1992 pre-press trends

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Sept 1, 1992 by Jean Marie Angelo

Probably no publishing discipline has changed more in the past decade than pre-press. What was once the world of drafting boards, X-Acto knives and rubber cement is now the most technologically advanced part of the publishing process. Any production director from the old school wishing to stay employed has had to undergo a re-education to learn the lingo of hard drives, color monitors and computer software.

As pre-press executives continue to be flooded with Macintosh and PC upgrades and ever-improving software packages, a larger change in the pre-press industry is taking shape: More and more printers are adding digital facilities in an effort to be a publication's one-stop shop, while color separators and pre-press shops struggle to hold on to their customers.

All this activity is happening because production executives have a new option - the ability to produce four-color proofs and even separations in-house. This choice, which was unthinkable five years ago, is now possible for more publishers because the costs of scanners, laser printers and output devices have been steadily dropping as digital color quality has improved. The software packages that produce digital color scans, such as Adobe Photoshop and Fractal's ColorStudio, have also been upgraded.

Suppliers are adjusting to these changes. "I predict that in the next three to five years the only thing publishers won't bring in-house are the presses," says Mary Lee Schneider, desktop publishing product manager at R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., New York City. The creators will want ultimate control of the product, she explains. And they will most likely gain this control with off-the-shelf products that can be enhanced to fit individual needs.

The constant product introductions and strategy shifts, have created a dynamic workplace for the average production executive. Folio's annual pre-press survey asked production executives how much of the new technology they are using, and how they are handling their pre-press needs.

According to respondents, about 82 percent of magazines are now using some form of desktop or electronic publishing, and about half of those magazines that do not yet have systems plan to buy one during the next 12 months. The average overall investment in this technology has been $140,000 for the group surveyed.

What have production executives gained? More than one-third say the digital revolution has made their jobs easier and more efficient. Almost one-forth say DTP has yielded more internal control, and 15 percent say their jobs are more diversified and enjoyable. Almost the same percentage of respondents say quality has also improved. However, at least 16 percent say desktop and digital technology have made their jobs more complicated.

"Technical advances have made my job tougher," says Joe Mossa, vice president of production for NYT Sports/Leisure Magazines, made up of Golf Digest, Tennis and other titles. "If you don't have any idea what is going on in the computer field, you are dead."

Our statistics reveal that the majority of production executives are recent converts to the digital revolution. Although 17 percent of respondents purchased some type of DTP equipment during 1984 and 1985, the majority did not buy a system until 1990. A full 42.8 percent bought their first systems during the past three years.

But being relative newcomers to DTP does not mean these respondents resist innovation. A full 70 percent of all respondents have already upgraded their hardware or software since purchasing, and about one-third have upgraded twice. About 33 percent of those who have upgraded have purchased more hardware. Half of these respondents added more storage. About 25 percent bought faster hardware, such as Apple's new Quadra computer. Other hardware purchases include scanners, networks, color monitors, accelerator boards, laser printers and CD-ROM players. The overall average spent on the most recent upgrade was $82,900.

The impact on staff

DTP is not having a dramatic impact on staff size. Of the 82.4 percent who have bought some type of DTP system, most, 64.2 percent, have maintained staff size. Only 16.7 percent reported increasing staff, while 19.0 percent cut staff in the wake of technological innovations.

What is changing are the types of jobs people are doing. About 37 percent of this year's respondents who have in-house systems have created new job functions to handle the technology. Slightly more than 14 percent created a systems operator position; about 7 percent now have a pre-press director or manager.

"We built an infrastructure so that artists don't have to become technicians," explains David Hall, director of pre-press for Conde Nast Publications, New York City. "As much as the manufacturer would love you to believe that you take the computer out of the box and are instantly productive, it is not so. It takes people to support the applications and train the staff."

About 56 percent of survey respondents kept the pre-press portion of their budgets the same for 1992. Almost 14 percent increased spending, while 28.4 percent cut the budget. Those spending more on pre-press added 20 percent to the pre-press portion of the budget. Spending priorities are equipment upgrades and more four-color. Those who have cut the pre-press portion of their production budgets did so by 10 percent. They plan to save money on improved color separation and pre-press procedures.