Drag, Drop... Done

Digital file transfer and remote proofing are speeding up workflows and making it easier for in-plants to communicate with clients.

Your client wants the job done yesterday.

In one scenario, the client downloads the job to disk, packs it up and transports it to you. You run a press proof and deliver it back to the waiting client. The client wants changes, so the whole process starts over again. Time elapsed: 48 hours (and counting).

In an alternate scenario, the client merely drags the job file over to a folder on the computer desktop and sends it to you via a digital network. You then send a proof directly to a printer in the client's office. When the client wants changes made, you make the changes and send another proof. Time elapsed: one hour.

Digital file transfer and remote proofing are quickly becoming business standards, speeding up the workflow and making it easier for in-plants to communicate with their clients. If you still rely on sneakernet for receiving files, it's time to think about moving forward.

Digital Transfer

The main reason that in-plants consider digital file transfer is speed.

"With digital networking you're building in speed," says Burke McCarthy, president of Mannheim, Germany-based Hermstedt, a supplier of telecommunications products for desktop computers. "When you have to write a disk and courier it to your client, you lose productive time."

Digital transfer also allows easy communication between facilities and creates a seamless workflow, according to Chuck Gehman, vice president of technology at Digital Art Exchange (DAX), in Boston, a provider of open digital connectivity solutions.

"For anyone in the graphic communications business," he says, "anything you can do to make it easier to work with you is going to help."

Sending Work Over The Internet

The most well-known way of transferring files is via the Internet. It's quick and it's easy—but the most compelling reason for using the Internet to send files is that it's one of the most widely adopted communications networks in the world. While your clients may not have ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines or be on your managed network, you can be sure they have e-mail addresses.

Several vendors offer Internet-based solutions: Hermstedt has launched Grand Central Pro 1.3; DAX has its iSERIES; PagePath touts LAUNCH! Web software; Hilgraeve says its DropChute Pro can send large files over the Internet—with encrypted voice communications.

The Internet, however, may not be the best bet for in-plant operations with large-scale needs. While the Internet works well for sending text and small graphics, very large files can choke up the routers and cause slowdowns. And on a big news day with crowds of people jumping onto the Internet, transmission can slow to a crawl.

One way to solve this problem is to trade the analog modem for larger-bandwidth options of connecting to the Internet, such as ISDN and T1 connections. The Internet can also be an unreliable way to send large files.

"Your file gets blown to bits and reassembled somewhere—maybe," surmises McCarthy.

Managed Networks

Another option for in-plants with extensive communications needs is a managed network—a proprietary system that allows the user to send files to and receive files from others on the same network.

"We're the digital version of FedEx," boasts Mitch Prust, the industry smart marketing manager for workflow applications at WAM!NET, a Minneapolis-based digital network company that specializes in high-speed transportation, storage and digital workflow applications. "The customer pays a monthly fee for a shipping and receiving dock. We also monitor and support the network." Because such networks are secure, files are guaranteed to arrive in one piece.

A bonus of managed networks is the community concept: Everyone on the network is listed in the directory (unless they request not to be listed).

"You can find another person in our online directory who has the equipment you need and use theirs," says Miranda Tivey, director of marketing at Vio, a Watford, England-based global managed production network for the graphics industry. But managed networks can be overkill for in-plants that only need to send text and small graphics.

Pros And Cons Of ISDN

ISDN can be used for connecting to the Internet and managed networks, but it's also an international standard for point-to-point communication.

"ISDN is international and growing," says McCarthy, of Hermstedt. "It's also fast. 400 to 500 kbs is common, and you can get up to 800 kbs. It makes a big difference if you're communicating long distance."

According to Tivey, the only drawback of ISDN for point-to-point communications is that transmission is dependent on "both transmission ends being able to transfer, staying in contact with each other during transfer and being compatible in technology."

In other words, both the sending and receiving parties must have ISDN, and the line has to be available for transmission—as opposed to Vio's managed network or even the Internet, where users can connect via a variety of means, and files can be uploaded to and downloaded from a central server at the users' convenience. But these issues can be offset by the decreasing cost and increasing ease of ISDN.

"ISDN has very few downsides," declares Gehman, of DAX. "The cost is reasonable and it's getting easier to install."

The bottom line? Examine your usage to determine whether you need to get into digital file transfer and at what level. Do you send few or only small files? Are you regularly exchanging files with only a few select people, or with many? Are you supporting multiple facilities within the same company? As Gehman says, "It's not one-size-fits-all."

With the growing trend towards all things digital, the question of moving to digital transfer will soon be "when," not "if."

"Soon it won't even be called 'file transfer,' " says McCarthy. "Someone will say 'Send it to me,' and that's the way you'll do it."

Proofs From Afar

Remote proofing lets the in-plant operator send a proof directly to the client's proofing system. As with digital file transfer, remote proofing provides better speed and improved relationships between in-plants and clients.

"Remote proofing becomes a vehicle for dialogue," says Betty LaBaugh, director of worldwide public relations for Waltham, Mass.-based Polaroid Graphics Imaging. "It lets you resolve questions in a much more efficient way."

The most important issue with remote proofing is consistency. Will the digital proof reflect how the job will look when printed on a press—and can the proofer maintain this fidelity every time?

"We kid about systems that make one good proof in a row," says Wick McCaleb, marketing manager for Kodak Approval at Kodak Polychrome Graphics in Norwalk, Conn. "Anyone can make one good proof. But a good proofer gives you repeatability day after day."

To ensure repeatability in-plants must have a color management system and calibrate proofers according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

"Calibration is important to make sure all the digital proofers are doing the same thing," explains LaBaugh. "Most importantly, you want a system that maintains consistency and repeatability from proof to proof, machine to machine, location to location, over time without a lot of intervention by the user."

To Dot Or Not To Dot?

Halftone proofs provide the truest replica but may not be economically feasible for everyone.

"Ideally, if halftone proofs were economically available to everyone, then everyone would proof halftone dots," says McCaleb. "It looks as it will when printed, and you can see the subject matter moiré better. It's more repeatable because you're measuring dot size, so color management is easier."

LaBaugh agrees. "If a printer services a client who will accept only a halftone dot proof, then yes, dots are important," she says. "But on short-run, digital press runs, we are finding that contone proofing has been accepted as the contract proof because of the lower cost per proof.

"One ad agency uses a digital proofer and plans to supply the same machine to their clients so they can see the actual proof out of that proofer," adds LaBaugh. "It's like having the press right there in their offices."

by Linda Formichelli