Frankly Speaking: The Rise of the Full-Color Book
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Only a few years ago, new approaches were introduced to the world of digital printing that moved them from the realm of copiers toward the realm of the press. The first was the roll-fed digital printer using dry toner. (So you know: Roll-fed, continuous-feed and webfed all mean the same thing.) Monochrome, or black-and-white, versions of this technology had been available for decades. IBM and Océ dominated the market for these printers, which printed bills, statements and other transactional documents. Lightning Source was among the first to apply the technology to books. Covers were printed in color on a separate color printer, and a barcode system matched the covers and book block at the finishing stage.
Frank Romano is Professor Emeritus at RIT School of Media Sciences.
%0D%0A%20%20Before%20we%20go%20further,%20let's%20define%20some%20terms,%20as%20printers%20are,%20in%20essence,%20quite%20different%20from%20presses.%20Printers%20regenerate%20the%20impression%20for%20each%20copy%20from%20a%20digital%20file,%20which%20allows%20them%20to%20use%20electronic%20collation%20and%20print%20the%20pages%20of%20a%20book%20block%20in%20order.%20Presses,%20on%20the%20other%20hand,%20use%20a%20physical%20image%20carrier%20(a%20plate)%20to%20reproduce%20large%20printed%20sheets%20which%20are%20folded%20into%20signatures,%20gathered%20and%20bound.%20But%20printers%20become,%20in%20essence,%20presses%20when%20either%20the%20sheet%20size%20or%20output%20speed%20starts%20to%20approach%20the%20specs%20of%20an%20analog%20reproduction%20device%20(aka%20a%20press).%20A%20"printer%2Fpress"%20is%20my%20term%20for%20printers%20that%20have%20many%20characteristics%20of%20a%20press.<%2Fspan>%0D%0A%0D%0A%0D%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.bookbusinessmag.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-rise-full-color-book%2F" target="_blank" class="email" data-post-id="1410" type="icon_link"> Email Email
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