EFI, Jetrion Industrial Inkjet Systems

The need for digital proofing is growing, as in-plants move to CTP. Does monitor-based proofing have a place in your shop? By Mark Smith and Bob Neubauer ith film disappearing from many in-plants' workflows due to the rise of computer-to-plate technology, the need for digital proofing has never been greater. Many new CTP users, like Ball State University Printing Services, are sticking with hard copy proofs. Now that it has a new Screen (U.S.A.) PlateRite 4100 platesetter, the Muncie, Ind., in-plant is using ink-jet proofs from Kodak Polychrome Graphics' Matchprint ProofPro 2610 driven by a ProofPro RIP to proof jobs. "The color

A look at some of the latest workflow solutions. By Mark Smith The digital revolution was already on its way to making "workflow" a catch-all term in prepress, when the rise of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) extended its use to the entire print production process. As a result, an ever-wider array of products can now be called "digital workflow solutions." For our purposes, the definition is being limited to the evolution of what used to be called prepress systems. Vendors have responded to this trend with a shift toward marketing workflow solution brands as much as specific products. Modularity and flexibility are at

Computer-to-plate technology has reshaped many of the in-plants on the Top 50. By Linda Formichelli New prepress technology has enabled in-plant employees to keep their hands clean by shifting all the dirty work to the digital realm of 1's and 0's. Mastering this technology has been a key element in the success of the in-plants claiming a spot on this year's IPG Top 50. "We've been streamlining prepress into the digital workflow over the past several years, going from conventional paste-up to eight-up output and now in the past eight months to computer-to-plate (CTP)," says Rick Wise, director of Printing Services at the Columbia-based

By uniting data center and in-plant printing services under one roof, organizations are discovering extreme workflow solutions. By Maggie DeWitt With today's emphasis on doing business better, faster and more cost-effectively, it was inevitable that management would see the wisdom of merging in-plant printing services with data centers. For those who have not done so already, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is, with each day that goes by, your parent organization is squandering resources, losing operating efficiency and wasting money. The good news is, the task is not as daunting as you might think, and the two departments

In-plant managers got a chance to see the technologies they've been reading about at the recent Graph Expo show. For the many in-plant managers in attendance, the recent Graph Expo and Converting Expo 2004 show in Chicago was a graphic arts fantasy land. "I felt like a kid in a candy store," observes Mike Renn, of Mellon Corporate Publishing, in Philadelphia. "I went to take a look at the latest direct-to-plate systems and software management packages and came away with numerous options." Attendance this year was pretty healthy, he adds: "I had to wedge myself between bodies to check out the latest gear." Other managers agreed. "I

Finding the high-speed/high-volume printer that provides the maximum productivity and cost savings for your in-plant is not easy. Here's some help. By Michael Fego There are many printer/copier manufacturers, but relatively few offer high-speed/high-volume models. Since "high-speed" and "high-volume" can be somewhat relative terms, let's first define what constitutes a high-speed printer. Most experts consider devices with print/copy speeds of 70 pages per minute (ppm) or more to be high-speed devices. For the purpose of this article, we will use this definition. Manufacturers offering products with speeds between 70 and 90 ppm include Konica Minolta, Kyocera Mita, Sharp, Xerox, Canon, Ricoh and

In part two of our variable data printing coverage, Vic Barkin explains how your in-plant can move into this lucrative business. By Vic Nathan Barkin During the American Revolution, every rifle was what today we would refer to as a customized model. A master craftsman produced each lock, stock and barrel individually. No two were exactly alike. Finding the optimum load for each rifle meant that a rifleman had to test the accuracy of different powder volumes, patch thicknesses and ball size combinations to ensure, when the time came to hit his mark, he could trust his tool to do the job. Marketing

Installing CTP means rethinking your proofing methods. When the State of Washington Department of Printing decided to add a Creo Lotem 800 II Quantum platesetter last fall, the in-plant had to start thinking about proofing in a whole new way. Without film, its DuPont Waterproof system wouldn't be much use. So the in-plant added Creo's Iris4Print ink-jet proofer, with an eye toward upgrading to the new Creo Veris 1,500x1,500-dpi proofer this spring, according to Dan Maygra, interim prepress manager. The same thing happened at Arkansas State University Printing Services when it added a Heidelberg ProSetter 74 in September. The in-plant went with

Even though Drupa is just a month away, vendors still had plenty of new products to show at On Demand. By Bob Neubauer The biggest news at the recent AIIM On Demand Conference & Expo was certainly Eastman Kodak's announcement that it would purchase Heidelberg's digital printing business. That announcement, unleashed the morning of the show, slowly filtered through the crowd of 33,753 at New York's Javits Convention Center, engendering lots of speculation. The upshot: Kodak will buy Heidelberg's 50 percent interest in the pair's NexPress Solutions joint venture, as well as the equity of Heidelberg Digital, which makes the Digimaster black-and-white printer. This

HP chose a sunny, seaside hamlet in Spain to show off its latest printers, a range of products that essentially completes its graphic arts portfolio. By Bob Neubauer As the sun rose over the nearby Mediterranean Sea, graphic arts journalists from all over the world gathered recently in a hotel auditorium in the coastal village of Sitges, Spain, to hear about Hewlett-Packard's latest technology innovations. With new digital offerings ranging from wide-format printers to high-volume, commercial-quality color presses (including the first commercial press co-developed by HP and Indigo), HP now says it has the industry's most complete graphic arts portfolio. HP couldn't have