PDF for Print, Proofing and More

Financial stressors are compelling many catalogers to take a minutely detailed look at production workflow and the technologies that will best support their print- and electronic-media efforts. At the same time, standards-based Portable Document File (PDF) exchange is largely leading the way in digital production and prepress.

When many catalogers first made the leap to digital print production — migrating from the initial native application exchange scenario to more sophisticated (and reliable) standards-based PDF/X-1a exchange, for example — it seemed they had reached the pinnacle of their print efforts. Certainly, with film-based processes gone and a seamless digital workflow in place with prepress and print suppliers, it didn’t seem as if there were any other places in the workflow to shave off time or cost.

And yet many catalogers spent the past two years seeing budgets shrink and turnaround windows collapse — leaving the daunting question: “What can I do now to save production time and money?”

As it turns out, there are a few areas in the workflow that have proven ripe for emerging solutions that address these issues.

PDF and the Proofing Workflow

The growing popularity of standardized PDF exchange for catalog production has enhanced other facets of the printer/cataloger relationship, most notably in the realm of proofing, note Greg Meersman and Julie Loggins, sales representatives at catalog printer Banta.

Meersman says a growing number of Banta’s catalog customers are turning to remote proofing to help meet time-sensitive deadlines and cut costs from their proofing tasks. What Meersman means by remote proofing is the installation of a digital-proofing device at the cataloger’s site so that contract proofs can be sent electronically from the printer’s prepress facility to the customer. The proof, which is then printed on-site, is ready for the cataloger’s approval. Once approved, the printer uses the same digital file for imposition and platesetting.

One of Banta’s clients is Shade Tree Powersports, a Middlefield, OH-based, multichannel marketer of snowmobiles, motorcycles, and other motorized sports gear. Like many in the catalog business today, Heidi Tarin, marketing specialist, has a full plate of responsibilities, including marketing operations, dealer development, consumer shows and catalog coordination. One of her team’s challenges was to streamline the catalog production workflow as the company added more titles to its stable of publications.

“Last fall when we were looking to sign a contract for this year’s printing, Banta brought [remote proofing] to our attention,” Tarin recalls. “Our sales rep said this would be a great way to save time and money. We’re always looking for ways to reduce costs without losing quality. Additionally, we’re adding more catalogs and implementing versioning, which created a need for a simplified production process.”

When considering implementation, Tarin and her staff had several concerns, including technology, hidden costs, loss of quality and additional burden on the catalog’s designer. “So far, none of these have come to fruition,” she notes.

But setting up the proofing solution wasn’t as easy as “plug and play,” Tarin continues. She recalls that Banta offered several key services that helped to get her company ready to roll.

First, there was technological support. Banta helped Shade Tree specify the type of digital-proofing technology best suited for its requirements (in this case, a Fuji PictroProof), and Banta reps worked on the merchant’s site to integrate the technology with the catalog designer’s workstation.

Next, Banta helped the company to accurately predict the new costs associated with proofing. And, as Tarin recalls, “We were able to implement some time-saving steps that actually make the production of proofs less work for our designer than in the past.”

The new remote-proofing scenario has been in place since the start of the year. “We’ve experienced many benefits,” Tarin told Catalog Success. “One of the most notable has been the reduction in cost for proofs. Prior to converting to the Fuji proofing system, we were using Kodak Approvals. We don’t feel we’ve sacrificed any quality, and yet we were able to cut costs dramatically.”

Another benefit is the ability to quickly produce print-quality graphics right in the cataloger’s office. “We recently changed the layout of our pages, making room for more products per page. Our designer could show the catalog team what an actual page looked like under the old system and then under the new system before we decided to change. We’ll often produce a proof of several cover options prior to selecting the final photography.”

And lastly, probably the most important benefit is more control of the production schedule, says Tarin. “Because it takes only minutes to produce the proof, we can cut days out of the cycle where pages used to be at the prepress facility. Additionally, we can more easily make last-minute changes and corrections.”

Equipment

Specifying the type of digital-proofing device largely will depend on your budget constraints and need for color-critical analysis.

So far, Banta has placed at customers’ sites a variety of digital proofers, including SWOP-certified proofers from manufacturers such as Creo, Kodak Polychrome Graphics, Fuji Photo Film USA and DuPont Color Proofing. Each system’s capabilities can be matched to a customer’s proofing requirements. “It really depends on the type of catalog production,” says Meersman.

