
“We needed to produce standardized, finished
goods in many appearances and forms. In
addition to keeping a consistent appearance
and timely delivery, we needed to balance it with
profitability,” remembers Scott Tully, Vertis Digital
Workflow Strategist. “We decided to deploy
DALiM TWiST, establish a robust file naming
convention and folder structure, and meet the
challenge head-on.”
DALIM TWiST is a key component of Vertis’
Distributed Digital Manufacturing (DDM) system,
a comprehensive production strategy where
information management, data storage, data
transfer, Internet connectivity and process
control are fused into a self-reliant, automated
manufacturing centre. The result is a “digital
production hub”, where automated workflow
solutions are based locally and distributed
globally.
The ‘hub and spoke’ model was immediately
put to the test. While an area in the client’s New
York offices was being prepared to take a DALiM
TWiST system, most of the work was sent to
the Vertis facility in North Haven, Connecticut.
Operators in North Haven had local access to
DALiM TWiST via desktop publishing, and the
start-up personnel in the New York office had
| STORY |
Scott Tully,
Digital Workflow Strategist
David Austin,
Production Manager
Bob Soule
Director of Technology
...“it couldn’t have happened
without DALiM TWiST.”
remote access via the Internet thanks to Dalim Software’s TWiST WEBLiNK
interface. Despite geographic and personnel differences, DALiM TWiST
produced final files and made them instantly available to both locations.
Once the client’s New York offices were ready, it was just a case of installing
the set-up from the DALiM TWiST server in North Haven. The changeover
was seamless. With common DALiM TWiST platforms exchanging workflows,
balancing the workload was achieved in just a few hours. The client’s materials
were now manufactured by two separate groups—joined, yet independent—
with indistinguishable results.
Kenneth Bahr
Lead Page Assembly Operator
The concept worked.
Work proceeded on implementing a similar system at the client’s offices on the
West Coast of the USA, initially serviced by the Vertis office in Irvine, California.
Shortly thereafter, an office opened in Miami Florida, and they too, became
part of the model.
In the end, Vertis had more than twenty personnel, at five different locations, all
working concurrently and seamlessly with a single, truly automated production
workflow!
Automated manufacturing
Bryan Griffin
Manager, Commercial Assembly
Since early 2004, the features and functionality of the master DALiM TWiST
server have evolved from a simple ‘RIP, trap, and render’ solution to an
intelligent collection of automated production efficiency.
Alfred Burgess
Lead Page Assembly Operator
The Magazine | 05 |
“Our present solution consists of the main workflow master template and
97 sub-routine templates. All of the workflow templates contain checks and
balances to prevent flawed input files from being processed. Each workflow
template is programmed with ‘intelligence’, validating that the input is correct.
Incoming files are classified by ‘fuzzy logic’ as being packaging or advertising
jobs, and are then sub-classified and routed by component type,” notes Scott.
“These features are utilized within DALiM TWiST, but are made possible by
the comprehensive planning and organization of our entire Vertis team, who
collaborated to create a file coding system.” This coding system is the real 8
11
| STORY |
heart of the operation and the secret as to how Vertis
can produce such varied output from just a handful of
operators.
While the back-end system is elaborate, using DALiM
TWiST to produce the work couldn’t be easier”, explains
Scott. “The operator selects from project-based
choices, determining the final file format to be produced
(PDF/X-1a:2003 or TIFF-IT.P1), and the page delivery
type (single page or imposed printer spreads). Other
options include an intermediate-resolution PDF file to
check composition; a flattened, CMYK TIFF of the input
file for our DAM system; and a form-based collection
of imposed pages, ready for a colour copier in a
single PDF file which can be printed and folded into a
paginated folding dummy. This minimizes operator error,
and provides more time for the operator to employ his/
her desktop publishing skills. The only thing the operator
has to do is prepare a correctly-named and composed
Quark XPress or Adobe InDesign document, and select
a few workflow options”.
Recording exceptional performance
The DALiM TWiST servers have proven 100% reliable
and have been operating at peak efficiency since their
installation. The system has a perfect record. Not one
press-ready file produced by DALiM TWiST has been
rejected by a printer for not meeting ISO standards.
The DALiM TWiST-based manufacturing environment
has matched or exceeded the previous total output of
the customer’s Graphic Arts Production department,
plus the eight vendors the customer had previously
employed. In New York, Vertis’ on-site staff, roughly 60%
the size of the customer’s previous staff, is producing
200-800% more projects daily. Along with the staff
in North Haven, these two facilities have matched or
exceeded all of the customer’s previous output, with
an estimated 50% reduction in total labour, and a 75%
reduction in workflow systems, file servers, proofing,
and other equipment.
“Altogether, the master workflow, combined with the
supporting workflow templates, can automatically deliver
five different file formats, 150 impositions, 150 blueline
PDFs, 87 unique packaging components, 28 unique
advertising components, innumerable assets for the
asset management system and 100% reliability—all at
the click of an operator’s mouse,” summarizes Scott.
“Certainly, it took our expertise to make this possible..
| The Magazine | 05
…but it couldn’t have happened without DALiM TWiST.”<
12
As Vertis expanded its DALiM
TWiST-based infrastructure from coastto-coast, Scott Tully recognized the
need not only to connect the hosts,
but to also join the independent DALiM
TWiST administrators into a cohesive,
national unit.
Scott Tully defined and conducted
a DALiM TWiST Administrators
training program in June 2004,
followed by the creation of Vertis’
DALiM Administrators Group (DAG)
in October. As Facilitator, Scott Tully
hosts a bi-weekly conference call
where DAG members discuss Vertis’
local and national DALiM TWiST
issues, exchange knowledge and
discuss opportunities for improvement.
DAG has produced standardization
of nomenclature, documentation
and communication among the
membership. “My teammates have
dedicated themselves to establishing a
robust, inter-changeable DALiM TWiSTbased manufacturing environment.
Their dedication has resulted in the
creation and evolution of a “Tips &
Tricks” Library, Vertis’ Distributed
Digital Manufacturing Service
(DDM), and an uninterrupted stream
of customer focused, automated
workflows,” explains Scott Tully.
The six Vertis DALiM TWiST
Administrators not only build and
support their workflows; they also
manage their own production
departments. “Being a capable
administrator is just one role each
of my teammates fulfill. They are
also leaders. Vertis is committed to
personal and professional growth of
its personnel—my teammates and I
have all completed Vertis’ Situational
Leadership II class. The result? We
have melded our technical and
leadership skills to form a responsive
team of premedia professionals on
which our fellow Vertis professionals
and customers rely.”
