‘Accurate’ proofing:
making excellence inclusive
To maximize reader engagement, leading newspaper establishments strive in a diversified manner, constantly increasing the strengths of their publications in terms of impressive contents and ever improving print quality. For these both aspects of newspaper publishing, one factor is commonly significant, i.e. ‘accurate’ proofing, which primarily influences the level of overall output. Publishers keep close track for error detection in the entire newspaper production process to eliminate costly reprints and minimize advertising revenue loss owing to printing errors, and finally gratify the readers. To facilitate such error detection by prior proofing, various industry majors are also providing effective solutions including hardware, software and substrates.
Ajeet Singh, asst editor, AAN, briefs.
|
In the present phenomenon when both readers and advertisers are quality conscious and may move away if consistent quality print is not provided, it apparently becomes rather important for newspaper establishments to ensure close inspection at every stage of making the newspaper ready for printing. Broadly, there are two types of components within publishing of newspapers, i.e. news/photographs and advertisements. While accuracy right tones in the first panders readers, the consistency of the second with the contract proof (Contract proof is a proof which the advertisers sign off and accordingly the quality/print result is wanted. If such quality is not provided then the commercial contract may stand invalid.) matching makes those advertisers happy who bring in revenues to newspapers.
Consider the scenario when a particular photograph is issued from the single source (such as AP or PTI) and readers find it differently published in terms of quality in different newspapers. Definitely, it can affect the image of the concerned newspapers, especially in the eyes of those readers who subscribe more than one newspaper and compare these instantly with a cup of morning tea. Similarly, most of the major advertisers supply contract proof and expect the print quality of ads in the newspaper matching to it. In case of any mismatch, advertisers don’t agree to pay for it, and sometime also demand for compensations for defaced advertisements.
Need to avoid such problems makes ‘accurate’ proofing an integral part of newspaper production process. For the purpose, newspapers publishing houses try to ensure well connectivity among all links of the workflow chain, i.e. marketing department, editorial department, advertisers, printing facility, and chief editor, to detect any errors at all levels. While ‘accurate’ proofing in newspapers is not only concerned with detection and correction of inappropriate text or photographs in news items and advertisements, but also to make sure that advertisements have been placed as per the guidelines, print quality is matching with the contract proof, and colour as well as registration is perfect. The results delivered (by such proofing) will undoubtedly delight newspaper advertisers and ultimately enchant readers.
To bring desired accuracy in the above forms is not feasible without help of sophisticated technologies and solutions. So the proofing segment has created huge market possibilities for supplies of newspaper production equipments and solutions. Various industry majors including HP, Epson, Canon, Kodak, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Xerox, EFI, GMG, CGS, Agfa, etc are providing state-of-the-art hardware, software and substrates for newspaper proofing efficiently. ‘Checking tables’ with appropriate lighting solutions are also available in the market to see how the print will look in the day light. Achieving accuracy in proofing with such products, one can boost productivity, improve quality, and finally strengthen turnaround, apart from all around consistency, by not only retaining existing readers and advertisers but also attracting more ones.
Hardware! With the advent of digital technologies, generally inkjet proofing systems are used to simulate proof on newsprint or newsprint-like substrates.
Epson offers range of proofing systems including Epson Stylus Pro 9880, 9900, etc. EPSON Stylus Pro printers feature a new ink set with a wider colour gamut, making them an ideal choice for print proofing. Award-winning EPSON UltraChrome K3 inks are well known for their wide gamut and accurate colour renditions with virtually no colour twist, and have become the standard for digital proofing.
HP Designjet range of digital printers are suitable proofing systems to reproduce what will be achieved on newsprint through press as a final result. HP Designjet 1050CM is one of the most common systems for reproducing newspaper proof across the world and in India as well. Powered by the new HP Double Swath technology, HP Designjet 4000 offers high-speed colour and black-and-white printing up to 42 inches wide, complete with outstanding line accuracy, image quality, and remote printer management.
Printing with an astonishing quantity of 7,680 nozzles, the 36” imagePROGRAF W7200 from Canon is a professional graphic system designed for high-quality and high-speed output. Canon has developed a new high-density one-inch printhead that is revolutionary in terms of providing incredibly fast speed with brilliant photographic output.
