Is the use of color really that different in transactional and graphic arts print environments? Or do expectations and unique application characteristics drive the perception of color quality and the choice of color technology?

In my experience, the lightning rod for differentiating the two comes down to five key questions:

1. What drives the use of color?
2. How do you define color quality?
3. How much color is enough?
4. How critical is color quality?
5. What is the acceptable cost of color?

Let’s start with transactional environments where applications are fairly predictable from month to month and are printed in significant volumes in highly compressed windows. Here, as with direct mail, color may be used to maintain corporate branding, to induce an action, enhance understanding or just to get attention. Color is also being used in transactional environments to gain the operational efficiencies of a white paper environment and increase the potential for postal savings. As for color quality, in transaction environments the focus is on striking a balance between the cost of color and the quality required to fulfill the purpose of the application – typically directing attention to or highlighting key information on a page like an amount due or due date. More and more, those responsible for transaction documents are looking at the cost-benefit equation related to promotional messages with varying levels of color – but not at the level of color quality associated with graphic arts work.

I’ve never met a print provider who doesn’t expect and produce the best quality- including color reproduction. But we have to be careful to put color quality in context. Is it something that we recognize when we see it? Is it the quality we see in annual reports, photo books or brochures? The ability to reproduce corporate colors within 1 to 3 deltas of the target PMS or Pantone color? I contend that it is some of all of these things. But there are trade-offs in digital (and offset) printing such as throughput, machine settings, supply costs, use of specialty supplies versus standard supplies, and paper costs that can be chosen to manage the resulting color output.

As for transaction and transpromo documents, print providers are more likely to select low-cost commodity-grade papers, manage supply costs by choosing designs with low coverage and optimize throughput to satisfy short print windows, and may not even print at the full resolution that a device is capable of. While willing to make some concessions on quality in return for cost savings, in transactional environments, month-to-month consistency is critical to ensure that the look and feel of the documents contributes to a uniform and consistent relationship. So at any color or resolution level, color management remains critical across these high-volume runs.

Contrast this with how color is used in graphic arts environments. Here, job mixes tend to be more unpredictable, varying from day to day based on what customers bring through the door – or web portal. Turnaround ranges from same-day to more than a week. Volumes run the gamut from very short to very long. The amount of color coverage is driven by the job, but with a difference. Applications tend to be photo- and graphic-intensive and therefore color-intensive – with more frequent use of full color in jobs like direct mailers, photo books, brochures and catalogs. Instead of highlighting data to drive a message, the graphic or creative does the heavy lifting, supported by the message. Consequently, quality is as important – if not more important – than cost. Poor color reproduction of images, especially of people, can result in a failed communication.

This focus extends to the reproduction of product images as well. In graphic arts applications, reproduction of corporate colors is very important, and the trade-off with cost is minimal. Corporate colors must approximate the specified colors and must be produced consistently within a job and from job to job. To achieve these results, we wrestle with the conundrum of process standardization versus manipulating the process to modify print quality (often on the press). This practice isn’t ideal and is often discouraged. However, the point is that print providers who produce graphic arts applications know that skin tones must be accurate, neutrals must be neutral, and products like textiles must look realistic. Graphic arts print providers are highly sensitive to these requirements and will customize the print process to ensure that customer requirements for quality color reproduction are met. There is a strong focus on high screen rulings to achieve better image fidelity, using the best quality coated papers, using extended color gamuts and specialty colors, disciplined color management, emphasis on contract proofing and on-press approvals.

In both environments, when it comes to costs, the numbers tell the story. For example, the cost per page of an inkjet printer producing transpromo documents with limited color is far less expensive than a toner-based digital color press producing image- and graphic-intensive brochures with extensive color. As you can imagine, applying the cost of producing a color brochure to transpromo documents would be cost-prohibitive when you’re producing millions of customer communications per month. So, there are trade-offs. That said, I am increasingly impressed with the image quality, fidelity, and consistency of inkjet technology. Likewise, toner-based systems deliver outstanding color quality for many traditional graphic arts jobs. Either way, the application and business requirements drive the use of color and emphasis on quality vs. cost. From the perspective of a graphic arts guy quickly becoming immersed in the world of transaction printing, the two environments are similar, but with key differences.