®
The Magazine | 05 |
13
| FEATURE |
Open
to interpretation
by Gee Ranasinha
After lingering on the sidelines for the last eight or nine
years or so, it seems that online softproofing is finally
getting the attention it deserves from our industry. It still
amazes me that so many companies still don’t offer softproofing services to a client base crying out for easier ways
to do business – and are often prepared to pay for it.
The concept of softproofing is pretty simple – even clients
can get their heads around it. Rather then print out the job
on a calibrated proofing system – inkjet, laser, whatever
– you allow the file to be accessed by your customers from
the internet. Once a job is ready, the client logs on to the
system and “clicks” on their job, where the system then
immediately sends an full-frame preview of the image. Only
the image information requested is sent to the client browser, enabling almost instantaneous zooming and scrolling
of the image, as though you had opened it on your own
computer. Since the image data is streamed “intelligently”,
the amount of information transferred is efficient enough for
even the most modest internet connections to handle.
Why do it this way as opposed to (for example) emailing
a PDF of the file straight to the client? There are a number
of reasons. For example, you have no way of tracking
the approval process - you don’t know that the client has
looked at the file until they call/email you back. You also
don’t know for sure if they are commenting on the same
version of the file that you’re working on. Furthermore,
some corporate email networks systematically remove
attachments over a certain size.
| The Magazine | 05
However, from my point of view, the best thing is that during
the proofing process the client doesn’t actually RECEIVE
the file – nothing’s downloaded to their machine – so the
only image the client physically receives is the one that
you’ve allow them to have. An intermediate stage of the job
doesn’t end up cropped, PhotoShopped and on the cover
of Johnny’s homework report.
14
The latest trend in online softproofing are systems that
boast contract colour softproofing”. In other words, the
systems purport to be accurate enough with regards to
their rendition of colour that the client can actually signoff the proof online. DALiM DiALOGUE, Dalim Software’s
| FEATURE |
softproofing system, offers such colour accuracy. It has
even been tested and independently certified by the SWOP
organisation (www.swop.org). Publishers around the world
are looking into contract-colour softproofing with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of hard-copy proofs that
they get to zero.
But that’s not the point of this article (yes, there actually is
a point to all of this). What I want to bring to your attention
is that the manufacturers of some of these systems don’t
seem to be talking about a crucially important part of the
softproofing process: the underlying RIP technology that
the systems use.
A RIP, or ‘Raster Image Processor’ if you prefer, is a software
and/or hardware application that converts by interpretation
the vector description of text and/or pictorial elements in a
file into rasterized, bitmap data that may, in addition, have
a screen ruling applied. The objective is to create a file that
can be read in by an output device – be it a filmsetter or
platesetter, proofer, or even a press. If you’ve got a digital
file that contains vectors – not just line artwork, but fonts,
rules and so on – then before that job gets to be ink on
paper there has to be a RIP involved.
However, different RIPs do things in different ways.
Worse that than, even software from the SAME RIP
MANUFACTURER does things in different ways – depending on output settings, file formats and so on. It doesn’t
take a genius to work out that if the proofing system that
you’re using isn’t ripping the files using the same technology as that of your output device, then there’s a chance
that what you see on the proof isn’t going to be what you
see from the output device. It’s one reason why many printers ensure that their inkjet proofs have been ripped using
the same RIP interpreter as the one that they use for their
platesetter.
Now, for many of you reading this, I’ve not really said
anything that you don’t already know. This sort of stuff has
been talked about by many people for years. However, the
discussions have been about the RIP on (for example) a
CTP device compared to the RIP on an inkjet proofer. Noone seems to be talking about the RIP inside softproofing
systems, and how it’s interpretation compares to the RIP
that’s on the front of something else. If you’re no longer
using a hard-copy proofing system and relying on what you
see on your monitor, surely having the same RIP to produce
your softproofs is even more important than when producing hard-copy proofs?
The Magazine | 05 |
It’s clear that online softproofing systems can offer many
advantages to conventional hard-copy proofing. In some
areas of the industry, softproofing systems are threatening
to make traditional paper-based proofs obsolete. However,
buying a softproofing application is just one part of a bigger
picture of true online softproofing implementation.<
15
| STORY |
NESTLÉ Boosts speed to
market WITH DALiM MiSTRAL
Fast
Food!
The competition of brands
and products on the shelves
of our supermarkets is of
utmost importance to the
Swiss-based multinational
food and beverage company
Nestlé. Achieving maximum
speed to market is essential
so the company has had to
adopt the latest packaging
reproduction technology to
help them remain a brand
leader. A packaging version
of DALiM MiSTRAL, Dalim
Software’s online production
management system, has
made a major impact to the
company since Zuliani, a
Montreux-based prepress
firm, recommended its
considerable benefits to
Nestlé.
| The Magazine | 05
Zuliani has been handling
Nestlé’ Nescafé labels for
20 years and Zuliani owner
Yves Aubry introduced them
to DALiM MiSTRAL two years
ago when Nestlé wanted
to move its packaging
production tracking to an
Internet-based solution
to increase efficiency,
streamline production and
reduce wastage.
16
...approximately 300
DALiM MiSTRAL users
across 26 countries,...
The company were
impressed by DALiM
MiSTRAL’s high level
of functionality and
collaborative power enabling
electronic submission,
tracking, correction and
approval of packaging
jobs and the rest is history!
The system has worked
so successfully that
today Zuliani handles 400
packaging jobs every year,
and have added the Nestea
and Buitoni brands to Nestlé.
Now, approximately 300
DALiM MiSTRAL users
across 26 countries, track
the progress of Nestlé
jobs in real-time, viewing
pieces of work, attaching
comments and making
final approvals. The use of
DALiM DiALOGUE for online
proofing means Zuiliani no
longer distributes interim
Cromalins worldwide.
Proof approval has been
cut from about 2 weeks in
some cases to just 1 day.
Cromalins are only produced
as contract proofs once final
online approval has been
given.
A key benefit is the
scheduling functionality of
DALiM MiSTRAL. Working
from a final date of delivery
the system to automatically
schedules the timings and
processes that a job needs
to go through to meet
deadlines. DALiM MiSTRAL
shows exact job status and
automatically emails project
members to remind them to
take action as appropriate.