Besides, proofing systems from other suppliers are also available in the market.
Substrate! A proof is worth little, without printing it on right media with which inkjet proofing systems can provide contract proof quality. So, most of the proofing technology providers also include proofing media in their portfolio.
CGS created the ORIS PearlPROOF family of contract proofing media specially formulated for the stringent needs of digital proofing. With their exclusive ultra-fine grain nanoporous coating, ORIS PearlPROOF media provide double the surface area of common microporous papers thus allowing for higher ink densities, uniform ink absorption, better shadow detail, larger colour gamut and faster drying. The exclusive single-pass coating ensures very low defect level and greater consistency. ORIS PearlPROOF Glossy is said to be the world’s first optical brightener-free glossy paper.
EFI also has special paper for newspaper print reproduction. Their proofing paper produces accurate colour matches, meeting the highest quality contract proofing requirements. And Epson also offers range of proofing substrates for accurate colour reproductions.
Agfa Graphics also gives a wide range of proofing media including :AgfaJet media. Specially formatted for Agfa’s :Sherpa as well as the :Grand Sherpa, :AgfaJet Digital White Base (:ADWB) paper can be used with dye-based inkjet proofers.
Remote proofing…
With increasing speed of internet, remote proofing concept is also becoming more popular among newspapers and their advertisers to expedite the process. Under this concept of proofing, a digital file is simultaneously delivered to advertiser and in-house divisions of the newspaper establishment, who can view it at their remote location, resulting prompt turnaround of proofs. To maximize its advantages, GMG, CGS, EFI, etc introduced remote proofing network through which one can send hardcopy proofs to clients all over the world faster and with perfect matching colours.
EFI Colorproof XF, a professional-level RIP, enables one to manage colour supply chain from design to production to output by providing all the tools to produce the best colour, it allows to produce ISO 12647-7/8 compliant validation printing and contract proofing. Recently, the company launched XF 4.5 version of this solution which offers both faster RIP performance and features to cut time and errors in the printing process.
CGS offers ORIS series of solutions. ORIS Press Matcher // Web is ideal for maintaining colour consistency among multiple digital presses, or between your conventional and digital presses. Similar to the leading proofing application ORIS Colour Tuner // Web, a powerful softproofing application has been included in the software. That way, print jobs can quickly and easily, together with the browser-based architecture, be uploaded, controlled and tracked from anywhere in the world. Just prior to production, the job can initially be evaluated, based on a colour-accurate softproof, and then be released directly within the application, making it easy to implement remote-printing concepts.
GMG is a leading developer and supplier of high-end colour management software solutions. GMG ColorProof established itself in many countries as the most professional software solution for producing digital contract proofs. For remote proofing, complete proofing jobs including all settings can be exported and imported in order to achieve the same results at both the creator’s end and the remote site. For creating uniform colour standards within seconds, they offer ColorServer.
ProofCenter from INFRA LOGIC is used for generation of full flat proofs to printers and plotters. The proof generation is based on 1-bit ripped image separation, which is resampled, combined and colour profiled prior to output. ProofCenter supports two plotters/printers for output load balancing. Product highlights include: Can run as stand-alone application and as integrated part of ControlCenter Enterprise or Professional; Input is pre-ripped 1-bit TIFF in hotfolders; ICC profiled output including proof profile for press colour emulation; Per-ink base linearization curves; Output to Window printer drivers, HP-RTL, HP-PCL and Epson ESC/2; Optional output in PDF, TIFF or JPEG format.
Challenges…
In India, major challenges in newspaper proofing are to mange adequate investment and to achieve speed in reproducing proof. Most of the newspapers of small and medium strengths are not willing to invest in state-of-the-art proofing solutions rather they prefer to perform this process manually. For those newspaper establishments who could arrange to procure proofing systems, optimum speed in reproducing proof is a big challenge owing to close limitation of time. However, one can speed up the process with help of efficient software, along with installing equally effective hardware and using quality media, but affordability is the issue for newspapers. Overall, advantages of having a proofing system are immense!