What do you think? I look forward to your feedback and would love to continue the discussion at Graph Expo. I’ll be in the Océ booth (#1217) October 3^rd through 6^th.

“Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital based image directly to a variety of media. It usually refers to professional printing where small run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large format and/or high volume laser or inkjet printers. Digital printing has a higher cost per page than more traditional offset printing methods but this price is usually offset by the cost saving in avoiding all the technical steps in between needed to make printing plates. It also allows for on demand printing, short turn around, and even a modification of the image (variable data) with each impression. The savings in labor and ever increasing capability of digital presses means digital printing is reaching a point where it will match or supersede offset printing technologies ability to produce larger print runs at a low price.”

I know that this is supposed to be an interactive medium with feedback ensuring the accuracy but I am surprised by this inaccuracy.  And someone who did not know better would assume it is correct because it has 3 references.

But as the author of two books on this subject I disagree. The most glaring is this “Digital printing has a higher cost per page than more traditional offset printing methods….” That is only true for longer run lengths using digital printing. Everyone knows that you can chart the cost per page for both processes and that there is a cross over point where offset becomes cheaper.

I also take some issue with “The savings in labor….” That also is dependent on the run length as well as the automation and finishing capabilities of both workflows. There are inline features on digital and offset presses that make each very efficient.

I think we need to request changes to this definition. Do you agree?

Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research.

I was in a presentation early last week and someone complained about the size limits of digital presses. That was echoed later in the week during the Graph Expo preview on WhatTheyThink by Frank Romano and David Zwang. During David’s presentation, he mentioned that sheetfed electrophotographic (toner) based digital presses had hit a wall in terms of productivity. And at the end of that presentation the audience was asked, “What’s Your Next Big Equipment Investment?” The two top answers were 43% digital press and 24% production inkjet. The focus on production based inkjets was a real shock and together these comments got me thinking and, as you will see, took me down a strange hypothetical road.

I think both points are true. Except for the manufacturers that have put two machines in tandem allowing the first to print on one side and the second to print on the second side there has not really been an increase in productivity in the sheetfed toner-based devices for a few years. But let’s keep this straight – the productivity concern is really two issues, size and speed. Let’s just focus on format size for this discussion.

As they ask in the Godzilla movies, “Does Size Matter?” For larger sized applications it does – for smaller sizes it may not. The reason it may not is because increasing the speed with a tandem based configuration can help with applications that fit. (Except when a larger device can print it multiple times up on a sheet and be faster or more cost effective.)

But if that last international show showed us anything about format size it appears that size limitation is more of a toner issue than an inkjet issue. If you remember, one of the manufacturers announced that they would bring a 32” inkjet press and then showed up with a 36” press. As a result, we are learning that the inkjet heads are grouped into specific widths and can be added or subtracted and the toughest challenge is to the paper handling function. However, there are rumors that there is a width barrier for the toner-based devices due to the electrophotographic nature or ability to hold a charge across a sheet.

What does all this mean? Clearly this is speculation but it could mean that understanding your application mix based on size may become a more important consideration in the future when deciding which digital print technology best suits your needs. Of course quality and equipment cost is important too, and there are critical differences with these technologies, but lets take quality and cost off the table for this conversation and see what happens.

One more disclaimer. Admittedly at this point in time what I am about to suggest is more of a bizarre idea, but if quality, cost and speed were comparable and you could buy either a electrophotographic 2 up press or an inkjet 4 up press for $500,000, which would you buy?

Howard Fenton is a Senior Consultant at NAPL. Howie advises commercial printers, in-plants, and manufacturers on workflow management, operations, digital services, and customer research.