Your printer’s role should be to help you identify solutions in the categories that meet your needs — everything from low-end ink-jet printers to high-quality halftone proofers. You may find that an in-house solution can be used for other in-house print production projects, as well. Typically, Meersman suggests, you can determine if remote proofing is a viable option by the volume of proofing you do. Obviously, higher-volume-producing catalogers may be more likely to justify the investment.

Achieving a successful remote-proofing relationship with your printer requires a more profound commitment than simply installing a digital-proofing device, however. In addition to investing in the equipment, you must have staff dedicated to maintaining the device (including calibrating it regularly based on the frequency recommended by the printer) and monitoring its use.

“Remote proofing is a major benefit for our out-of-state customers, or any customer, in fact, who is overnighting or couriering proofs. That cost goes away,” Meersman says, “and it enables them better balance of the workload.”

Adds Loggins: “We have a client who was working with a prior vendor, and they were releasing their files to the printer on, say, a Wednesday and getting 72 pages worth of proofs back on the following Friday, 10 days later.” Now printing with Banta, the client found that turnaround on proofs could be greatly reduced through remote proofing, allowing them to get proofs more quickly and as they were ready, rather than getting slammed with a massive proofing project on a Friday afternoon. Proofs are received within hours in some cases, enabling the client to more expeditiously get the proofs routed through its internal approval rounds.

Another client, this one based in Idaho, had frequent weather problems and sometimes couldn’t rely on its overnight service to deliver proofs according to the production schedule. Now, thanks to a remote-proofing arrangement, the client provides Banta with as many as 96 pages of files on a Monday and all proofs are approved by Thursday — rain, shine or blizzard.

The Softer Side of Proofing

In conjunction with growing interest in remote proofing, catalogers also are opening their minds to soft proofing, or viewing and approving contract proofs on a monitor, in controlled viewing conditions. Banta has been offering soft proofing for more than a year, but it’s just been in the past six months or so that there seems to be growing market demand.

Its soft-proofing tool, called e-Merge, is a blend of third-party software tools that Banta integrated and made Web-enabled for its customers. A cataloger who opts for soft proofs in lieu of hard copies can log on to a password-protected Web site, pull up PDF-based soft proofs, and send approvals electronically back to the printer. The solution also allows for live-time collaboration between as many as six participants who take part in the proofing-approval cycle, and all annotations and milestones in the proof’s life are recorded for the printer or cataloger’s reporting use.

Catalogs and Advertising: Similar Goals, Similar Challenges

The print advertising industry has a lot in common with its print catalog cousin. Both industries have faced similar challenges as a result of digital-workflow dynamics, and both have many producers of color-critical work. Thus, both have been examining digital proofing more closely and are venturing out into the new soft-proofing waters.

Brad Mintz is the senior vice president and manager of creative services for McCann-Erickson New York. At the New York City branch of this advertising agency, the in-house creative and production studio has adopted three methods for proofing: a Kodak Approval for halftone-based proofing; a Hewlett-Packard ink-jet proofer with a Black Magic RIP; and Kodak Polychrome Graphics’ Matchprint Virtual.

Mintz explained his agency’s approach to soft proofing: “The Kodak Matchprint Virtual solution is a Web-based proofing system based on RealTimeImage’s [technology]. We beta-tested with Kodak in June 2002 … and chose it because it was a vendor-neutral solution. We took all five of our prepress vendors, put systems into their operations and created profiles specific to all their color spaces. Some were focused on the DuPont Waterproof, some had Approvals, and others were using FinalProof, for example.”

The Matchprint Virtual soft-proofing solution enables Mintz’s team to view proofs online while their prepress or print vendors may be analyzing hard-copy or soft proofs internally. And because the profiles and calibration settings are common, they seemingly would be looking at the same proof representation on screen.

Banta also is evaluating the Matchprint Virtual solution, according to Meersman. “Part of that,” he explains, “offers a computer screen actually on press, and the pressman — rather than getting up the color according to a hard-copy proof — literally can be looking at the same digital color proof on screen that the clients approved. And he’ll run to color based on that soft proof. This will most likely be the future for soft proofing.”

Gretchen Kirby Peck is the president and chief creative officer of P.A.G.E.s, an editorial consultancy and freelance writing firm specializing in the graphic arts.