PDF Imposition at a new price

The amazing weather we've had this summer in Sacramento calls us to hikes, whitewater rafting and camping without a care in the world. Lucky for you, we don't answer that call as things here at Compose are kicking into high gear: we are getting ready for the Print09 show in Chicago and our programmers are busy working on a new product for the labeling world. I'll fill you in more as we approach the show. Another thing that's kept us busy is the G7 calibration for customers in Northern California. And, to top it off, IS Optimizer has really taken off in Latin America. It's been a non-stop summer, to say the least. We'll have time for the outdoors again in the fall.

Last month we polled you online on what product would you like to see discounted for the show. Here are the results: the product with the most votes was IS Optimizer, followed closely by our Express RIP. We've taken note and are designing the best deals for you.

So, let's get down to business. Compose has had a product called PDF Imposition for many years. Currently we're on version 5. It's an easy to use, flexible PDF-based imposition tool. Users can create templates that generate from simple business card layouts to complex multi-signature, multi-press publications.

Up to now we had marketed PDF Imposition as a tool for our workflow users. But the fact is that anyone with a Windows PC can take advantage of PDF Imposition. With this in mind, we have decided to reposition this feature-rich product at a lower price. I'm happy to give you the scoop: as of today, PDF Imposition 5 for 4 up presses will retail for $750. The maximum plate size that this version can work with is 31.5" x 31.5" or 800mm x 800mm. For larger presses, with no plate size limitation PDF Imposition 5 is now $1500. This price is for customers in the US, Canada and Latin America. To purchase, call Compose at (916) 920-3838 or your local Compose reseller.

You can download the PDF Imposition brochure by clicking here (1 Mb download). Or download demo of PDF Imposition by clicking here (159 Mb download)

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows XP Pro, SP3
• RAM: 2 GB
• Hard Disk: 80 GB

See you at Print 09

Website: http://www.print09.com/

Exhibitor: Compose Systems

Booth No.: 6555

We will be showing you the latest on Ink Savings, Ink Presets and Press Quality Control. Plus, we'll be introducing a Label Production for continuous and sheet fed printing. Also, we'll showcase the new Espon 7900 Plotter working with Star Proof. Star Proof is our actual dot proofing system that can reproduce traditional screens on a plotter up to 220 lpi. With the additional orange and green inks on the Epson Stylus Pro 7900, Star Proof is not only able to get a very close match on CMYK jobs, but is incredibly close on popular spot color libraries such as Pantone.

Stop by our booth to check our our new products, get a demo or just to say hello. We'd love to hear from you.

Getting ready for Print09

We're getting ready for Print09 and what we should showcase there. That immediately brings up the subject of what show specials would we have. Since we have a little time before the show, we'd like to try something different. We'd like you to tell us what product's you'll like to see discounted.

If you click on the product name below, it will take you to our corporate website for more information on the product. And on the right side of this page, you'll find the poll.

IS Optimizer (Ink Savings, Color Server)

Express RIP & Upgrades

Color Express (Proofing RIP)

Express Workflow (Workflow manager with over 40 modules)

ExpressTrap (In-RIP trapping for Harlequin RIPs)

Express InkScript (Ink Key preset manager)

pressSign (Quality control)

IS Optimizer Save on ink, get jobs done faster and print better

This month I'd like to talk to you about saving ink but, most importantly, about producing better results on press.

Quite frequently, design and layout departments often do not know what paper and press a particular job will be printed on. In many cases, color settings in image manipulation software like Adobe PhotoShop can vary from station to station within a department. Plus, almost anybody adjusts these values on a job-by-job basis.

This problem is compounded when printers receive jobs that contain elements created by third parties, for example, advertisements. Color separation values and total ink coverage (TAC) values may vary greatly from image to image. This presents a real challenge when the job is on press. Even well-experienced press operators will come across jobs with pages that are very hard to print due to over or under inking. To the point that, to get these images to print correctly, the press operator must sometimes adjust the ink keys on the press, bringing color densities outside their desired range.

Over-inking prolongs the time it takes for make ready. It also extends the time it takes for jobs to dry, thus taking longer for the other side of the job to get printed. Perhaps most importantly, it leaves to the press operator the ultimate responsibility of making a job look right.

How can this be solved?

In a perfect world, all designers and layout personnel would make sure that their separation settings in all images, text and illustrations comply with the appropriate press and paper combination or ICC profile for their job.

As things stand, and with so many variables across applications, this is a very hard to reach goal.

Since we are not in a perfect world, there is another way:

Compose offers a product called ISOptimizer. ISOptimizer analyzes every element in a job and separates it back to LAB color space. Unlike the RGB and CMYK color spaces, Lab color is designed to approximate human vision, having a greater gamut than the one offered by computer displays and printers. LAB color space is the color space used in describing devices in ICC profiles. Once the element is in LAB color space, ISOptimizer separates that element to CMYK using the desired output ICC profile. In other words, it separates the entire job back to CMYK using the press and paper conditions required for that particular job. Now all elements have the correct amount of ink for the type of paper and press they will be printed on.