The best marketing ideas today are operationally justified. Envelope marketing is no exception. A variety of solutions for printing messages on envelopes have been touted to marketing departments for a long time. Some companies pre-print messages on the outside of envelopes such as corporate taglines, incentives to go paperless or eye catching graphics to entice the recipient to open their mail.

Megaspirea, a French firm, introduced what they called “Dynamic Envelope Creation” via the Mailliner 100 at IPEX way back in 2006. Dynamic Envelope Creation was hailed as a holistic process for making a complete mail piece (envelope plus content) out of a single print stream. Variable images and messages could be printed directly on the envelope itself. Despite a strategic relationship with Pitney Bowes and Emtex that should have given the company a lot of reach in the US market – the technology never really took off.

You would think that the ability to dynamically market on the outside of the envelope would be marketing catnip – but in fact, many direct mail marketers feel that the white envelope approach is more effective than jazzy graphics on the outside of the envelope. Transaction mailers today, are still not well integrated with marketing departments (whether in plant or service providers) and therefore envelope marketing is a tough sell to this group.

DST Output (www.dstoutput.com) recently announced an envelope marketing solution that, despite the demise of past market entrants, I believe has a real chance of success. Why? Because the solution is as appealing – or potentially even more appealing- from an operations and efficiency standpoint as it is from a marketing standpoint. Like white paper, full color printing in general – operational efficiencies from wrap envelopes are creating the business case for more effective marketing. First let me explain the solution.

DST’s Wrap Envelope technology is a no-touch process for printing, wrapping and finishing high-volume, First-Class Mail packages in a high-speed production environment. Wrap extends major mailers’ customer marketing efforts with dynamic messaging that can be applied to the front, back and inside of the envelope. This means that the solution provides an envelope marketing opportunity for transaction mail like statements and bills, but also can double as a stand-alone self-mailer.

DST Output’s Wrap Envelopes are printed duplex on continuous plain roll-stock paper, and then literally wrap around multiple pages of statements, bills, inserts and reply/remit envelopes. The process enables mailers to embellish the interior as well as the exterior of the envelope with marketing messaging and promotional content, such as coupons, event information or other customer marketing materials – and can include customer data on the interior to create the self mailer – or additional personalized offer.

There are other operational benefits as well:

1. Placing messaging on the envelope can minimize postal weight by reducing the insert count and replace separate mailings and direct mail.
2. Wrap Envelopes can serve as a self-mailer for privacy statements, regulatory notices or e-statement bounce notifications minimizing the cost of these mailings.
3. The windowless Wrap enhances security and privacy with no see-through areas.
4. No window also makes it fully recyclable (no cellophane) and therefore more sustainable.
5. There is no need to pre-order and warehouse envelopes reducing storage, commercial print and procurement costs as well as improving cash flow.

The Wrap Envelope is a compelling solution for one-page statements or bills – with or without a remit envelope. From a quality perspective, Wrap utilizes an integrated no-touch manufacturing process that tracks each and every mail piece during production to verify that the total package is complete and accurate. If an error is detected, the process automatically remakes the entire mail package.

So, no-touch quality control, cost savings, improved privacy and sustainability and – oh, by the way – completely dynamic messaging inside and out. I think that’s pretty innovative. (Take a look at the examples below.) If DST was selling this as a hardware solution, I think it would be a big success. For now, only DST outsourcing customers can take advantage of the technology and it will be interesting to see whether it is adopted for the marketing features, the operational features or both. How would you use it if you could?

(Click on pictures to see larger view)

Wrap Envelope (front) with logo and text message

Example of Wrap Envelope (front) with Dynamic Graphic

Wrap example with Dynamic Messaging on Back of Envelope

Wrap envelope with Dynamic Graphics and Messages Inside

"Outside In" Wrap Campaign

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A new study by research firm Interquest challenges the belief that glossy direct marketing mailers deliver superior response rates when compared to matte finished materials produced with inkjet technology. For the study Interquest sent a total of 10,585 direct mail postcards to marketing managers and executives from various industry sectors in the U.S. Approximately half of the postcards were printed on a full-color inkjet device, and half on a full-color toner-based production copier/printer.