Mr Aubry calculates that the
full system has cut project
times by 30% and related
costs by about 25%!
Fast food indeed!<
| FEATURE|
It might
be pushing it a little far to say that
the 21st century printing company
can happily exist without printing presses, but only a little.
The importance of the physical asset – the press – is
diminishing. To be replaced by a more intangible asset,
knowledge. The cliché that a company’s most important
assets are its people is very much true.
In an age where digital processes are a factor of
moving numbers around and where every press on the
market prints beautifully and can be controlled through
computers, the things that today set one printer apart from
another are less physical. They are service, innovation,
empathy, that ability to understand a customer and satisfy
his needs as part of an integrated team.
21st
century
service
by Gareth Ward, Editorial Director,
‘The Print Business’ magazine.
The old upstairs-downstairs relationships where publishers
and designers took decisions about what the servants
below stairs would put on press and print are dissolving.
The boundaries between design and prepress are flexible
and will vary between one printer and the next, between
one client and the next. The smart printer will be able to
adjust his approach as necessary and will welcome the
opportunity to work the way the client wants to operate.
The printer becomes part of the client’s organisation for
the duration of the project.
These can be classified as feminine attributes, not
demanding masculine strength as was needed to hump
plates around, move paper and developing negatives.
The companies which succeed in future will need the
traditional array of prepress and printing equipment and
probably an extended line up of finishing tools to produce
a wide variety of effects and finishes. That is a given. But
in future it will not be enough. What they will also have is
the close relationship (built on trust) with a client.
This is a big change from the rigid way of operating
deriving from strictly delineated processes and craft skills
that have developed over the last 50 years. Some clients
will want to deliver artwork on CD with transparencies for
scanning, others will deliver production ready PDFs with
images adjusted to the fingerprint of the press via ftp or
email. And all points between.
Working as a team with clients, suggesting ways that print
(or indeed electronic media) will achieve their needs for
recognition, for additional sales or product positioning,
is more reliable route to winning work than offering the
cheapest price, although the route may be more tortuous
in the short term. The printer becomes a partner acting
more as a professional adviser than hired labour.
To get there will almost certainly mean having a
willingness to accept change, to welcome onscreen
proofing for example, working at unaccustomed hours of
day and night, being prepared to invest time and energy
long before the job reaches the factory.
The Magazine | 05 |
Gareth Ward
Editorial Director,
‘The Print Business’ magazine.
It means moving away from thinking of the print operation
as a collection of platesetters, presses guillotines and
folders and instead becoming a smart operation worthy of
the fees levied for a 21st century service.<
17
| FEATURE |
A Guide to
Dalim Software
Production Solutions
F
ounded twenty years ago, Dalim Software
is a leader in the design and development
of innovative and automated workflow and
communication software for the publishing and
graphic arts industries.
From our corporate HQ in Kehl, South-Western
Germany, we offer software solutions designed to
ease and automate the processing of files prior to
printing in order to maximise the productivity of our
customers.
| The Magazine | 05
The Dalim Software products (DALiM TWiST™,
DALiM LiTHO™, DALiM DiALOGUE™, DALiM
PRiNTEMPO™, DALiM MiSTRAL® and DALiM
SWiNG™) are based on open systems and
technologies. They enable companies to
implement scalable, internet-capable systems that
provide clients with the highest level of interaction
and efficiency.
18
Our products can be used independently, in
conjunction with other vendors’ equipment, or
Intelligent and automated digital production workflow
Integrated and advanced file editing
Multi-featured online softproofing
Web-based print production monitoring
Web-based production management
Suite of automated workflow
| FEATURE |
DALiM TWiST™ is an automated
production workflow system for printers,
publishers and prepress organisations
requiring best-of-breed performance and indepth production management.
Based on modular tools, the software is fully
scalable and can be rapidly configured into an
almost infinite variety of automatic processing
paths. The software’s powerful feature sets
(database driven workflows, JDF-driven
preflighting & imposition, web-based job
tracking, file submission and administration,
advanced automated trapping, etc) has
allowed some of the industry’s leading names
to achieve high throughput, reliability and
flexibility in demanding environments, plus gain
significant performance and feature benefits.
DALiM TWiST provides users with an
extremely robust, reliable and high-productivity
production workflow. More than 30 different
file types such as PostScript, PDF, TIFF/
IT, TIFF, EPS, DCS, etc. are preflighted,
normalised and secured as print-predictable,
“reference” PDFs which form the basis for
all subsequent processes such as hard/soft
proofing, imposition, distribution and output
to film, plate, press and digital archive/asset
management systems. Dalim Software’s
unique file optimisation technology ensures
that files output correctly – regardless of their
origin or creation application.
DALiM TWiST’s unique architecture offers a
host of impressive features. Apart from its JDFbased features, the systems boasts maximum
resiliency, built-in system failover, advanced
load balancing, native PDF 1.4 and PDF 1.5
file support, a totally new and easy to use
graphical user interface, PDF/X-1a:2003; PDF/
X-3: 2003, Pass4Press (v4) and PDF/X Plus file
output and introduces a raft of innovative new
preflight and colour separation mapping tools
to the industry.
DALiM LiTHO provides page editing,
assembly and PDF / PostScript editing tools.
The software is based on an open architecture
and can import PostScript data, all known
image formats, a number of proprietary file
formats as well as PDF documents for editing.
The software’s highly developed PDF input
feature imports all the information from an
original document as a unit, and provides full
editing capabilities, far in excess of those from
similar “PDF Editing” applications, at the same
time not being restricted to editing just PDF files.
DALiM LiTHO also outputs to a range of
formats including TIFF, DCS1 or 2.0, PDF,
PDF/X, Hell, Crosfield or Scitex format.
The software also supports all popular OPI
solutions, such as Xinet FullPress and Helios
Imageserver, making it highly suitable for
all companies with complex requirements
in terms of seamless integration with other
systems.
These features offer enormous advantages
in improving workflow efficiencies as
composition can be altered directly at the
correction stage without having to open
image elements, process them, save them
and update them, thereby minimising the
time spent by the operator on achieving final
rendering of the background.
The Magazine | 05 |
A version of DALiM LiTHO is supplied with
every copy of DALiM TWiST, considerably
adding to the flexibility of the system.