From the days of drum scanning, there's a technique called GCR or Gray Component Replacement. It is based on the principle that any CMY color can be represented with two colors plus black. Black ink is generally the less expensive ink, thus replacing CMY with black to produce grays makes a lot of sense. ISOptimizer can use GCR and TAC values to reduce the amount of ink used in a job, while preserving the smallest dE, or color difference from the original. It can also generate an ROI (return on investment) table with the amount of ink saved per job per color. If provided with ink costs and ink demand values - how much ink it takes to cover a specific area - it can project ink savings per job and create reports. Users can even utilize this tool to estimate how much ink a particular job will require before it is printed.

In maximum ink saving mode, ISOptimizer takes things a step beyond GRC to provide unprecedented ink savings, faster make readies and shorter drying times. ISOptimizer uses Alwan's award wining Dynamic Device Link technology to save up to 40% ink, reduce make readies by up to 75% and drying times up to 80%.

Let's compare ink key settings

These two images represent the position of the ink keys for the photos of the vehicle above. The top histogram shows the ink keys of the original PDF, while the bottom one shows the histogram of the optimized PDF.

Notice how the CMY values on the optimized image are much lower. Even though the black channel is higher on the optimized image than the original, the optimized image uses 39% less ink than the original.

Some real world examples

Let's now look at some real world examples where ISOptimizer is helping customers save money.

Savings of 1500 impressions on make ready, and that's just for starters.

One of the largest web printers in the San Francisco Bay Area needed an average of 2000 impressions to get the first acceptable copy from their press prior to using ISOptimizer. The first job processed with ISOptimizer required only 500 impressions to get the first acceptable print. Three months after the installation of the software, the make ready times continue to be an average of 75% of what they used to be. Additionally, the customer is finding that their ink consumption is down by 35%. And ink does not rub off the paper like it used to.

Productivity increase of 20-40%.

A mid-sized shop in the San Francisco Bay Area runs a single 8up Komori press. Before installing ISOptimizer the customer could get an average of 6 to 8 jobs per 8-hour shift. Now, with ISOptimizer ECO, the customer is able to run an average of 10 different jobs per 8-hour shift per press. The secret is the ISOptmizer ECO helping to reduce the make ready time, plus having the correct amount of ink on paper effectively reducing drying time.

Consistency throughout 900,000 impressions.

A large commercial printer in Argentina had Compose install ISOptimizer. The customer has found that on long runs, and in their case this means almost one million impressions, color is very stable across the print run. In other words, the color on the first good print varies very little from the last one in the run.

For more information about IS Optimizer, please visit our website by clicking here. You can also e-mail us for a 30 day trial of IS Optimizer by clicking here.

G7 Press Calibration. It makes sense

I'd like to start this blog talking about press calibration. This was originally sent out as an e-mail to our mailing list recipients. If you'd like to be part of our mailing list, please click on the link located within the side bar.

Let's get to it: We recently got certified by IDEAlliance as G7 Experts. What this means is that we can visit, calibrate and certify our customers as G7 Master Printers on site.

The G in G7 stands for grayscale and the 7 for the seven colors it uses as reference: CMYK + RGB. RGB are the ink traps, and getting their color right is just as important as getting the right color on the CMYs.

There are many myths around G7. Many think that special inks are needed to be able to print within the GRACoL Specs. The fact is that inks are an ISO standard (ISO 2846-1) so it does not matter which litho ink you are using; if you are using quality ink, it's more than likely your ink is within the standard. What does matter is the amount of ink needed to produce the expected color: this is what will vary per ink manufacturer.

Is it G7 or GRACoL? It's easy to get confused with so many acronyms and classifications out there: GRACoL, GRACoL 2007 and G7. I'll try to make things simple: GRACoL is the specification of how a commercial offset lithography press should print. In other words, it's how the ideal press sheet from the great press in the sky would look like. GRACoL 2007 is the latest specification of GRACoL, while G7 is the grayscale definition and calibration method common to SWOP and GRACoL. In other words, G7 describes the grayscale and how to calibrate a press so its output resembles the one from the great press in the sky.

On a G7 calibrated press sheet, the CMY grays should be neutral. Basically, if you were to compare CMY values versus K values, you'll find that they visually match. This makes it very easy to confirm that the press sheet is printing correctly.

Typically, printers are under the impression that this certification is useful only if their customers are demanding it. But G7 makes more sense than what most printers think. What many have not realized yet is that printing to G7 standards is very simple. Plus, it makes most jobs easier to print. There's less make-ready time and most importantly, the proof finally matches the press sheet accurately.

Besides offering press calibration and G7 Certification services to our customers, Compose has a suite of tools to confirm that color is being reproduced correctly. Tools that will allow consistent and accurate color throughout the workflow. This suite of tools is called pressSIGN-Pro.

We have found that clients want the monitor to match the proof and the proof to match the press sheet. We can help with our pressSIGN-Pro-suite. It makes it easy to ensure that colors match throughout the workflow.

This is our first time sending a newsletter like this; I hope that you'll find this information useful and you'll think of us when you are ready to calibrate your press or presses. If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, please drop me a line.