Download the report for all the details.

Andy Tribute recently attended the the IMI European Ink Jet Printing conference in Barcelona.

The IMI European Ink Jet Printing conference has for many years been the place to come to find out the most recent developments in new print head designs and support systems from the different suppliers. This would often indicate the likely trends of the market as integrators and printer manufacturers incorporated these new heads into their latest products. This year however was slightly different with hardly any new print head designs being announced. Instead once could say that this years conference showed a maturing of the markets as finally areas of the market that had been discussed for years as having potential for inkjet printing saw new products and approaches becoming available.

During the conference IT Strategies provided a look at the market adoption of new ink jet press technology:

The conference started with update given by IT Strategies on what was happening in the market for inkjet production presses. This was of great interest considering the amount of interest in this area at drupa last year. This update showed that this market has yet really to take off. According to IT strategies there were only around 80 sites around the world with installation of these presses predicted to be 325 engines (or between 160 – 180 systems with a system being two linked engines). In 2009 sales have been less than 2008 as the early low hanging fruit of leading monochrome installed base customers switching to colour have completed their purchases. It appears that the majority of installations are for either transactional applications or direct mail. It also appears that few installations are pushing the presses to anywhere near their production capacities. It also showed there are few installations carrying out publishing type applications.

You can read the rest of Moving Inkjet Technology into the Future at WhatTheyThink.

Last time we talked about ways Océ is helping customers build business with inkjet technology and how market acceptance of digital print quality has changed. Today, in the final installment of this interview, Mal Baboyian talks about how Océ is changing the way it presents itself to the market at big venues like PRINT 09 and gives us a glimpse of what the company will have on display in Chicago.

NW: Océ used to show only its high speed production presses at shows like PRINT or Graph Expo, but at recent shows you often have one or two wide format machines on hand. Why the shift?

MB: Océ has one of the broadest product lines in the industry covering the office, wide format, display graphics, and production printing. But even customers in these segments weren’t always aware of our other offerings and capabilities and didn’t necessarily think of Océ when they needed a different type of equipment. Having a wider range of equipment at shows strengthens our brand by showing the full scope of our offerings and helps position Océ as a leader in more segments of the printing market. We also share some technologies across the different divisions of the company and are always looking for ways to leverage what we know. As I mentioned, our inkjet experience in wide format aided us in developing the JetStream family. Many of our customers had no knowledge of Océ’s breadth of solutions in the office, production printing and wide format segments. And many of them have needs in more than one segment .
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As we saw in part three of this interview, Océ’s history in both toner-based and inkjet printing gives it good credibility as it rolls out its new inkjet systems. Still, for most print service providers, having equipment with a lot of capacity is only part of the equation. That capacity needs filling and profitability is still a basic business requirement. So, I asked Mr. Baboyian, what does Océ do to build capacity and help print providers get a bigger share of their customers’ wallets?

NW: OK. This is all good, and many printers I talk with see inkjet as having a lot of potential. But the thing they all say concerns them is being able to fill up a significant portion of the capacity of these machines. How is Océ addressing this and helping customers make the transition into inkjet?

MB: That’s a great question, and it really all comes down to applications and the importance of printers understanding their customers. When we first introduce a customer to the JetStream line we learn about all the applications they are running, who their customers are, and look for all the applications that make the most sense to print on a JetStream. For example, we know there are many jobs, especially in direct mail and transactional shops, that require preprinted forms. We’ve done the math, so we know that simply shifting these forms to inkjet adds a lot of volume to the press and will save the printer’s customer a lot of money. But as you know, that can a difficult conversation for some printers to have with their customer. So we provide the support our customers need when they introduce JetStream to their customers. We can help to explain the technology, answer questions, and show them, based on their current printing costs, how eliminating pre-printed forms can make a substantial difference in their business.
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In the second part of this interview we heard more details about Océ’s new JetStream 1000 inkjet press, how it fits into the market, and about print quality on inkjet systems. In today’s installment, Mal Baboyian talks about how Océ, with its legacy of toner-based printing is making the transition and commitment to inkjet.