DALiM LiTHO64 is the industry’s first 64-bit
desktop file editing application, optimised to
open and handle files of practically any size.
Intended for high content applications where
individual file sizes regularly exceed 4.0Gb,
commonly experienced, for example, within
the large web-offset, security and cartographic
printing sectors, LiTHO64 provides
outstanding performance and the ability to
work on files of virtually any size (up to 9
million terabytes, which translates as a 300 dpi
image at 800m x 800m!). Consequently, large
files, such as those generated by 16-page,
24-page, 32-page forms can be handled with
ease and opened at speed to allow highresolution viewing - and even retouching.8
19
| FEATURE |
Intelligent and automated digital production workflow
Integrated and advanced file editing
DALiM DiALOGUE™ is the only softproofing
system that’s workflow-independent, JDF-enabled,
SWOP® certified, and runs under the Macintosh
OS X operating system. DALiM DiALOGUE
enables remote and collaborative viewing,
softproofing and job validation of high-resolution
files via the Internet. Utilising unique datastreaming technology to standard web-browsers,
users such as photographers, ad agencies and
designers, can view high-resolution files, zoom,
navigate, place virtual notes, take densitometer
readings, check production parameters, validate
and ‘chat’ in real time, without the need for client
software, to approve single and imposed pages
from any location.
Not an ASP service, but a software application
that you install and run as any other, DALiM
DiALOGUE is able to display the most popular file
formats, such as PDF (including PDF1.5), PDF/X,
PostScript, DCS, CT/LW, TIFF, TIFF-IT and TIFFIT/P1. While also available for the Red Hat Linux
operating system, DALiM DiALOGUE is the first
online softproofing product available for Apple
Macintosh OS X. Now SWOP® certified, users
can have confidence in approving jobs online
knowing that the system’s colour rendition can
match a printed proof. DALiM DIALOGUE can also
be seamlessly integrated into third-party asset
management systems, such as Xinet WebNative.
Multi-featured online softproofing
Web-based pr
DALiM PRiNTEMPO™ is a web browserbased JDF-enabled print production system that
can be used by a printer on any client platform, to
monitor and track print production status. DALIM
PRiNTEMPO also allows any print company to
offer client services such as online file submission,
preflighting, and job tracking without changing
their existing equipment.
Using a single interface, operators can trigger
actions such as plate or proof generation and
automate production of imposed pages, giving
sheet and web-offset printers an extremely
powerful tool to manage their businesses
more efficiently and more profitably. Being fully
compatible with existing hardware solutions
and independent of file format and output
device, DALiM PRiNTEMPO allows premedia
organisations to formulate a complete solution,
using their preferred imposition software, RIP,
proofer, and output devices. Users may also
choose their working file formats (e.g. vector or
bitmap), plus create Job Ticket JDF templates,
and automatically generate complete print
signatures.
At any given moment, the production operator
has a clear status view of each job, its pages,
and its impositions as either thumbnails or
full-page PDF views of each page. This gives
production full, real-time control over production
planning and management. By fixing deadlines
for each stage, or by reverse calculating all
interim deadlines from the final job deadline, any
job can be controlled and scheduling difficulties
can be detected proactively.
| The Magazine | 05
DALiM PRINTEMPO also supports versioning. If
a new page version is received, it is stored and
labelled with a different version number. Users
can select a preferred version at any time – even
a former version. The signature is automatically
assigned new status for validation or approval.
If pagination changes, a simple ‘drag and
drop’ from a “clipboard” allows the operator to
correctly edit the page order, and automatically
generate a new imposed form. Should a page
not exactly fit the graphical expectations, last
minute changes such as page translations,
rotation or scaling can be performed directly in
the signature.
20
Compatible with virtually every output device and
RIP available today, DALiM PRiNTEMPO allows
printers and premedia companies the latest
browser-based and JDF technologies without
large equipment investment.
Web-based production management
Suite of automated workflow
| FEATURE |
rint production monitoring
DALiM MiSTRAL™ is a JDF-compliant web-based
production management system that acts as an interface
for both common electronic submission and print
production management for tracking, administration,
correction, approval and printing. Built with an open
architecture to assimilate into any prepress or publishing
environment utilising open hardware and software
protocols, plus using object-orientated programming and
a device-independent output model users are free to work
with an extensive range of both open and proprietary
file formats. No special client-side software is required
to interrogate the system. Users also benefit from JDF
compliance features including advanced job ticketing,
imposition and preflighting.
Much more than a production indicator, more a unique
collaborative technology that sits on top of any workflow
and allows all parties involved in the development of
“publishable material” to have a single, common electronic
interface to obtain information on the development of
the project in real time and from any remote location.
By integrating the development with a web server and
advanced, open database connectivity, the result is a ‘total
solution ’ production management, scheduling and tracking
system that serves as the production backbone to handle
all of a printer’s projects and the communication with their
suppliers and clients.
DALiM MiSTRAL features a client independent web-based
interface with a unique “floating toolbox”, that has a look
and feel similar to working directly in a prepress application.
While viewing a flatplan within DALiM MiSTRAL, users can
“drag and drop” new pages from a clipboard directly to
where they should be placed. If another page is already
there, the user can move and exchange existing pages,
sending older versions to a clipboard. This versioning
capability allows users to keep as many page versions as
desired, allowing the opportunity to restore the former page
if a client changes his mind, or if time constraints demand
rebuilding the project. The toolbox also allows the creation
of new sections by simply dragging it where new pages
need to be created. DALiM MiSTRAL has a considerable
number of new options that are more intuitive, allowing the
operator easier access to often-used commands.
With DALiM MiSTRAL , ODBC/JDBC compliant database
data can be shared between the prepress workflow
application and business systems on other computers.
The software offers compatibility and integration with
existing industry standard format and allows integration into
mixed system environments. The software offers a simple
to understand user interface controlled by a single tool,
which is available from both the server and Macintosh OSX/
Windows workstations.
For printers, DALiM SWiNG can be used for (for example)
ensuring error-free page output regardless of the type
of incoming file. In a design environment digital artwork
can be delivered to the exact specifications required by
publishers or printers straight after the client has signed-off
the PDF softproof. As a prepress house or print originator
automated workflows can be se up to accept client files
and undertake unattended production.
