Production currents: manufacturing and production pros plug into five digital trends and offer advice from their own experience

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 15, 1996 by Eve Asbury

In today's production environment, digital has become a synonym for faster, better and cheaper. While some magazines are making the digital dream a reality, many still approach new technologies cautiously. We asked production and manufacturing executive to point out future trends and comment on what works today.

PROOF POSITIVE

Digital proofing is one of the most hotly debated topics in production circles. Can digitally rendered proofs replace film-based industry standards like the 3M Matchprint? Can production managers rely on consistent color output from digital-proofing devices to replace contract proofs?

John Dougherty, New York City-based Hachette Filipacchi's manager, publishing systems, places his trust in digital proofs. "After a year [of using the Kodak Approval Digital Color Proofing System], we came to the conclusion that we preferred Kodak Approvals to film proofs. We have a lot of confidence in the Kodak Approval to show color, moire, and reflect certain aspects better than film proofs," he says.

For Arabian Horse World, which is now printed almost entirely using computer-to-plate technology, digital proofing was a natural, and necessary, transition. "We print proofs on the Tektronix Phaser 300i, [and send them] to our printer," says Sannie Ricasata, system manager of the Palo Alto, California-based monthly.

The key to digital proofing is calibration, an elusive and sometimes arduous task. Brian Holland, operations and prepress manager, CMP Media Inc., located in Manhasset, New York, calibrates all seven of the company's digital proofers several times a day. "We don't treat them like ordinary printers," he says. "We treat them like any other piece of critical production equipment." With daily maintenance and cooperation from vendors, digital proofing can be a reality.

The publishing industry is one of schedules and deadlines, and no one knows that better than the production department. Where overnight turnaround used to be considered fast, today's production teams are using high-speed digital phone lines to make 24-hour waits a thing of the past. Whether they replace couriers, transfer proofs or facilitate digital advertising, telecommunications solutions play, and will continue to play, a major role in the workflow of today and tomorrow.

David Serrano, production manager, Jobson Publishing, based in New York City, uses both ISDN and T1 lines to ship pages to different suppliers. "We are currently transmitting more pages [digitally] than shipping using a conventional messenger," he says. For the editorial and art departments, the additional time savings translates into increased productivity. "Work can continue beyond the conventional pickup times," Serrano explains. "We do not have to arrange for any special pickups if we are slightly behind on shipping."

CMP Media Inc. installed dedicated T1 lines to their two printing plants to benefit their weekly publications. Having a continuously open channel of communication allows CMP's production staff easy access to remote devices. "It's as if [the devices] are on my network," says Holland. "The main advantage for us has been the speed. I need the speed to get the weeklies out on time."

Tom Kawecki, desktop publishing manager, Hachette Filipacchi, came up with a low-cost, easy-to-implement solution to the problem of sending page proofs to accompany digital files. "We used to send a job out at 8 P.M. via the frame-relay link, and then send the proof overnight. The prepress supplier had to wait until morning before he could begin work on the file." Now, the art department uses fax software to include a page proof digitally. "The supplier receives this file along with the rest of the job," explains Kawecki. "The proof file is then printed out at that end."

With digital advertising around the corner, telecommunications links to advertising agencies will become a necessity. Hachette's Dougherty wants to be ready when that day comes. "I am looking to put in ISDN PRI (Primary Rate Interface) by the third quarter in order to communicate with advertising agencies and others who are not on frame relay," he says. ISDN was previously unavailable to CMP Media Inc., but now that it is, Holland intends to link to the company's advertising agencies in anticipation of digital ads.

PREFLIGHTING PRECAUTIONS

Working in a digital production environment can be fast and efficient, but sometimes it's like operating without a net. You can get the page to the printer in a nanosecond, but what if it has missing graphics, bad color specifications or font problems? The preflight process ensures that the file has passed certain tests before it is shipped, and guarantees that all necessary components are included, and that other technical specifications have been correctly defined.

For Arabian Horse World, the preflight process is critical to its computer-to-plate workflow. The final imposed flats are shipped in PostScript file format. "We are using Transverter Pro from TechPool Software to test our PostScript files," says Ricasata. To avoid surprises at the printing plant, Ricasata prints the file after it has been checked to reduce further the risk of potential imaging problems.