Printing on demand: a new market niche

Communication World, Sept, 1995 by Cliff McGoon

Kodak sized up the print on demand market and created a system called Lionheart that includes server software and printer drivers for linked PCs and Macintoshes. They connect, using Post Script-compatible or other standard PDL files, to one of two printers Kodak offers, the 1392, a black-and-white model, or the 1580, which can add accent coloring.

Kodak's Lionheart System is a mainstay at Northern Trust Bank, Chicago, where they use the technology to print on demand a wide variety of newsletters, booklets, brochures and other printed pieces for internal and external audiences. Three Lionheart 1392 systems handle some 60 percent of the bank's in-house printing, according to Keith Johnson, who heads up their printing operation. The newsletters, for example, are black and white, 8 1/2- x 11-inch and printed in quantities of from 300 to 7,000. All are done on 70 lb. bright white recycled stock and are collated and stapled right on the machine.

Other more elaborate or involved projects are printed in-house on offset equipment or are sent out. And that's the real breakthrough with printing on demand. It offers the opportunity to segment print needs and adapt them to newly evolving equipment and technologies to do the job better, faster and cheaper.

Full color laser copiers deliver high quality

The big improvement to laser printing technology in black-and-white models is an increase to 600, 1,200,and even 1,800 dpi resolution, allowing for better photo reproduction as well as improved rendering of fine lines in smaller typefaces.

And, many of these printers, both black-and-white and full-color models, can now handle tabloid-sized (11- x 17- inch) pages. Bindery operations are done off-line.

Full color laser copiers provide high quality, but per-copy cost is higher than with most other forms of imaging. Costs for full color copying, however, have been coming down steadily since the systems were first introduced. And a strong demand is being exhibited by business. A recent survey by Hewlett-Packard Company indicates that a majority of American corporations are moving to color printing. Some 75 percent of management information system managers queried said that the businesses they support have acquired, or plan to acquire, color printing capabilities in the near future.

Christopher Purcell, multimedia designer at Deloitte & Touche, headquartered in Wilton, Conn., uses a Canon CLC550 color laser copier as the primary output device to print on demand a variety of highly creative, short-run proposals his department produces under tight deadlines.

Combining his creative skills with a high-end desktop publishing system linked to the Canon, Purcell can virtually match, on short run publications, the color, quality and format flexibility of large offset presses -- and at a fraction of the cost.

For quantities of 25 to 30 proposals, which is the average number Purcell's department produces, his system is ideal. The Canon can print full color on both sides of the page.

He designs the proposals, using a magazine style layout for maximum impact and visual interest. To make his publications stand out, he prints on a variety of paper stocks, then finds unique ways design the cover using offbeat paper stock such as corrugated Kraft paper or vellum. The Canon can print 400 x 400 dpi on sheets up to 11 x 17 inches, permitting a variety of sizes and formats, such as a fold-out 8 1/2- X 11-inch with color on both sides. Trimming down a standard sheet size allows full color bleeds, and by staggering smaller sheet sizes and inserting vellum sheet separators, the documents distinguish themselves from the cookie-cutter variety often associated with on-demand printing. The documents are then bound together using Wiro-Binding.