DALiM SWiNG can be seamlessly upgraded to any other
Dalim Software application at any time in the future. Our
unique migration policy protects customer investment since
the migration fee is just the difference in price between the
two products at the time of the change.<
The Magazine | 05 |
The system can communicate to third party workflow, RIPs
and MIS systems via JDF and JMF messaging. Project
status can also be viewed as colour-coded page icons,
JPG thumbnails and PDF full views of completed pages,
helping project teams to create and fine-tune best-practice
workflows, resulting in fewer errors, increased productivity,
exceptional customer service, and more rapid project
turnaround.
DALiM SWiNG is an entry-level suite of automated
workflow solutions and fits perfectly into situations where
the production bottleneck highlights a particular prepress
task, such as “optimising” files into a “Print-Predictable”
state, automated trapping and trap editing, automated
proofing, etc.
21
22
| The Magazine | 05
| FEATURE |
Can You
Trust
Your Monitor?
By Hal Hinderliter, Director, Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly
By any measure, color proofing is
serious business. Only a decade
ago, most mid-sized printing
companies employed one or
two prepress workers per shift
just to expose, process, label
and ship out proofs for customer
approval. Representing the final
product of hours spent on laborintensive film assembly, these
photomechanical proofs used
technologies such as KPG’s
Matchprint, Fuji’s ColorArt or
DuPont’s Dylux.
Today, inkjet is all the rage among
print designers and prepress
departments despite legitimate
concerns over substrates, color
gamuts and metamerism. The
popularity of digital proofing
can be attributed to the value
of a faster and cheaper proof,
allowing proofs to be made more
quickly and more often without
significant cost increases.
Examining the “faster, cheaper”
mantra can only lead to the
conclusion that even faster, even
cheaper proofs would also be
popular with print buyers so
long as the color quality remains
equivalent to current methods.
How about fast as the speed of
light? That’s how quickly digital
information travels across a fiber
optic network, and that’s how
quickly you can send a PDF
proof to your client across town
or across the country. Of course,
the electronic proof doesn’t
require expensive consumables
like ink or the services of a
courier to deliver it.
Sounds like a victory for
the super-fast, super-cheap
process of approving color on
your monitor – but hold your
horses, because there’s still
the question of quality to be
addressed. Without an accurate
representation of the final
product’s color appearance,
the new generation of “virtual”
monitor-based proofs will be only
marginally useful. Proponents of
virtual proofing say that correctly
calibrated systems provide
an accurate, consistent color
rendition that can rival the best
of our current “hard-copy output”
proofing products – but how do
we know they’re really correct
8
about that?
The Magazine | 05 |
23
| FEATURE |
Hal Hinderliter
Director, Graphic
Communication Institute
at Cal Poly
Despite the confidence of virtual proofing vendors and
early adopters, the fundamental goal of an absolute
measure for monitor accuracy is hard to come by.
Anecdotal evidence derived from human evaluation
is still the most widely offered proof that monitors can
take the place of Matchprints; even the revered SWOP
committee relies on the opinion of a panel of experts
when evaluating virtual proofing systems. While the
success stories of these workflow pioneers should not
be discounted, comparing and rating the available
options for monitor proofing must be enabled by cold,
hard instrumentation and traceable measurements.
color space that forms the basis for our current
approaches to color measurement and management
may not be suitable for comparing monitors to hard
copy proofs. Some color scientists have expressed
concerns that the 1976 CIE L*u*v* Uniform Chromaticity
Scale for measuring self-luminous colors presents a
distorted view of light sources such as monitors, while at
least one scientist argues that CIE L*u*v* is inadequate
for expressing data about LED light sources (a major
concern since LCD displays are expected to migrate
to LED backlighting as the replacement for current
florescent tube technology).
Measuring devices are already a part of the virtual
proofing process as well as an essential tool for
creating and adjusting the all-important monitor ICC
profile. As I noted in a 2004 article for American Printer
magazine, tests conducted by Joe Marin at the Graphic
Arts Technical Foundation supplied more evidence
that proofing with computer displays can be both
precise and consistent. “We used a GretagMacbeth
Eye-One monitor calibrator to measure hundreds of
color patches on pairs of identically calibrated monitors,
both CRT (cathode ray tube) and LCD (liquid crystal
display)” noted GATF’s Marin, “and found that the
monitors fared very well for color matching.”
Does all of this uncertainty mean that virtual proofing
should be outlawed? Not at all! There’s no doubt that
monitor-based proofing provides numerous benefits
to both print buyer and prepress department, so in the
popular vernacular of the day, let’s not shy away from
“whatever works.” Making sure that virtual proofing truly
does work, however, will require continued research
and collaboration involving manufacturers, testing
laboratories and interested end users.
| The Magazine | 05
Determining the best approach for measuring and
interpreting additive color data will be a challenging
endeavor, and it’s one that the graphic arts industry can
no longer afford to postpone. To that end, the Graphic
Reassuring comments, but could this information
Communication Institute at Cal Poly has announced
actually be misleading? Monitor calibrators capture
a new research project entitled Specifications for the
spectral data through a handful of dyed filters, with no Application of Image Displays (SAID) which seeks
standardization of the filter’s response specifications or to answer these important questions. SAID’s goal
even which frequencies to analyze. There is no certified is to develop a new industry standard for evaluating
assurance of instrument-to-instrument correlation
computer displays, video cards and software used in
between identical devices, and only the truly optomistic the reproduction of color-accurate images. The SAID
would expect agreement between calibrators from
project also aims to provide an objective, measurable
different manufacturers.
methodology to assess the performance and proper
application of display-based proofing equipment and
Even if the data gathered by monitor calibrators could
methods.
be perfectly accurate and consistent, more variables
persist. Colorimetric data captured by the calibrators
In addition to serving the needs of the graphic arts
is expressed in either CIELAB or RGB values, to
industry, SAID will also be applicable to the fast-growing
an accuracy of 8 bits per channel. Unfortunately,
markets of digital video, filmmaking, medical imaging
LCD display manufacturers are now following digital
and game development. Coordinating evaluation
photographers into a world where 10, 12 or even 16 bits methods across all these areas of interest will assure
per channel will be commonplace, turning what we had that printing companies and graphic designers can
considered a precise data set into something much
continue to exert influence upon the development of new
more nebulous. Think of it this way: it’s as if we’re used display technologies.
to measuring our world with a yardstick, but the new
generation of high-bit LCD frame buffers is demanding Positive results from your monitor-based proofing
measurements finer than we can achieve using such an workflow will be the first indication that your monitor can
imprecise tool.
be trusted, but true confidence in comparing one virtual
proofing system to another is still some distance away.
