Frankly Speaking: The Rise of the Full-Color Book
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Combined with new finishing systems, these digital printer/presses allow production of book printing runs from one to hundreds—in full color. Once new technology is in place, innovative companies find new markets. In the old days full-color books required long runs to justify their production. For some full-color books overseas production was an option. Because they could have long lead times they could be sent to India, Singapore or China for cheaper offset printing. I caught up with Joe Pasky in Hong Kong last year. He is a consultant to American publishers who print in China, and he does color checks to assure quality. The majority of the printing that he sees is books.
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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