NW: Mal, most people probably don’t think of Océ as having a history in inkjet printing, yet you’ve introduced several models of the JetStream family in a bit over a year and a half. But you haven’t done this on your own. Tell me about the alliance with Miyakoshi that has led to the JetStream line.

MB: Let me answer that in a couple of steps. First, Océ actually has developed a lot of inkjet technology and provided innovation and industry leadership in a number of markets. Our first inkjet products came to market almost 15 years ago. The wide format side of the company has been very successful and has the leading market share in some segments of wide and superwide format printing. Some machines, like the Arizona line of flatbed printers that can also print roll-to-roll, have won awards for innovation and quality. Last year at drupa I’m sure you saw our CrystalPoint solid toner technology which can be jetted onto a wide variety of substrates. At GraphExpo 2008, the Océ Colorwave 600 with Océ CrystalPoint technology won a Must See ‘Em award and this product has been recognized once again for PRINT 09 with a Must See ‘Em Encore award. Océ R&D developed and we manufacture these products. Of course, these wide format machines address a different market and at lower speeds than a production press, but the underlying knowledge of inkjet technology, chemistry, color, and material science has been very instrumental as we developed the JetStream family.

Second, our relationship with Miyakoshi is very much a strategic alliance that draws on the strength of both companies. Miyakoshi is a well-known offset press manufacturer that was developing an inkjet technology. We’ve brought our expertise in inkjet, color management, controllers, security, and error recovery systems for high-speed, high-volume digital printing. The win-win is that JetStream is built like a press for heavy duty use, our SRA MP [Massively Parallel] front-end can handle every aspect of the data in full color, and can be easily integrated into any PRISMA-based system as just another print engine.
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In the first installment of this interview series, Mal Baboyian, president of Océ North America’s Production Printing Systems division shared some details about Océ’s new JetStream 1000 inkjet press and talked about the company’s reasons for bringing it to market. Today he provides more detail on the machine and talks about quality, one of the key issues for any type of digital printing.

NW: What kinds of applications will you be showing on the JetStream 1000 at PRINT 09?

MB: The JetStream 1000 prints everything in a single pass, so much like our VarioStream 7000 and 8000 family of toner-based presses, adding MICR is really just business as usual. At PRINT we’ll be running a number of apps using MICR printing and showing how trans-promo statements printed on the JetStream 1000 meet all newly announced regulations and are CPSA compliant. We’ll also be running full color books and a newspaper application that shows how inkjet can be a real fit for the changing shape of the newspaper industry.
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Océ’s Mal Baboyian talks about the company’s move into inkjet printing

There’s nothing like a talking at length with an industry exec to get a better understanding of how a company thinks. And it’s especially important when a company is leveraging its legacy to adopt a new technology. Consider high-speed inkjet printing, one of the hottest topics in the industry today. Most major equipment vendors have significant programs for development and marketing inkjet machines that have the versatility and print quality to be compelling replacements for electrophotographic systems and even begin to intrude into the realm of offset presses. Océ has been one of the most aggressive in bringing new inkjet presses to market. It’s JetStream family posits a significant shift for the company which is an established player in continuous-feed toner systems. This makes me kind of curious, so I called Mal Baboyian, president of the company’s production printing systems division in Boca Raton, Florida to get the story straight from the top. We wound up talking for a long time and in this extensive, multi-part interview, Baboyian explained Océ’s vision for the market and shared what the company will have at PRINT 09. Watch for this interview to unfold here on Digital Nirvana over several days.
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On June 8 the Governor of California announced that the state would no longer purchase K -12 textbooks. On June 10, Adam Dewitz started a thread at Print Ceo Blog that has attracted 21 responses as of Sunday morning, June 14 . Clearly this is an interesting topic in our print centric world.