Fortunately, more precise measurements are
Vendors, standards bodies, early adopters and the
possible if you use elaborate equipment such as a
Graphic Communication Institute must now get down to
spectroradiometer. The bad news is that the underlying the tricky business of proving that your trust is warranted. <
24
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The Magazine | 05 |
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25
| STORY |
PRINOVIS
B
A
new
company
with
a
long
history
of
using
DALiM TWiST
...“decentralized network of medium-sized
| The Magazine | 05
enterprises with a combined workforce of
26
over 4,300 employees”...
ack in May an announcement by the
European Commission caused headlines
in the press, that a new joint venture to
create the largest gravure printing company
in Europe was allowed to go ahead. The EU
said that competition from Britain and France
was sufficient to ensure that the new German
company would not be a monopoly, although
it would cover over 50 percent of the German
magazine gravure printing market.
The three largest German gravure printers,
Bertelsmann’s Arvato and Gruner + Jahr AG
and Axel Springer AG had decided to merge
their gravure printing operations into a single
company – at the time of the EU decision still
nameless, but now bearing the name Prinovis
– which would dominate the magazine and
catalogue printing market in Germany Prinovis
now operates from gravure plants in Ahrensburg,
Darmstadt, Dresden, Itzehoe and Nuremberg.
But the sights of the new company are firmly set
on the whole of Europe and to this end a new
gravure plant is being built in Liverpool, which is
expected to begin production by the middle of
2006.
One of the companies that make up this
“decentralized network of medium-sized
enterprises with a combined workforce of over
4,300 employees”, as the new entity describes
itself, is Prinovis Nuremberg, previously known
as maul-belser GmbH & Co KG. The company is
a long-time user of the DALiM TWiST automated
workflow solution, having installed the system
almost a decade ago.
| STORY |
The Nuremberg plant, which is operating ten web gravure
in PDF form into gravure data in the special TIFF file
presses, produces catalogues for all sizable mail-order
format used for this process. This is done automatically
houses in Germany, such as Quelle, Bauer, etc. and for
through one of the four DALiM TWiST servers, both fourEuropean companies such as the UK’s Littlewoods or
processor servers and two-processor servers, which feed
La Redoute from France. It
the eight engraving machines
also prints TV supplements
that engrave the sets of CMYK
Although the future for Prinovis in copper gravure cylinders.
for daily newspapers, a
number of independent
Nuremberg has only just begun... Last year the then maul-belser
TV magazines and special
GmbH & Co KG was the first
interest, general interest and
gravure plant to receive the
women’s magazines such as Glamour for the British and
new TR12B super-wide gravure press from KBA, with a
Russian markets. Every day several million pages leave the web width of 432 cm or 170”. The installation of a second
Nuremberg plant.
of these gravure giants is to be finished this summer. The
new presses also mean that a new engraving machine to
Central to this operation is the DALiM TWiST automated
cater to the new super format has to be added, which will
workflow, to convert customers’ data, which arrive mainly
bring the total number to nine.8
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27
| STORY |
Production of this scale makes an absolutely flawlessly
operating and highly efficient automatic workflow crucial.
Over the decade of its existence at maul + belser, the
DALiM TWiST evolved from having to generate a separate
workflow for every customer to now having only two
to three workflows, which are so flexible that they can
accommodate the whole range of jobs going through
the system. The DALiM TWiST has long become “part
of wallpaper” in the Nuremberg plant with no one in the
busy prepress department expecting any surprises, nor
getting any. ‘DALiM TWiST has long been our choice for
an automated, high productivity solution’ says Alexander
Strobel from Prinovis ‘The combination of flexible toolsets,
high-productivity and reliability makes the system the
perfect choice for an organization such as ours’.
But DALiM TWiST has itself gone through a very long
and comprehensive evolution and many of the features
and tools, which now speed the pages through the
system, did not even exist in the imagination of the
system designers when it was first installed. The great
breakthrough in power and efficiency came when Prinovis
migrated the DALiM TWiST hardware, previously running
on SGI machines, to servers running the Linux operating
system, adding much more processing power and a
host of new software. It now is practically a new system,
although with roots that go back a decade. What has
remained, however, is the central idea of automating
all process steps to ensure the most efficient workflow
environment possible.
Magazine and catalogue production is a highly time
sensitive process. To allow customers to view the state of
their job and to post comments and request corrections,
Prinovis is also using Dalim Software’s softproofing
application DALiM DiALOGUE. This is especially important
for catalogues and some magazine work, where different
language versions, or regional versions with different
offers or prices, require high vigilance on the part of
the customers and the prepress department, as usually
the full set of gravure cylinders is only engraved for one
language version and only the black cylinder carrying the
text is changed to print another language version. The
most efficient way to ensure that everything that needed
to be changed has been changed and is in the right place
is by verifying it via DALiM DiALOGUE.
Although the future for Prinovis in Nuremberg has only just
begun, the company is already training operators for the
new gravure plant in Liverpool. An important part of the
training for prepress operators will be, to be so confident
in using DALiM TWiST that for them it will also become
just part of the wallpaper – but that is for next year.<
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| FEATURE |
JDF
as an
Investment
by James E. Harvey, Executive Director, CIP Organization
“Vision is not enough, it must be
combined with venture. It is not enough
to stare up the steps, we must step up
the stairs.” — Václav Havel, essayist, playwright, and
former President of the Czech Republic.
As kids we learn to save, but for most it’s not something that
comes naturally. If you wanted to buy a skateboard or new bike
for yourself, you probably wanted it “now” and the cost could
seem daunting if you start of with no money at all. When you
put away a few earned pennies every day, on any given day it
may have seemed like you’d never get to that skateboard or
bike. But with diligence and patience, one day you find that the
piggy bank is full and your reward is within your grasp … and
with it you learn the virtue of being thrifty.
As a business owner, if you wanted to pursue process
automation or a “CIM” implementation, you’d plan for it, budget
for it and, (assuming everything came together fiscally), you
and your team would implement the plan … it was “a project”, it
was a “plan”, it was a one-time event. The broader the goal, the
costlier the project was going to be. If you wanted to automate
an entire plant, your plan would have to take into account every
aspect of your operations before the plan could be approved
and the money invested. Every department, system, software
module, device or piece of equipment added to your plan
increases the cost and complexity of integration logarithmically,
not linearly.
Few printers could justify enterprise-wide process automation
programs; with an industry average net profit below 5%,
where would the money come from? Hence, many printers
have focused on incremental advances tied to equipment
replacement schedules … one device at a time, one production
step at a time … those advances within their means. 8
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29
| FEATURE |
Every
department,
system,
software
module,
device or
piece of
equipment
added to your
plan increases
the cost and
complexity
of integration
logarithmically,
not linearly.
JDF, the Job Definition Format, changes all that. JDF is an
international specification that provides an open, public computer
language that supports the entire lifecycle of a print job. JDF also
provides a messaging language that gives upper-level workflow,
management, or MIS systems command and control over subordinate
systems and equipment, and it allows individual devices to
communicate and report back to upper level systems. If you want to
learn more, check out the introduction section at www.cip4.org, but for
owners and managers of printing companies what it means is that the
industry has agreed on a master plan for process automation, so you
don’t have to pay for one by yourself.
If you want two devices to work together, with JDF the setup is
relatively easy. You don’t need custom programming, you don’t have
two different device interfaces, you don’t have to get different vendors
to agree on who is going to have to translate what data into what
format; with JDF that’s all known in advance, and this changes how
printer’s go about investing in equipment.
It is frugal to require that all new systems and devices that you
purchase support JDF, even if your immediate plans for the new
equipment do not involve a process automation implementation.
One Texas printer purchased JDF-enabled cutters only because they
needed new cutters. Later on they implemented new order entry and
imposition software that was JDF-enabled. Although their objective
was to improve productivity in prepress, because they had purchased
smartly they found that they could automate cutter setup using JDF
data produced by the imposition software … and they saved half a
man-hour per job as a result.
If another printer purchased equipment that did not support JDF, not
only would using prepress data to automate the setup of postpress
equipment be impossible without a lot of extra expense, they probably
wouldn’t thought of it at all.
Which brings me around to the point of this story; requiring JDF
support is a form of thrift … you are saving for the future when you do
so. If your dream is end-to-end automation, industry leading customer
response time and elimination of nearly all rework and production
errors, it’s probably not within your reach, with or without JDF. The
BIG PROJECT approach isn’t going to work for most printers. The
cost of the planning and project management alone is probably
prohibitive, even if your team had the time and skills available for such
an endeavor.
On the other hand, if you don’t require JDF … diligently, with every
new purchase of equipment and software … you may save a few
dollars here and there by purchasing equipment that is not JDFenabled. But are you really saving anything? No. In the long-run,
purchasing systems and equipment that are not JDF-enabled will cost
you more … more to integrate and automate later on.
| The Magazine | 05
James E. Harvey, Executive Director,
CIP Organization
30
www.cip4.org
But the biggest cost isn’t necessarily in the difference between the
short and long-term investment costs, it very well be the cost of losing
your potential. If you don’t require JDF, then you’ll never be able to
migrate into that “end-to-end automation, industry-leading-customerresponse-time future,” you will always be facing the BIG PROJECT.
If you let that happen, other printers around you that do require JDFenabled new equipment purchases will begin to evolve into that “endto-end automation, industry-leading-customer-response-time future.”
Their thrift will buy them potential, and it will become easier and easier
for them to realize that potential, until one day, their plant is fully
automated and the reward is in their grasp.<
The Magazine | 05 |
31
| STORY |
With a little help
from my friends
Continental Web helps
DALiM DiALOGUE SWOP® certification process
rather than swapping softproofing solutions
“We’re always on the cutting edge,” remarks Ed Zepernick, Continental Web director of technology.
Earlier this year, the company was looking for a monitor-based system that was virtual proofing compliant.
The problem? Continental Web was concerned about who would pay for virtual proofing—the printer or the customer. The
other SWOP-compliant systems available at the time were extremely costly. One system was extremely expensive up front.
Another had a “click charge” payment model that made it prohibitive. A couple of rounds of soft proofs on a 64-page
brochure could be exorbitant.
Founded in 1973 with just a single press, Continental Web
modestly describes itself as a custom, heatset four-color
web offset printer. Yet, after more than 30 years of growth,
it’s doing an enviable $80 million-plus annual volume,
employs about 500 people in its two plants in Itasca, Illinois
and Walton, Kentucky, and keeps ten large web offset
presses running.
| The Magazine | 05
Continental Web already had a softproofing system, DALiM
DiALOGUE, but was using the solution solely for proofing
content. “The software had the tools to read color density,
but could not manage color,” noted Ed. “We needed a costeffective solution. We already had DALiM DiALOGUE, with a
full set of features. All we needed was SWOP certification.”
32
Ed couldn’t justify spending money for a new solution. So,
they assisted with Dalim Software’s efforts in obtaining
SWOP certification for DALiM DiALOGUE. “Continental
Web’s help was very valuable in our efforts to attain SWOP
certification,” says Carol Werlé, Dalim Software’s CEO.
“Their expertise and feedback on the additional functionality
we built into the system was invaluable.” The first DALiM
DiALOGUE configuration was certified in April. Others were
certified in July.
Continental Web now has a nearly ‘no cost’ solution. They
are charging their clients a small usage fee per page, but
nowhere near what their competitors are charging.
At both Continental Web plants, DALiM DiALOGUE has
been installed in the prepress department to check
incoming files as part of the workflow. Also, each press will
soon have two 30” Apple Cinema Displays running on a
Macintosh G5— almost a full imposition view—for press
checks. Continental Web’s (and their clients’) ultimate goal
is to avoid reference to a hard copy proof. They are also
using DALiM DiALOGUE in situations on press where, in the
past, a color proof was not supplied or requested, but the
pressman wanted something in his hands. Continental Web
was producing and paying for their own proofs.
| STORY |
“With the help of DALiM MiSTRAL, Continental Web uses FTP to receive entire
catalogs that we print,” comments Ken Field, Continental Web president and
CEO. “Each catalog is set up as a job and then the final proofs are sent back to
the customer electronically for approval, using DALiM DiALOGUE. Our business
is Direct Mail and our customers demand turnaround times of 24 hrs. We just
don’t have the time to return these proofs by courier.”
“Time sensitive information can be sent to our web site instantaneously and we
can respond within minutes with the changes or corrections and, with DALiM
DiALOGUE remote proofing, give our customers piece of mind that these
changes have been made correctly.”