While many reactions will be more End of Print blabla, I would like to share a path that allows printers to benefit from the deep troubles in the textbook industry.

On the most theoretical level, the idea is to connect Print to Video to create a possibly new communication media. As a robust global distribute and print network becomes operational, there will be the scale to make this media channel interesting to global marketers.

When I was teaching at design school, they always told me it was better to show than to tell. So in that spirit, I ask you to consider the following clickable postcard. The same principle works for clickable A4s, printed in MFPs in school districts and clickable posters, signage and packaging, which are already being used extensively in Asia.

The Front of the Postcard

GOP Activist Makes Controversial Remarks:
Written by Robin Hinson
Saturday, 13 June 2009 22:48

Friday’s gorilla escape at Riverbanks Zoo prompted a prominent Republican to make some controversial remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama.

In an article posted on the website, www.fitsnews.com, Rusty Depass, a former chair of the State Election Commission, commented on the gorilla escape on www.facebook.com.

The post says quote, “I’m sure it (referring to the ape), is just one of Michelle’s ancestors…probably harmless.”

ABC Columbia News attempted to contact Depass, but he did not return our phone calls.

The Back of the Postcard

http://tinyurl.com/qgfwe

created at QR code generator

The video

There are more examples of how this could work at my blog at Clickable Print + Printernet Publishing.

It has almost been a year since drupa 2008 – the inkjet drupa – where we saw a handful of new inkjet-based digital presses announced from FujiFilm to Kodak to RR Donnelley to Océ and others.

Howie Fenton of NAPL has penned an article on state of digital printing technology and the impact they will have on the print-on-demand market.
The State of On-demand Printing from NAPL (PDF Download).

Guy Broadhurst of Océ talks about JetStream technology and applications at On Demand 2009

Is digital printing a production technology? Or a marketing strategy? “Digital Printing: Transforming Business and Marketing Models,” part of Heidi Tolliver-Nigro’s Marketer’s Primer Series, argues for the latter. It presents digital production not as technology in the domain of print buyers and production managers but as the foundation of a comprehensive strategy for changing the way marketers look at document management and marketing.

This report is broken down into five sections.

Section 1: What digital printing is, along with its benefits and drawbacks from a marketing perspective. Examines traditional “sticking points,” including binding and finishing and the availability of substrates. How these characteristics drive key marketing applications.

Section 2: A closer look at each of these applications. Each discussion includes a series of short case studies in each of eight marketing classifications that provide key insights into how these applications are used in the real world.

Section 3: New ways of evaluating cost critical to digital printing success, including cost per piece, cost per lead, and ROI. Hypotheticals are used to drive the points home.

Section 4: Five “critical success factors” that enable marketers to take maximum advantage of digital printing technology. Includes key insights into helping marketers choose the right service provider.

Section 5: Final conclusions and additional resources as a next step.

The goal of the report is for marketers to be left with the understanding that the importance of digital printing has nothing to do with the technology—its costs, its output capabilities, or the applications it can produce, although many of them are discussed. It’s about transforming how they think about marketing.

The important thing is not digital printing technology itself, but the way it can be combined with other technologies (particularly databases, email, wireless, and the Internet) to create broader solutions that make a real difference in how business market their products, as well as how they communicate with customers on a short-term and long-term basis and present their brands.

The information is presented both from the perspective of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as large corporate marketers.

Single-user versions of the report can be purchased from the What They Think store, as well as from the Digital Printing Reports website. Licensed versions for internal and external distribution can be purchased from Research and Markets and Market Research, as well as from the Digital Printing Reports website.

“Digital Printing: Transforming Business and Marketing Models” is part of Heidi Tolliver-Nigro’s Marketer’s Primer Series, which also includes “1:1 (Personalized) Printing: Boosting Profits Through Relevance” and “Web-to-Print: Transforming Document Management and Marketing Models.” All three primers are designed both as authoritative primers for marketers and as internal training tools for printers.