“I have often asked my customers
how many times they are just about
to fall asleep when that nagging
thought creeps into their mind
wondering ‘IF’ the changes were
made or ‘IF’ the correct file was
transmitted. Thankfully all they have
to do is use their home computer to
log into our web site and view their
job in its entirety—rest assured that
the job is running correctly so they
can get a good night’s sleep.”
Continental Web President, Ken Field, in front of the dual-30inch displays used
for on-press softproofing at the company’s Kentucky plant.
Now, as they train their pressmen how to understand file
hierarchy and to operate the software, they are getting
more comfortable looking at monitor-based proofs.
Color on magazine editorial pages is less critical than some
other types of work, and is rarely expected to be 100%
accurate. With DALiM DiALOGUE, publishers can view
color-accurate virtual proofs, including a color simulation of
the paper stock on which they will be printed.
A virtual proof with DALiM DiALOGUE can reduce proofing
costs considerably. On a 128-page catalog, companies
can spend $6,400 or more if there are a number of rounds
of color checks. Continental Web expects their customers
to pay between 5-10% of hard-proofing costs. The entire
workflow to upload files, view pages, make changes
and view images on DALiM DiALOGUE can save tens of
thousands of dollars per year.
Ed is cautiously optimistic. “I know it will work, but there
are still some issues—although they are not Dalim
Software technology issues,” comments Ed. “There are
still some slight hurdles in virtual proofing; mostly color
space issues. The biggest question is how the client is
looking at proofs. Did they calibrate the monitor correctly?
How is the profiling and calibration documented? What if
they viewed in the wrong color space? In the best case
scenario, the process needs to be fool proof where the
color space travels with the file.” Dalim Software are
already looking at how to help address such issues, using
JDF.
DALiM DiALOGUE owners already have an inexpensive
tool for virtual proofing,” concludes Ed. “Why purchase
and run something else? Why not run DALiM DiALOGUE
for everything?”<
The Magazine | 05 |
“We went to one client recently and proved that we could
save $25-40,000 per year in proofing costs. But, as exciting
as this technology is, this technology is still in its infancy,”
Ed reminds us. “We have one client using the system. We
are at the stage that it is a sellable item right now—with
much exuberance from our client. What’s holding us back
is fine-tuning the process. There is the learning curve to
get our customer to understand how to color manage the
monitor. We tell them to view proofs in a color-neutral room.
The inefficiencies occur when the customer doesn’t have
the right monitor and equipment in place. For a little more
than $2,000, they can purchase a certified 20” iMac with a
GretagMacbeth EyeOne Pro spectrophotometer.
33
| FEATURE |
Trends
in CtP
Investment
...only 20% of the total
printer population have so far
| The Magazine | 05
invested...
34
In the fifteen years since commercial CtP was first
demonstrated at Drupa ’90, we have seen adoption become something of a must for most large
and medium sized printers in the industrialised
markets. Initial adoption was limited by available
suitable plates but once Kodak and Creo introduced thermal address systems at Drupa ’95,
competition among the major plate manufacturers
and systems vendors really start to take off.
From 170 machines installed in ’95 the CtP
installed base has grown to some 24,000 by the
end of last year. Annual sales totalled some 5,500
last year, with the industrialised markets of US,
Europe and Japan accounting for 80% of this
total. Rapid though adoption of CtP has been in
these markets, only 20% of the total printer population have so far invested. Why?
Cost
This has been a significant factor in the past with
the cost of both platesetters and CtP plates being
beyond the affordability of the smaller printer who
makes up a large proportion of the printing industry in terms of establishments.
| FEATURE |
Having cherry-picked most of the larger accounts, the
major vendors are now introducing much more affordable
models for the smaller printer while CtP plate prices have
inevitably come down as more independent plate manufacturers challenge the dominant position of Agfa, Fuji and
Kodak.
Lowering CtP plate prices to near those of conventional may
prove to be the final nail in the coffin of CtcP adoption in the
industrialised markets. However, where CtP plates continue
to demand a high premium over conventional, as in China
and India, CtcP still has potential to make ground.
Technology
Ever since Kodak/Creo introduced thermal address at
Drupa ’95, the printer has been confused by claim and
counter-claim by proponents of various address systems,
which has led him to differ investment decision until a clear
winner evolved. Today we know that there is a place for
both thermal and visible (violet) address systems in the
market, but the advent of processless and chemical-free
plates being shown at this Print ’05 could make the average printer defer his investment decision yet again until the
dust settles.
There is some evidence that the rate of CtP adoption is
beginning to slow in the major industrialised markets as
many of the major print companies have already made their
investment. What is of importance to the machinery vendors is – will the lower end of the market invest in CtP, or will
alternative printing techniques leapfrog this technology?
Alternative ‘Printing’
The nature of print demand has altered significantly over the
past fifteen years since CtP was first introduced. Average
print runs have reduced dramatically, while demand for
colour has more than quadrupled. In response, suppliers
of machinery and software to the lower end of the market
have produced systems to capitalise on these changes
with fast toner and ink technology not only creating new
demand, but in a number of cases actually providing an
acceptable alternative to offset printing.
Inkjet digital presses born out of the type of systems being
demonstrated by Agfa, Kodak, Screen, and in more practical terms, Riso, at this year’s Print ’05, are likely to providea
fundamental shift in technology used for future printing.
We have already seen the demise of printing film and
processing in many of the main industrial markets. This will
soon be followed by the elimination of plate processing and
chemistry. At some time in the not too distant future, we
could also see the elimination of printing plates.
The good news for Dalim Software and all suppliers
of software systems is that while the pieces of iron
that transpose information on to hard copy media
might alter significantly over the coming years, the
intelligence required to drive those pieces of iron
effectively will continue to be in high demand.<
Vantage Strategic Marketing was established in 1993 to track worldwide
developments in CtP and other ‘direct-to’ technologies, including digital proofing and
digital presses.
Their annual Reports for suppliers of consumables and hardware are sponsored by
all the major international manufacturers in the Americas, Europe and Japan and are
recognised as being the leading international reference source.
Barry Happé is the Principal Partner and co-founder of the company, prior to which he was involved
in the international paper industry and marketing research before establishing his own consultancy
company in 1980.
The Magazine | 05 |
More information about VSM can be obtained from their website www.vsm.uk.com or directly from Barry
Happé at bhappe@vsm.uk.com
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| The Magazine | 05